Tag: paul martin

REVIEW – Devizes Arts Festival– “Collecting – An Art, A Hobby Or A Compulsion?” with Clare Durham and Paul Martin @ Wiltshire Museum (Friday 5th June 2026)

Going, Going, Gone

by Andy Fawthrop

As I keep going on about, Devizes Arts Festival continues to bring up these little treats from its chocolate box of delights. And, there, hidden away in a corner, minding its own business, was a luscious little morsel of entertainment.….

Whilst DAF have a (largely informal) policy of not using and promoting local talent within Devizes, but rather of using the opportunity of the arts fortnight to bring in a wide range of items and performers from rather further afield, folks you might not normally get to see, in this case they made a rather pleasing decision to “support local”.  Clare Durham, from Henry Aldridge and Son (who were sponsoring this event), and well-known Seend-based TV personality Paul Martin, teamed up to present an interesting and informative session.  I suppose you could say it was a vote of confidence, or rather a way of saying thank-you to Titanic specialist auctioneers Aldridges for bringing their business back into the centre of Devizes.

Anyway, over the course of an hour we (well certainly me anyway) learned quite a lot about the world of collectors and collecting.  Paul rather lamented that the younger generation do not seem to be as interested in collecting things anymore.  Where once upon a time nearly everyone ran at least a modest collection of something or other, be it something simple like cigarette cards or stamps, this habit seems to be less common in the 21st century.  People like de-cluttering, don’t have the old furniture, cabinets and space to hold collections of very much, and there seems to be less interest in social history. 

Where Britain was once, certainly during the 18th and 19th centuries, a mighty colonial Empire, with vast wealth, both amongst a richer elite, as well as at a national level, the fad for collecting things of all types was at its zenith.  The Great Exhibition of 1851 was probably the pinnacle of this type of thinking. Valued artefacts were either ancient treasures (possibly looted or “re-located” to Britain), or were the best examples of hand-made items from across the globe. As handicrafts have declined, superseded by large-scale factory production, there are far less individual and/ or unique items being produced, from paintings, to ceramics, to furniture and so on.

Collecting, we learned, was about focus.  Find your niche, your passion, your interest and then home in on that. Work within a budget, buy at the top end of what you can afford, and never buy just for “the investment value”. Don’t collect what everyone else is collecting!

The value of any item is based on three things: rarity/ scarcity, provenance, and condition.  Possibly all self-evident, but provenance is usually the key difference between something that is merely of interest, and something that is worth an absolute fortune. Any provable connection to Royalty, famous people or great events will always increase the value – and Aldridge’s should know, given the large number of valuable items connected with the Titanic which they’ve handled over the years.

We had lots of anecdotes about lucky finds proving to be very valuable, misplaced buyer expectations, and the pitfalls of TV work when it comes to handling antiques and dealing with the rich and famous.

Overall a very entertaining session, and another of those little gems that keep the festival running.

Meanwhile the rest of The Devizes Arts Festival continues until the night of Sunday 14th June at various venues around the town.  Tickets can be booked at Devizes Books or online at www.devizesartsfestival.org.uk

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Devizes; Full of Scummy Mummies!

Guys out on “the pull” on Thursday in Devizes were cut short. The Scummy Mummies were back in town, and you’ve never heard so many…

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