WriteAntiques

&Britain was at war and we stood alone against the might of Nazi Germany. Food and petrol were rationed and laughs were in short supply … unless you were on the receiving end of a saucy seaside postcard like the ones pictured here. And in the 60-odd years since they were printed, their humour is [...]

[Read more →]

We watched enthralled as Bill Oddie fed robbins from the palm of his hand and hidden cameras filmed badgers and blue-tits in the recent Britain Goes Wild TV series. So, on the next trip to the garden centre, we dutifully stocked up with peanuts and wild bird seed and even lashed out on rather smart [...]

[Read more →]

I’ve always fancied owning a crystal ball, not just because it would be useful in sidestepping horrible things that were about to befall me — and let’s face it we’ve all had enough of those thank you very much — but also because a genuine fortune teller’s crystal ball is a perfectly spherical, perfectly clear [...]

[Read more →]

Learning about antiques and fine art continues to fascinate me and I feel like I’m on a never-ending journey. Two things happened this week to set me off in a new direction. Both involve the work of local artists. First, I heard I talk by a museum and art gallery curator about the life and [...]

[Read more →]

I’m not fond of salt, unless of course it’s stuck to the rim of a glass of tequila. The news from health watchdogs that I might unwittingly be eating pounds of the stuff in my daily diet does my appetite no good at all. But there was a time and we couldn’t get enough. Before [...]

[Read more →]

House contents sales are dead. Long live house sales. Time was when the chattels of homes, big and small, rich or poor, were almost without exception sold on the premises but sadly, not any more. The once rich source of bargains for the amateur collector and the professional dealer alike are now rarities that are [...]

[Read more →]

Lovers of anything gothic should rush to their nearest cinema and revel in the latest horror blockbuster Van Helsing … “A shrieking bore” according to Peter Travers in Rolling Stone magazine, “[A] disaster of gothic proportions…” said MaryAnn Johanson in Flick Filosopher. But forget the unlikely storyline (or lack of it), Kate Beckinsale’s amazing hydraulic [...]

[Read more →]

We have two plates in our collection, commissioned for us by family friends and presented to my wife following the birth of each of our children. They are treasured possessions and because each is marked with their names and times and dates of their respective deliveries, they are of value only to us. Of course, [...]

[Read more →]

It was love at first sight and you could tell instantly that the woman standing starry eyed at the end of the collectors’ fair stall was never going to be able to resist the two plush Teddy bears waiting to be taken home. The deal was struck and money swiftly changed hands, but it was [...]

[Read more →]

Things We Take For Granted, Chapter 41: Sugar. No, I’m not writing a book but if I was, there would be at least 40 chapters of other things we take for granted and no doubt more. Fact is, in the 18th century, sugar was a great luxury and as such, it was awarded a prominent [...]

[Read more →]

With the wave of public opinion breaking ever closer to these shores – Ireland recently became the first country in the world to have a complete ban on smoking in the workplace – the days are numbered for the drunk who stood in the corridor of my train home the other evening having a crafty [...]

[Read more →]

I knew a man once who collected plastic shopping bags. He had examples from some of the most famous department stores and high-class shops from all around the world. He was a security guard and got himself sacked for petty pilfering … presumably the bags came in handy for carrying home his booty! He came [...]

[Read more →]

Okay, enough at all this mamby pamby collecting stuff like Wade Whimsies and little models of rabbits made by PenDelfin. This week’s subject is much more manly. It’s all about one of the tools of the trade in wartime sabotage, espionage and derring-do: the military wristwatch. Mention the subject today, and first thoughts turn to [...]

[Read more →]

I’m all for buying cheap collectibles and seeing them rise in value. That’s why last week’s column was all about Wade Whimsies. So, continuing in the same vein, this week’s missive is all about another kind of whimsical figure: the durable “stoneware” models of cute little rabbits made by a company called PenDelfin. Love them [...]

[Read more →]

It was a charming sight: two little girls standing at the end of the collectors’ fair stall while each agonised over which “antique” they would purchase to add to their respective collections. Each child clutched a £2 coin – either pocket money or perhaps a bribe, I thought, so their parents could spend unhurried time [...]

[Read more →]

THESE days Easter is all about sofa sales, chocolate eggs and propaganda designed to transfer cash from your pocket to shop till with not a huge amount to show for it, except a big credit card bill. If you’re a Russian billionaire, you could do like prominent Russian industrialist Victor Vekselberg and spend some real [...]

[Read more →]

If you’ve ever heard an antique music box play, you’ll know how delightful the clear, delicate tinkling sounds can be. Fact is, music boxes were an immensely popular form of home entertainment in the 19th century, not surprisingly, perhaps, because short of playing it yourself, they supplied the only means of having music at hand. [...]

[Read more →]

Perhaps it’s because as a junior reporter, I was indentured to a newspaper publisher who was also a jobbing printer. Perhaps it’s simply because my writing for this column gets turned into reading, so to speak – smart pages with attendant images that are easy on the eye and (hopefully) worth something more than a [...]

[Read more →]