Blog: Falling in love with antiques 14 Feb 2024 News Norfolk News Suffolk News

February is the month of love and kindness. Whether you celebrate Valentines Day on the 14^th February or do a random act of kindness on National Random Acts of Kindness day, love and kindness is most definitely in the air. So, this week I thought I would look at why you should fall in love with the world of antiques.

Antiques really do hold a certain allure, and almost all come with a hidden meaning and definitely a story from its history.

It’s this part of the job I absolutely adore as I love history and the meaning behind things.

Every object we see has a story to tell – such as how the individual first took ownership of the piece – where they got it from, how they come about getting it and each time an antique changes hands the new owner adds to its continuing story. Every object we see really does tell a story and being able to see and touch these objects on a daily basis gives us the opportunity to understand history through the object itself and sometimes depending on the object, in a very personal way.

For example, we see a range of objects that have a family connection such as a piece of jewellery that has been passed down the generations or even a collection of medals that have been awarded to a past family member. The latter object is very much a story of personal experience, as usually to be awarded a medal it means they did something courageous or outstanding or saw action in their military career. It really is true to say that every object we see come into our salerooms is like a window into the past. In some respects when we see fine furniture  or perhaps a toy for example it gives an insight of how the world has developed when it comes to making pieces and you can see how it started off in early conception to where we are today, so it is very much a story of transformation.

Another reason why you should love antiques is that they are often objects that are unique and individual and you probably wouldn’t come across another item with an exact same look as you do in today’s pieces – such as piece of furniture. Today we associate it to be generally mass produced by a certain flat pack brand, however in early days of making furniture it wasn’t really a ‘thing’ to make lots and lots of the same piece of furniture and that’s down to not having the opportunity or skills or even materials to mass produce on a scale that we see today each piece that was made was unique and had a slight variation.

Loving antiques is also a great conversational piece as if you collect pieces from the saleroom, you will most certainly have a unique piece on your hands that will stand out and you will often find that people ask questions about it due to its look or design. It could come down to conversation about what it was made from or even where it came from and how you came about owning it as they might not have seen something like that before so again another reason to love the world of antiques, you will own something unique.

Another thing to love about antiques is that (and I have spoken about this before) is that the auction world is definitely a sustainable and ‘green’ option when it comes to objects, giving that piece a second lease of life. Buying objects from the auction room is very sustainable, you can find a piece of furniture that is hundreds of years old and is still very useable and is robust enough for the modern home. Also owning an object that has stood the test of time, I think, adds to its charm and preserves it to continue its story and make new history. What is not to love about giving something a new home!

Overall, falling in love with antiques is more than just the objects themselves – its about the stories they tell, the connections they forge and the sense of wonder and discovery they inspire. What will you fall in love with when you come into our salerooms?

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