After about 50 years of collecting and dealing in antiques I have seen many changes in the business. A few years ago, I used to have stands at the big antiques fairs alongside dealers such as Drew Pritchard who has gone on to star in television antiques programmes. In those days, I had a big 5-ton Luton van which we would fill with Victorian and Edwardian furniture such as bedroom suites, dining room suites, large tables, and desks. We would arrive at big showground sites at 5am in the dark and dealers from America and all over Europe would gather round the van and almost fight one another to buy our goods before the fair was officially open. We would have sold a good percentage of our stock.
How things have changed! Edwardian bedroom suites which would realise £500 are now practically worthless, large Victorian dining tables could achieve £2000 and now you can pick them up for £200, grandfather clocks were never less than £500 upwards and at a recent antiques sale they were selling for less than £100. There are of course exceptions – a good London made long case clock can still be worth thousands of pounds.
In those far off days we could sell silver plated tea sets to the Italian dealers for really good prices, now we are lucky to get £20 for a tea set. The market for cut glass, brass and copper, China tea sets, China ornaments and vases are completely out of fashion and almost impossible to sell. This decline in the collecting of antiques will eventually turn full circle as all fashions do. The problem is when? Young people live in much smaller modern homes and tend to be minimalist.
Surely in the future people will again appreciate craftsmen made objects of superior quality, furniture made of proper seasoned timber with dovetail joints that have already lasted for 100 years and will last another 100 – unlike plastic furniture which falls apart in 6 months.
Our business is a difficult one and the number of small independent antiques shops are in decline, taken over by large antiques centres with one or two staff looking after dozens of different cabinets. This of course cuts costs but you lose the personal touch and knowledge of a shop owner.
We would love it if you visited our shop for a browse – there is no obligation to buy anything.
Please see advert below for contact details and opening times.
