The pursuit of antiques

Press, 1 February 1986, Page 20

The pursuit of antiques

Antiques and Things. By Trevor Plumbly; Published by Peter Stewart, Levin, 1985. 143 pp. $16.95 (paperback). (Reviewed by Mervyn Palmer) There are just a few people who seem to be able to write in the same way that they talk and if those people talk agreeably, their writing turns out to be especially worth while. Many people who watched the television series “Antiques for Love or Money” would have reservations about the quality of the programme, but there would not be many who could resist Trevor Plumbly’s enthusiasm during the course of the series. To listen to him talk and to watch him handle pieces was pleasurable. For my part, I could have wished to see him handling pieces which were more often really worthy of his talents. Yet, this brings us to the heart of the matter in his charming book: “Antiques and Things” is not the exclusive preserve of the purist. The interest is not just a platform for academic jousting. It is one of the world’s most popular pursuits and Trevor Plumbly rightly believes it should belong to everyone who wants to collect something, whether they chase matchbox labels, or whether they seek — and occasionally find — vintage porcelain. First and foremost, it is a book for collectors of most things, and for collectors whose hunting ground is New Zealand. The author is not to be sidetracked from his focus on what is possible right now for New Zealand collectors: Eighteenth-century porcelains, early Georgian silver, and

rare Oriental ivories are all very find in their place, but even with the money to spend oh them the j Kiwi collector in his own country is hardly going to be spoiled for choice. * Trevor Plumbly specialises in providing useful general guidelines and helpful hunting hints which at nd time have the reader feeling how hopeless it all is. His,approach is a positive one for the new and relatively inexperienced collector. His material comes from a wide experience as a collector, as an antique dealer, and as a zestful liver, of life. This is a book‘which New Zealand has badly needed. The photographs by Stephen Jacquiery are to the point, eye-catching and, best 'of all, provocative at times in a way that must undoubtedly have pleased the sometimes provocative Trevor Plumbly. To we Southerners, it is pleasing to see the name of Peter Stewart connected with the book and I hope we will find many more of his publications in our bookshops. t It would be exciting to think that “Antiques and Things" will not be the first and last word in writing by Trevor Plumbly on the subject. Despite his suspicion of the academic approach, he is capable of applying; a researcher’s mind to his particular fields of interest in antiques and he can. do this without losing the popular touch. When I asked a reliable antique collecting friend, whb. has been for a long time, how he summed up this little book he told me that he thought it made fpr a ”... real good read.” . . That sums it up very well.