What a great city! I really look forward to the Antiques Roadshows I’m fortunate enough to take part in. Not just because of the camaraderie and the objects, but also because of the people and the city they live in. Having never been to Newcastle or Gateshead before, I was excited to see another part […]
Stepping off my early morning plane from London to Newcastle for tomorrow’s Antiques Roadshow, the bug struck. Thankfully neither a case of pre-event jitters, nor ‘man flu’, but the bug to hunt for treasures! My Roadshow colleague and friend Steven Moore, a native of Newcastle, knew just the place – Tynemouth Antiques Market. Getting there […]
I was honoured to be asked – the annual Broadfield Lecture, part of the International Festival of Glass, is a rather grand affair. This morning I found myself standing in a beautifully appointed room at the Broadfield House Glass Museum, surrounded by oil portraits of the great and good of the Victorian British glass industry. […]
I’ve just got back from Broadfield House Glass Museum in Stourbridge, West Midlands, where I have been setting up the first ever retrospective exhibition of the work of Michael Harris at Mdina Glass and Isle of Wight Studio Glass. Exhausting, but enormous fun! The exhibition contains hundreds of pieces of glass designed, and in some […]
Last week I was called by my friend and colleague on the Antiques Roadshow, Eric Knowles. On a recent trip to France to buy antiques and collectables for hit BBC TV series ‘Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is’, he picked up a little something that he thought had my name written all over it. […]
The ‘Hi Sklo Lo Sklo’ exhibition of postwar Czech glass design held at the King’s Lynn Arts Centre in Norfolk has now closed. Over 4,650 glass and 20th century design fans visited to view over 1,000 objects during its inaugural four week run. On average, that’s over 1,100 visitors per week, and nearly 200 visitors […]
We all need a break. Too much of a good thing is a bad thing. Sort of like when you eat too much chocolate! Every morning, I count my blessings and think how lucky I am to be able to work in the world of antiques and collectables that I love so much. However, it […]
Last month I was given £200! Of course, there’s no such thing as free money, just as much as there’s no such thing as a free lunch. I had been asked by BBC Homes & Antiques magazine to spend this princely sum on collectables of the future at the UK’s biggest and best antiques and […]
It seems I can’t get away from Czech things this year. Wandering through Shoreditch this weekend, a fantastic new discovery was made. Hidden between the usual cheapo take-away shops and newsagent is a small, anonymous door that leads into a dark and mysterious newspaper covered corridor leading to a stairwell. Curiously following these down takes […]
It came around far quicker than expected, but the 12th July saw the launch of the long awaited ‘Hi Sklo Lo Sklo exhibition at the King’s Lynn Arts Centre, in King’s Lynn Norfolk. And what a weekend it was! Arriving late Friday afternoon, I my breath was taken away by the incredibly colourful display of […]
You know when you keep reading things about an area, and it looks like a ‘head of steam’ is rapidly building up? I think exactly this is happening with British metalware of the 1950s-70s. Interest in, and prices being paid for, exotic silver and gold pieces by the likes of Stuart Devlin and Gerald Benney […]
For those of your who are familiar with the excellent Crafts magazine, published by the UK’s national Crafts Council, check out this month’s issue. The eminent curator and 20thC design author and expert Lesley Jackson has written an eight page, fully illustrated preview of the forthcoming ‘Hi Sklo Lo Sklo’ Czech glass exhibition. Offering a […]