At the recent marvellous Antiques For Everyone fair at the NEC in Birmingham, a friendly dealer approached me with a folder of around 50 photographs of furniture, home accessories, and room designs. Her father was a teacher and had used them in the late 1950s and early 1960s as props for lessons. Since he retired, […]
Over Easter, the banker and I cashed in some air miles (or Avios points, as they’re known today) and took a five day Spring break in New York. We’ve both been lucky enough to travel there on business and pleasure before, so could relax rather than rush around and do all the tourist hot spots. […]
At the recent marvellous Antiques For Everyone fair at the NEC in Birmingham, a friendly dealer approached me with a folder of around 50 photographs of furniture, home accessories, and room designs. Her father was a teacher and had used them in the late 1950s and early 1960s as props for lessons. Since he retired, […]
Family duties abroad called, so we travelled to Berlin this weekend, spending Saturday looking after the banker’s 26 month old nephew. After a visit to Berlin zoo, plenty of trips on the U-bahn, and a long walk (guided solely by our little ward), we were more exhausted than he was! I did manage to steal […]
Wow! An amazing discovery by the marvellous Mel Giedroyc and I…a unique Phartlehorn! If you’re a child (even a big one!) who hasn’t read about Bruno Pockley’s adventures in The Fabulous Phartlehorn Affair by M L Peel and Hannah Shaw yet, you’re missing out. Click here to find out more and buy a copy.
Nobody knows everything, and you ought to run away from anyone who says they do. I know very little about tiles, it’s a very specialist market. But a specialist market that is growing in size and appeal as more choose to use antique tiles in fireplaces or hallways or, in fact, all over the house. […]
The Britain’s Best Antiques Shop awards came to an exciting climax last week at The Bath Decorative Antiques Fair. Organised by Homes & Antiques magazine and Antiques News & Fairs, voting began back in October as part of National Antiques Week. Many thousands of votes were received from across the country – and even from […]
Textiles, which are often ignored in favour of furniture, ceramics or glass, have been enjoying a real renaissance recently. I think this is partly down to the current vogue for vintage clothing, particularly from the 1950s & 60s, and partly as people are beginning to wake up from the cold, clean Minimalist look that’s been […]
Sometimes in my world, it’s all about ‘dead people’s stuff’. By that, I mean that by virtue of the words ‘antique’, ‘vintage’, or ‘retro’, we tend to focus on things designed and made by people who are sadly no longer with us. That’s the meat and bones of the industry, but it’s refreshing, and correct, […]
As we didn’t manage a holiday this year, and Summer wasn’t exactly hot, the banker and I decided to cash in some air miles and spend New Year in the hot sun of Florida. When I take a holiday, it doesn’t usually take long for that ‘itch’ to set in and for me to start […]
I’ve been a fan of ‘The Chap‘ magazine for quite some time now, having found issue 7 in a vintage clothes shop a fair few years ago. Who couldn’t resist a magazine with a strap-line reading ‘Divinity lies in the insouciance of a moleskin waistcoat‘? Especially as I was wearing one at the time. For […]
Over the past few years, the mid-century modern look of the 1950s-70s has become THE mainstream look influencing many of our homes. Although many say that the magazine is dead against today’s eReaders and websites, two brave and innovative publishers have launched marvellous magazines focusing on the area. And proving that the magazine isn’t dead, […]