Top Tips

My Collectors Corner article in today's Daily Telegraph is all about antique beds. Take into account that we spend one third of our lives in them, and choosing a bed becomes a rather important decision. You can read it HERE

It's that time of the year when many children will have received the latest game for their hand-held electronic console. Others will have received other games or toys that could in the future be worth lots of money to collectors – the question is, which ones?

In one of our recent online artircles that you can read when you sign up for the blog, Mark Hill took a look at retro computer games that may give you some useful pointers. You can read it HERE but only once you've signed up to the Millers' web site!

 If you are new to this blog and have just stumbled onto our web site you really should register. It's simple and it's free! When you register you can access all of the site which means that you can check out valuations and also look at well over 30,000 different images that are listed underneath the 'browse site by category' over on the left hand side of the page.  Over the coming months we will continue to add not just images but more and more articles to the site. . .but first you have to register. Just click HERE.

If you're going to America on holiday or if you live there and are travelling around then the list in Budget Travel magazine of the best flea markets is well worth reading. It features the World's longest yeard sale, Brimfield antique and flea market shows and the Brooklyn flea. Read some more HERE

Jessica Colvo from Action for Blind People asked a question via a comment on one of my recent posts. She said, "I work with Blind and Partially sighted job seekers and have a client who works with antiques he remembers Judith Miller saying she believed touch was as, if not more important than sight in identifying antiques, do you have any idea what this quote was more precisely?"

I cannot remember what I actually said or when and where I said it Jessica but all of the senses are important when investigating antiques and collectables and all can have a vital part to play in dating and correctly identifying something; although our sense of taste comes into play but rarely.

For those people who are blind or partially sighted a sense of touch certainly doesn’t stop them from involving themselves in the quest for antiques. Impaired vision can often mean a heightened sense of touch and feel and it is possible that this can, for example, identify restoration marks that are not immediately visible to a fully sighted person. All of us should use our sense of touch to help our eyes correctly see things. I think if someone who is blind could be alongside someone who can see then both would learn from each other. Minute cracks and blemishes on pottery or porcelain can be felt by touching a piece, when a less than thorough visual examination may not spot them.

Hearing is perhaps the one sense that is used less than others when hunting for antiques, however, listening to what people tell you is so important. A dealer or a stallholder may be telling you one thing but your other senses tell you something different. So listen hard and use the information to make a correct identification. Finally don’t forget to sniff some things. An old collectable teddy bear will have the smell of age, whereas a newer one won’t!