{"id":5625,"date":"2022-03-29T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-28T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/?post_type=purple_issue&p=5625"},"modified":"2022-05-06T15:09:51","modified_gmt":"2022-05-06T13:09:51","slug":"luke-honeys-cabinet-of-curiosities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/2022\/03\/29\/luke-honeys-cabinet-of-curiosities\/","title":{"rendered":"Luke Honey’s Cabinet of Curiosities"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This Month: Why quality counts<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n
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Quality is better than quantity. Or so the old chestnut goes. But if any rule applies to collecting, this has to be it. People tend to collect at a certain level, and less can be more. As an auction specialist and valuer, I visited the homes of many, many people across London. One old gentleman (living in sheltered accommodation with few possessions) owned a boxed set of Deutsche Grammophon Bach CDs, a chair designed by Charles and Ray Eames and an unframed canvas by Alexei Alexeievich Harlamoff (1840-1925), stored under his bed: a fine portrait of a girl in a white dress, which we sold for a five-figure sum. In contrast, another overoptimistic client had a substantial archive of newspaper cuttings, reproduced photographs and photocopies centred around the life of a world-famous thespian and film star. He was convinced it was worth many thousands of pounds. I spent a difficult morning persuading him otherwise.<\/p>\n\n

It is far better as a collector to own, say, five items of rarity and quality, than 100 run-of-the-mill objects, gathering dust. And that principle applies to all types of collectables: from classic cars to rare books, from vintage typewriters to coins of the Ancient World. That said, I\u2019m full of admiration for the collectordealer of limited financial means, building a noteworthy collection on a budget. One way to achieve this is by the concept of \u2018trading up\u2019. The collector buys several affordable objects, learns from them, and then sells, using the money to buy one rare item. And so it continues; for a collection, to some extent, can be self-financing.<\/p>\n\n

Such an approach requires discipline, dedication and considerable detective work. And you need to understand how the market works. Let\u2019s say you collect the books of Graham Greene. Brighton <\/em>Rock <\/em>(1938) with dust jacket \u2013a holy grail in the world of rare books \u2013 might set you back \u00a365,000, if you can find one. Yet, the same title, published by the Folio Society in 1997, might be had for \u00a320 online. On the other hand, a first edition of Brighton <\/em>Rock, <\/em>but lacking the wrapper, might, say, be acquired for \u00a31,000 in a \u2018fine\u2019 condition from a dealer. It\u2019s that all-important dust jacket that makes such a difference. It\u2019s incredibly scarce. William Heinemann printed Brighton <\/em>Rock\u2019s <\/em>jacket in a bright confectioner\u2019s pink, and it\u2019s thought that early collectors of Greene\u2019s works threw away the wrapper as it clashed with the colours of Greene\u2019s other books when lined up on a shelf.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

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First edition of Brighton Rock by Graham Greene, published by Heinemann in 1938. It has its original red cloth with gilt titles to spine, in exceptionally rare pink dust jacket, \u00a365,000, Jonkers Rare Books. Jonkers Rare Books, jonkers.co.uk<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n

Understanding the difference between genuine and artificial rarity is also essential, which is why I\u2019m wary of the so-called \u2018limited editions\u2019 as advertised by the various \u2018mints\u2019 in the back pages of the Sunday colour supplements. A \u2018special collector\u2019s\u2019 edition of 5,000 \u2013 however \u2018limited\u2019 \u2013 doesn\u2019t make something rare. Take Harry <\/em>Potter <\/em>and <\/em>the <\/em>Philosopher\u2019s <\/em>Stone, <\/em>published by Bloomsbury in 1997 and the first book in the Harry Potter series. Only 500 were printed, with 300 sent to public libraries for inevitable stamping and defacement, leaving a mere 200 copies in private circulation, and very few of these will remain in \u2018fine\u2019 condition. Now that\u2019s rarity. The same principle applies to Peter Murdoch\u2019s children\u2019s chair, first designed in 1964 and made from a single piece of disposable, die-cut cardboard. Although 76,000 chairs were sold in six months in 1967, few survive\u2026<\/p>\n\n

Inevitably, some buyers collect antiques as a speculative investment. It\u2019s not something I would recommend: expensive insurance costs, vulnerability to damage, lack of dividends, hefty seller\u2019s commissions, transport costs (for larger objects) and Capital Gains Tax: all must be taken into account. And there are liquidity issues too. If you sell at auction, it might take several months to get your money back. Although it\u2019s of course possible to make money from antiques, the best collectors identify with the objects they\u2019re buying. They\u2019re buying for love, as much as for money. I can\u2019t stress how much you can learn by buying an antique, handling it physically, and researching it before selling it on. Knowledge is key. And even if your collection fails to make a profit, the pleasure gained is immeasurable.<\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n

Luke Honey is an antiques dealer and writer. Find out more at lukehoney.co.uk<\/a> <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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