Just had a pleasant weekend. Ann's middle brother David. and his wife Mo spent Saturday with us.
David, who is five years younger than I, retired at much the same time as I did, and I asked him how he is managing his retirement; and how he's managing to stay retired? He said something like :- "Mike. I think I know what your problem is. You've spent the last few years dealing in, and restoring, high quality antiques, and I know you're missing that. I think you've now got to turn yourself from a specialised dealer into a specialised collector". I must think that one out very carefully. It ties in with something my accountant said a few months ago. That brings me to the two photographs. The top one shows (from left to right) a candlestick of the thirteen hundreds, a candlestick of the fourteen hundreds, a candlestick of the sixteen hundreds, and a candlestick of the fifteen hundreds. The candlestick shown below is of the mid seventeen hundreds. It is an English chamber candlestick, dating from circa 1740-50, and is fitted with a pair of wick trimmers of the same period, and a slightly later douser, douter, or putter outer.
Between them they cover five different centuries. They are of great interest, but not of tremendous value., and I think a similar approach to collecting may well be my way forward.
Comments from my blog friends would be welcome.
1 comment:
I think David is very wise. I'm sure you will miss visiting fairs and dealers very much if you stop altogether. I think your penultimate sentence is very wise too and would suggest you be very discerning, enjoy handling lovely pieces but only buy if there's a really good reason for doing so (that you so absolutely love the piece that you will be miserable if you don't, for example). I'd recommend considering where it is to be displayed and always consulting Ann - but I'm sure you don't need that advice - as too much clutter can try the patience of even the loveliest wife!
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