It has been over 30 degrees some days, so it has felt like a holiday every day, except if you had to travel. Then it wasn't fun, crowded transport with go-slow trains because of rails buckling, must have been hard on our visitors. In spite of travel delays, Portobello Antiques Market has rarely been so packed. It must be the weak pound that encouraged so many tourists, obviously having a great time, and buying antiques to take home as presents full of happy memories of London. There was the Sewing Tools Sale to enjoy up in Warwick, where prices seemed decent to good, achieved in the delightful old 17th century Hospital. It must be heart breaking to sell your collection built up with love, learning and time. Downsizing happens to most of us, but I would advise allotting your items over several sales. None of us have deep enough pockets to buy as much as we would like in one sale.
If you compare prices achieved in the recent Corkscrew Sale, where rare items fetched £12,400, not items of great beauty or outstanding workmanship, we see men are prepared to pay enormous prices to get the item they want. You can feel the competition in the sale room, the telephone lines crackle and internet bidding fast and furious.
It is the reason that many women's collections-fans-embroidery-sewing tools-scent bottles have been dropped from the most important international sale rooms.