It has been some six months since Tavernicus was moved to write thanks to the distraction of a restoration of a cottage in Derbyshire; at that time the rising crescendo of bleeding hearts pleading for immunity from The Cuts was making life exceedingly dull. Not much has changed. The BBC is still acting in daily conspiracy with special interest groups. However, portentous events in North Africa have finally delivered relief from the daily diatribe.
Meanwhile back in our world, 2011 started with the news from the Antique Collectors' Club that the Antique Furniture Index "AFI" had dropped by 8% in 2010, the largest fall for 40 years. The index is now at the same level as 1990. Grim news for anyone thinking of antiques as an investment. Your house is probably worth 3-4 times more over the same period and the FT250 is up by a similar amount.
Antiques have been displaced by the fashion for the contemporary and inherited goods are no longer coveted in the way they once were. IKEA has much to answer.
However, as with all generalisations, this is not the whole picture as the phenomenon of the "best and the rest " continues. There is still unlimited money about for the special, the rare, the best and objects needing ethnic repatriation. Chinese porcelain is keeping auctioneers up and down the country in brogues and moleskins. Relief then for some.
Clocks seem to have come off their best in recent auctions, having weathered the storms of 2008-10 reasonably well for quality offerings (not true of bog-standard 19thC longcases). Tavernicus is now reporting on auction results for tavern clocks in 2011, (see website forum).
The Tavernicus Archive of 300 tavern clocks was "frozen" in mid-2010 so that the book "The Tavern Clock" could be edited and published. Publication took place in August 2010 and the archive update can now be recommenced; there are about an additional 40 tavern clocks to catalogue.
Within the 40 is the "one that got away". Last year, a small unsigned round dial with a print by John June on the door was sold on Ebay. Tavernicus advised the seller and has since been in touch with the buyer regarding its restoration. It transpired that beneath the top coat of black lacquer the restorer discovered the very clear and unambiguous remnants of the signature, J Wright of Dorking. Probably the finest discovery of the last few years and one suspected by Tavernicus but not acted upon. Follow your instincts!!
Meanwhile back in our world, 2011 started with the news from the Antique Collectors' Club that the Antique Furniture Index "AFI" had dropped by 8% in 2010, the largest fall for 40 years. The index is now at the same level as 1990. Grim news for anyone thinking of antiques as an investment. Your house is probably worth 3-4 times more over the same period and the FT250 is up by a similar amount.
Antiques have been displaced by the fashion for the contemporary and inherited goods are no longer coveted in the way they once were. IKEA has much to answer.
However, as with all generalisations, this is not the whole picture as the phenomenon of the "best and the rest " continues. There is still unlimited money about for the special, the rare, the best and objects needing ethnic repatriation. Chinese porcelain is keeping auctioneers up and down the country in brogues and moleskins. Relief then for some.
Clocks seem to have come off their best in recent auctions, having weathered the storms of 2008-10 reasonably well for quality offerings (not true of bog-standard 19thC longcases). Tavernicus is now reporting on auction results for tavern clocks in 2011, (see website forum).
The Tavernicus Archive of 300 tavern clocks was "frozen" in mid-2010 so that the book "The Tavern Clock" could be edited and published. Publication took place in August 2010 and the archive update can now be recommenced; there are about an additional 40 tavern clocks to catalogue.
Within the 40 is the "one that got away". Last year, a small unsigned round dial with a print by John June on the door was sold on Ebay. Tavernicus advised the seller and has since been in touch with the buyer regarding its restoration. It transpired that beneath the top coat of black lacquer the restorer discovered the very clear and unambiguous remnants of the signature, J Wright of Dorking. Probably the finest discovery of the last few years and one suspected by Tavernicus but not acted upon. Follow your instincts!!
