Every nautical dealer has a Laurie Langford story and I recall just a few.
A quality bone POW model came up for sale in Paris the day before an important client was arriving from abroad. Not one to miss a good deal, Laurie flew to Paris, purchased the large model, and booked extra seats on the plane for the return journey much to the consternation of the airline staff as he struggled on board, and great amusement of his fellow passengers.
My first introduction to Laurie was in the late 1960s, having purchased from a shipyard an entire collection of enormous models, without much thought on storage.
Laurie arrived out of the blue and bought everything much to my relief. He had already purchased a shipping company collection that same day – hence his visit to my shop.
A very close friendship resulted from that first deal.
There are many specialist dealers and auctioneers today who owe their success to the encouragement and support of Laurie, of which I include myself.
He will be sadly missed by all.
Sandy Leask, Quadrant Antiques, Edinburgh
