Loathe as I am to leave the comfort of Hill Towers, I do enjoy travelling. Particularly when it allows me to spend time touring the antiques, collectables and junk shops of my destination. Today I find myself in the 30 degree warmth of the Hungarian capital of Budapest, celebrating a friend’s pre-wedding jaunt. While I’ll […]
It didn’t look promising. I suppose I should known – after all, it was a British bank holiday. As we were also briefly caught in between workloads, the banker and I decided to escape to Mediterranean sun and warmth in Madrid. Having never been before, I also welcomed the chance to explore the antiques and […]
Well, it seems as if post war Czech glass design is very much flavour of the month! Could it become flavour of the year, and maybe even the next ‘big thing’, I wonder? With July seeing the launch of an important and ground-breaking exhibition and accompanying catalogue focusing on the subject, prices seem to be […]
Too often we’re all guilty of travelling for miles to out-of-the-way places in the hope of finding that bargain that nobody else could be bothered to travel that far to find. Not only is it bad for the environment, but it’s also not always the best thing to do. A visit to a retro store […]
Wandering around glass fairs, as is my want, reveals the diversity of the exciting world of contemporary glass. Whilst glassmaking is a costly and time-consuming activity, often making many pieces expensive, there can be a few affordable surprises. One of them is the work of recent glass graduate Sarah Cable. The piece below is typical […]
Building up a knowledge of shapes and colours can really reap rewards. It’s why I have my book collection split between two places, within easy reach of either my sofa or my bed. Nothing beats leafing through a book as you relax to firmly imprint images, makers and designers on your brain. Repeated viewing really […]
I’ve just got back from a working and (thankfully, latterly) pleasure weekend in Berlin. The results of my Fat Lava this time hunt were rather surprising! I found one design shop in trendy Mitte where they actually had a selection of Fat Lava on display in their vintage design section. This is the first time […]
The KING of British antiques fairs, legendary amongst collectors and dealers the world around! And I was going! Yay! If you have heard rumours about it going into decline, please dispel them immediately as the doom-laden thoughts of the terminally miserable. In my honest opinion, this event IS still worth going to, even on a […]
This weekend saw the Banker and I taking shameless advantage of the cheap flight fad and enjoying a short weekend break in Stockholm. As ever, was looking forward to trawling around the design shops and antiques and collectables centres in the capital of one of the countries that has contributed the most to 20th century […]