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 . . .”

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

Birds on Pots

13/06/2020

One day last week the door of the summer house was left open and a garden bird got in amongst my pots. I was able to take his photograph as he rested momentarily on the top rim of a large stoneware jug. Cute, eh? Seeing a real live bird perched on a jug prompted me to look through my collection for some other examples of birds on pots…
… More Birds on Pots

Meet Marguerite

29/05/2020

Meet Marguerite. Or perhaps you know her as Gretchen. She was modelled by the sculptor Sarah Terry in 1868 and manufactured by W T Copeland and Sons, owners of the Spode factory in Stoke-on-Trent. She’s made in parian, a bright white ceramic material. But Marguerite doesn’t look like a parian figure. Instead, she looks like she’s made of patinated bronze. I wonder why? … More Meet Marguerite

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