Antique Dealers are the Same Abroad--But the Shops are Not

Dear Husbola and I just returned from a two week trip to London and Paris.  The trip celebrated our 25 year marriage and gave us a jump start after a weird medical few months.  Nothing pops you out of the doldrums like full throttle blooming cherry trees in Paris and smiling daffodils and primroses in London.

For us antiquers--a little antique hunting in spring time can fight away the winter blues pretty well too.  In a previous post--I mentioned that shipping and cost has made Europe antique buying a tough occupation these days.  While in London, Husbola and I did plan a few days out of London to visit old antique haunts--and had reserved a bit of room in the suitcases--as well as had our tape ready if we would find a treasure to send back via a shipper.  But--this was a vacation trip--not like the non stop antique hunts of previous years.

Stop Number One--We go to a "fall off the train into the shop town" with four large shops and have always come away with bags and bags.  This trip--the best part was a great strong coffee from a new coffee house nearby.  We combed the shops--where are the great paintings-sporting items-victorian decoratives that we have bought in the past?  Not there.  We did buy a large collection of great old brass sprinkling can nozzles--the buyers at our next show at Blumen Gardens in Sycamore will love them--but that was it.  That was it.

Stop Number Two--Brocante Fair in small town.  The day was sunny, crisp and anticipation was high.  Best to say we bought some french enamelware from one dealer and spent 15 minutes at the fair.  Maybe 16 minutes.  Bad lunch.  Nice view of the sea.   Better move on to Stop Number Three.

Stop Number Three-We saved the best for last.  Our favourite Sussex town.  We were to start the day with a small auction, move on to pub lunch and then hit four or five true blue shops.   This auction house is filled with gritty dealers from London and afar--the smell of bacon rolls and coffee hits the nose as you peruse the inventory.  Auction report?--everything was broken, chipped, dirty, incomplete or reproduction. WHAT???  You could have found silver bits and bobs--but we don't "do" silver.  We left before the auction started.  We went to a true blue shop--and FINALLY-- did find some things.  We were met by the smiling faces of the owner Simon and dealer Stephen who remembered us from years past.  We came away with quite a few french decoratives--you will see those at our spring shows too.

I can report the pub lunch was great.  Husbola had his once a year glass of  bitter so he did not grumble the rest of the day.  The rest of the shops proved unfruitful.  One was filled with second hand and repro.  We did find a couple of small tables and  other larger pieces--but we were not shipping this time.  We returned to London with a single carrier bag of loot.

It was good to catch up with Simon and Stephen--they report that they still get American dealers--but I sensed they were quite subdued in their reports.  I did notice several empty cabinets--waiting for new dealers to move in.  Nothing different from the US--being an antique dealer today means you have to negotiate rough waters.

More soon on our Paris part of the adventure...