The elephant in the room
Happy Easter everyone! I've been laying low a bit while dealing with covid (thankfully the vaccine did its job so I am fine) but with the...
Across continents
It's all about collecting in this new May issue of Homes & Antiques, and of course they asked me to write about my own collection. So I...
Sir Geoffrey's vases
A while ago I was very lucky to come across a garniture of three Ridgway vases from about 1810-1815. They immediately caught my eye, as...
Ranelagh
This week I have a very fine Derby figure for you of a "Ranelagh" dancer from the 1760s. She would originally have come with a male...
Etruscan treasures
The "Grand Tour" inspired tea service I showed two weeks ago was popular - and it is already on its way to a lucky buyer. Today I have...
Arcadian Dreams
Spring, so far, hasn't gone as planned. I had expected the joy of longer days and the first flowers to be my main focus by now, but...
The Grand Tour: the 18thC gap year
With the increased interest in history and the visual arts in the 17th and 18th Century and as travel became easier, young gentlemen of...
The secret message of grass
It's been a difficult week for the world and in particular for the people of Ukraine 🇺🇦💔. So today I thought to find a piece of...
A pony called Bob
I was very lucky to come across some extremely rare Derby porcelain the other day: two tiny coffee cups made by Derby in about 1795. Both...
The Rise of the Potteries
Have you ever wondered why Staffordshire became the centre of the global porcelain industry in the late 18th and 19th Century? I dug...
