1 What is one great discovery you have made?
There’s a story in everything we deal in. Sometimes that means discovering a forgotten personality or chapter from history. For example, a particularly good recent find is a piece of mahogany carved from Napoleon’s coffin on St Helena that was mounted in gold and enamel by the diplomat charged with overseeing the emperor’s exhumation in 1840.
2 How do buyers benefit from modern technology?
The internet has opened the trade. It hasn’t only benefited the auction houses. People from across the country and the planet can now find our stock. It means we have a worldwide shop window.
3 How are collectors being challenged these days?
Finding good-quality pieces is always tricky, and these days there are masses of ‘militaria’ out there but very little has that exciting provenance that most people are looking for. We are offered quite a lot of stock but our rule is that all three of us in the shop have to be convinced by a piece before we take it. That’s a rigorous test – we do a lot of research and collectively we’ve been doing this over many years.
4 What is something you wish buyers would ask you about more?
How we can help build a collection around a specific interest, whether that’s in a period of history or in a particular collecting field. Or hunt out a one-off purchase for them.
5 Sky is the limit – what is one art work you’d love to have in your home?
The ultimate military relic – the Holy Lance. It is a Roman spear that was supposedly used to pierce the side of Jesus at the crucifixion and is on display at the Hofburg palace in Vienna. I wanted to be Indiana Jones, but somehow ended up in antiques.
If you would like to be featured in 5 Questions, please contact francesallitt@antiquestradegazette.com
