Roys Antiques, 18th and 19th century antique furniture, silver and russian ikons, Clifton Hill, (Fitzroy) Melbourne Australia

It is difficult to say what the owners of this now fine house enjoyed more: designing and renovating their home as a long-term project, or the social benefits this entailed.

So much of the furniture and decorations from this home were found at Roy’s Antiques that the family jokingly refers to their opulent home as Roy’s “branch office”! When I first saw this house many years ago, the quality of the 1940s georgian Revival house was evident, but while the bones were good, the interior was a terror. I have recollections of gloomy, dark rooms where everything was the colour of porridge.

The 18th century chair I bought at Camberwell Market for $25 and the rare Louis XVI silver vase I bought in a Melbourne antiques centre for $12 are typical of the windfall stories that collectors love to tell. They are why we rug up before dawn and set off for wet and muddy boot sales or markets and comb antiques shops and centres, auctions, garage sales and op shops. How pallid an adventure eBay looks!

Serendipity is the bedrock of collecting. Collectors need to be surprised by their quarry. For maximum satisfaction it should be both in the wrong context and be priced well below its usual value. It is fitting that Horace Walpole, distinguished for his literary output, was also a noted collector. He crystallised the concept for us in 1754 in a fiction where three princes of Serendipity were ‘always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things they were not in quest of.’
 

Where do you get upholstery grade seaweed in the 21st century? This is but one challenge to the conscientious antiques dealer. While most porcelain, silver, bronze and stone antiques usually need only tactful cleaning and careful research, timber furniture is quite another matter. Drawers and carcase abrade each other. Timber shrinks and splits. Finishes craze or turn black and matte. Upholstery wears away and joints loosen.

There is an abundance of ‘Not Quite Right’ antiques on the market, but far from being things to avoid at all costs, many are worthwhile purchases. Reproductions, fakes, half age and damaged pieces, marriages and conversions may be anathema to the purist, but may be perfect for the home furnisher and decorator.
The most important thing is that these items should be revealed for what they are and commensurate prices asked and paid. Problems only arise when a buyer pays top price for an undisturbed, complete, unbroken original and does not get what he bargained for.

The often romantic, occasionally tragic, tale of how silver made in China by Russian artisans came to Australia requires a little background history.

After the disgrace of being trounced by Japan in 1904, Russians were appalled at the dismal performance of Nicholas II’s leadership in the Great War (World War I; 1914-1918). The February Revolution (1917) brought about the abdication of the Tzar and the installation of a democratic government under Alexander Kerensky. The bulk of the population welcomed democracy and hoped the change in government would stem the tide which was going against Russia in the unpopular war.