When Kathryn and I were filming for Cracking Antiques, had we had homeowners in the area we’d love have to have found a place like this. If you’re in the area, Fagins Antiques in Hele, near Cullompton, is well worth a visit. Spread over three barns and 45,000 square feet, you’ll find a truly incredible […]
Leaving Shepton Mallet behind us this morning, Judith Miller and I decided to drop in on Honiton on our way down to Torbay on the final part of our roadtrip. Honiton is legendary for antiques shops, with more than 20 occupying the high street in its heyday. When I worked at Bonhams the auctioneers, I […]
I first went to the wonderful Lincoln Homes & Antiques Fair last year when Kathryn and I were filming Cracking Antiques for the BBC. I was so taken with it, and the enormous variety on offer, that our runner Simon had quite a task keeping me under control! Although I loved shopping with the Barkers […]
A city centre with a shop selling glass on pretty much every street sounds like heaven for the glass collector. Not so, I wouldn’t give a second glance, let alone house room, to 90% of the cheap trash on offer! Apart from pieces by Moser or similar factories, and pieces sold at the swish Material […]
I’m an enormous fan of 20thC studio ceramics – and not just those produced in Britain. Studio potters in Germany and the Netherlands also produced some ground-breaking, important and strongly appealing work too. With this in mind, I was excited to read an email from Marcel Brouwer today. Marcel, who ran the Design department at […]
The fabulous sun this weekend meant that it was clearly too warm and welcoming to spend any time indoors. Sitting under a willow by a river seemed like a good (and cool) idea, so off we went to Cambridge to sit alongside the Isis in the picturesque college environs. On the way into town from […]
Well, in the words of Warner Bros – ‘That’s All Folks!’. Last night saw the final episode of the first series of ‘Cracking Antiques’, where we helped Roy and Katy create a mid-century modern style living room for their 1950s bungalow. It wasn’t as easy as it sounds, even with a budget of around £2,500, […]
I’m writing this a little later than planned, but of course I couldn’t visit Berlin (or anywhere, indeed) without having a quick hunt for some new treasures. As time was a little tight on last weekend’s visit, I only had time to visit the excellent flea market at Strasse des 17 Juni, near the S-bahn […]
Today was spent at the excellent National Glass Fair in the Motocycle Museum, just outside Birmingham. Organised by the innovative and impressive Oxbridge Fairs, this is perhaps their largest and busiest event, with three large rooms packed with over 100 dealers offering glass from the 17th-21st centuries. This time around, a friend had suggested that […]
Well it seems that all of you who tore yourselves away from the election coverage loved last night’s penultimate episode of Cracking Antiques – thank you for watching! Charlotte and David had the largest house and the largest budget of the series, so we could really go to town in equipping their Georgian dining room […]
Although I’m usually associated with 20thC design and collectables, I’m an enormous fan of prints, from engravings to etchings and aquatints. I’ve collected them since I was at school, when I used to spend money earnt from my paper round at local antiques fairs and shops. Naturally, at that level, I couldn’t afford anything valuable […]
Kathryn and I hope you all tuned in and enjoyed last night’s episode of Cracking Antiques, where we helped Jodie & Adrian from Stockport find Victorian and Edwardian antiques for their living room with their limited budget. So, if previous weeks are anything to go by, you’ll all be wondering where we went! Well, here […]