by Chris Harris Buying prints at antique fairs can be brilliant, but it can also be frustratingly confusing. Over more years than I care to remember, I’ve learned that most of the mistakes people make come from not knowing what to avoid, you have learned the ‘knowledge.’ Most vintage buying is instinctive, but like porcelain … Continue reading The Ten Biggest Red Flags When Buying Vintage Prints. A Guide
Category: Vintage Matters
The Forgotten Story How Eastern Europe Fuelled the Retro Furniture Boom
by Chris Harris How Eastern European Furniture Quietly Entered British Homes Anyone who spends time buying or selling mid century furniture eventually notices a same familiar pattern. When you spin them over, you find a faint factory stamp reading Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia or Romania. Even today, these pieces turn up constantly in auctions, charity shops … Continue reading The Forgotten Story How Eastern Europe Fuelled the Retro Furniture Boom
Amazing and Unusual Vintage Furniture: Folding Antique Butler’s Tray
by Chris Harris I bought this from Pam at the market at Ford airstrip near Arundel West Sussex. Sge is a good friend of mine and confided she needed to sell it on as she does antique fairs amd she was worried she would break it! It is an exceptional antique butler’s serving table and … Continue reading Amazing and Unusual Vintage Furniture: Folding Antique Butler’s Tray
The Multi Purpose Uses and The Lost Elegance of the Antique Music Chest & Why It Deserves a Second Life
by Chris Harris I haven’t bought a music chest for at least two years, but last week I bought three. There are pieces of furniture that were made during a specific period of time 1880-1920 and are regarded as redundant, not because they are outdated, but because they embody a way of living that has … Continue reading The Multi Purpose Uses and The Lost Elegance of the Antique Music Chest & Why It Deserves a Second Life
Saved From the Tip: The Shabby Chic Mirror That Could Steal Your Heart
by Chris Harris The Quiet Joys of the 1% Being an antiques dealer means that almost all of what you handle, probably ninety nine percent, is made up of the weird, the wonderful, the beautiful, the clever, the surprising, and the occasionally eccentric pieces that pass through your hands. Vintage and retro artefacts have their … Continue reading Saved From the Tip: The Shabby Chic Mirror That Could Steal Your Heart
Cutting a G Plan Table in Half and How I Turned It Into A Sleek Shelf. A Happy Upcycling Story and Tip.
by Chris Harris The Antiques Dealer’s Holding Pen If you know anyone in the antiques trade, you’ll already know this truth: whether it’s a garage, a barn, a workshop, a storage unit or an entire warehouse, a significant portion of the space is always filled with what we politely call “goods awaiting attention.” In reality, … Continue reading Cutting a G Plan Table in Half and How I Turned It Into A Sleek Shelf. A Happy Upcycling Story and Tip.
Did You Know Lloyd Loom Furniture Is Really Made Of Paper!
by Chris Harris Why One of the World’s Most Elegant Furniture Styles Isn’t What You Think If you’ve ever picked up a Lloyd Loom chair and run your hand across its smooth, fabric like surface, the last thing you’d imagine is that it’s made, quite literally, out of paper. Not cane, not wicker, not rattan. … Continue reading Did You Know Lloyd Loom Furniture Is Really Made Of Paper!
Lusty & Sons: The British Company Made Lloyd Loom Huge and Turned It Into a Design Icon
By Chris Harris When people admire a Lloyd Loom chair or basket today, running their hand across its smooth woven surface or noting the elegant curves of a laundry basket, most assume they’re looking at a clever piece of British design. In truth, Lloyd Loom began life in the United States in 1917, patented by … Continue reading Lusty & Sons: The British Company Made Lloyd Loom Huge and Turned It Into a Design Icon
Grim But Beautiful Architecture: The Snake Brackets of Gloucester Prison.
It was a completely random discovery. I was watching Daisy May and Charlie Coopers NightWatch, set in Gloucester Prison, a series where they are seeking out ghosts, and was instead blown away by the architecture. Gloucester Prison ceased to exist as a working jail in 2013, but it’s been opened to the public regularly since, … Continue reading Grim But Beautiful Architecture: The Snake Brackets of Gloucester Prison.
My First Book Background: A Very Inauspicious Beginning.
If I’m going to write a blog about writing a book, I first need to explain the background, my meagre history in writing, the motivations, the book, the false starts, and the odd detours that got me here. Over the next coupe of weeks I will write half a dozen blogs so you can get … Continue reading My First Book Background: A Very Inauspicious Beginning.
The Best Restoration Tip You’ll Ever Hear (and Probably Ignore): Patience
The offending article! It sounds simple, doesn't it? “Just be patient.” Yet in practice, it's the hardest advice to follow, especially in restoration, where things often don’t go to plan. Take this past Saturday. I’d just bought a beautiful Victorian three-fold wooden screen with embroidered panels. “It’s been in my garage a long time,” the … Continue reading The Best Restoration Tip You’ll Ever Hear (and Probably Ignore): Patience
Why I’m Giving Away £50,000 Worth of Vintage Stock And Feeling Great About It
Another bundle for Free Cycle If you’ve been in the vintage or antique trade long enough, you know the score. That growing mountain of unfinished projects, job lot leftovers , yes all with “potential” and none with urgency. They are all worth money, but will you ever realise the money? Like many of us dealers, … Continue reading Why I’m Giving Away £50,000 Worth of Vintage Stock And Feeling Great About It