Random Treasure

A Website about Antiques, Auctions and Alchemy

Welcome

Random Treasure Cover final-page-001

I’m Roger Stewart.  Welcome to my Random Treasure website.

Since early childhood I’ve spent much of my spare time buying, researching and selling antiques, operating on a limited budget and frequenting local auctions and charity shops.  As a result, I have a house full of stuff, and a lot of stories about remarkable objects bought and sold – sometimes with extraordinary and spectacular success in the saleroom.

I have written about some of the the stuff and told some of the stories in my blog on this website and in my book Random Treasure – Antiques, Auctions and Alchemy.

I hope you enjoy your visit.

 

“The best antique book I have read, every dealer collector should read it” 
“I have just finished your book, and can truthfully say I have never got more enjoyment from a printed text. It was gripping from beginning to end, and absolutely fascinating”
“Roger Stewart writes beautifully, with humour and insight . . . Even if you don’t have a particular interest in collecting, this book is well-written, funny and informative. A great read – highly recommended” 
“His writing is charming and funny. I’d say the only thing that would be better than reading Random Treasure would be to walk along with the author as he hunts for treasures in his favorite shops and auction houses. Or to see his latest finds in person and to hear their histories . . .”

A Surfeit of Randomness

19/09/2020

Sometimes, not often, the quest for Random Treasure becomes stressful. It isn’t supposed to be like this. What should be happening is that I meander through a fulfilling and self-indulgent retirement, doing what gives me pleasure and satisfaction at a pace and in a manner which suits me and my inclination and my whim.
That’s mostly how it goes, but recently, much less so. I have been under pressure from taking on too many lines of enquiry all at the same time. It has all been rather harassing. But at the same time, it has all been very enjoyable… … More A Surfeit of Randomness

Lonely Teapot Seeks Lid

02/08/2020

Is there a point at which an object stops being a piece of art or craft or an antique and becomes something which is only fit for landfill? Is there a level of damage at which the item’s condition is simply unacceptable to the collector, who is compelled to discard it regardless of its other merits? It seems not. Here’s the proof: I have bought a teapot with no lid. Twice. … More Lonely Teapot Seeks Lid

Stuffed

29/06/2020

This is a cautionary tale. It starts with a fox, who has been a regular visitor to our garden in recent weeks. It causes no trouble, and I have no desire to hunt it or kill it or destroy it. In this respect my feelings towards it are entirely unlike the emotions which I experience in relation to a second Fox which has just come into my life, along with a Badger, a Mole, a Squirrel and a Rabbit. No, there isn’t a Toad as well. We’re not in Wind in the Willows or Toad of Toad Hall territory. Neither, sadly, are we in the Hundred Acre Wood with Christopher Robin, Pooh and Piglet. Instead, we’re in my local auction room where, last Saturday, I accidentally bought an object of unparalleled hideousness. … More Stuffed

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