A few weeks ago, two Italian maiolica salts appeared in my local auction room. You know what’s coming. Yes, of course I had to buy them. … More Salt

This object is a squat lekythos. Or that’s what it was until it lost its neck and its handle. It was made in Athens around 400 BC, and it was bought recently at auction for just 54 pence. … More Squat Lekythos: 54 pence

Here’s a Strange Coincidence. I was looking online at a painting by Johan Zoffany that I hadn’t seen before. The very next day I saw the same picture again in a TV programme. What were the chances and who’s in the picture? … More A Strange Coincidence

A carved oak panel depicting the Nativity hangs on the wall in my kitchen. I’ve recently been doing some research on it and this new blog piece sets out my findings. … More Nativity update

Very recently, in a small saleroom in Edinburgh, I bought a genuine Old Master. It’s a seasonal object, too, and an ideal subject for my Christmas blog piece. … More Old Master

If I ask you what’s your favourite colour, it is very unlikely that your answer will be orange. In the UK and USA, only 3% of people choose orange. In other countries it’s about 6%, but orange invariably comes in way behind the world’s favourite colours of blue, red, green and, yes, purple[1]. If you … More The Colour Orange

Episode 2 – Connections 6 – 10 This blog piece continues the story which I started in Episode 1. If you haven’t read the first instalment, then this continuation might not make all that much sense to you. I suggest that you start at the beginning by clicking here to get the story so far. The … More Eglinton Connections: Episode 2

Episode 1 – Connections 1 – 5 Question: What is it that brings together the following somewhat disparate elements? A village in the Cotswolds Mr Burton, 62 High Street Mr Ridgway, a Staffordshire potter A mediaeval tournament Mr Samuel Pratt, antique dealer, 47 New Bond Street, London Mr Joshua Simmons, antique dealer, 52 Great Queen … More Eglinton Connections: Episode 1

In my last blog piece about my Toast Water Jug, I quoted Mrs Beeton’s 1869 recipe for Toast-and-Water. Many readers responded: “so have you tried it?”.  To be honest, I hadn’t. But I have tried it now. I decided to test it out. Under laboratory conditions, of course. This piece is my Toast Water Test … More Testing Toast Water

Here’s a picture of a shelf in my house. Take a close look. Does anything look strange? Does anything look anomalous? Here’s another picture of another shelf. See what I mean? Yes, there’s an odd pot out. I have many more shelves like these. Some in the house, several in the shed, and I’m not … More Toast Water