How do we know what we know?

I thought it would make sense to actually tell you how we fill our day to give you an insight into our work with rather small snap shots of individual cases, soon we will be able to update you with the Henry VII painting we are working on, it's taking time and we may have a TV company interested in following the story so bear with us and we will report back on that very soon. So allow me to tell you how Andy and I spend our time.

My year is taken up with making TV programmes, lecturing around the world on fakes and forgeries, authenticating art and most importantly filling homes and commercial properties with art, antiques and just down right great, rare and quirky items. In the past 12 months my varied requests have included advising an A list Hollywood actor on buying paintings and also bringing too life two properties that couldn't be more different. A chic boutique hotel in the UK and a fabulous villa in the South of France.

When people buy fabulous art, antiques or unique collectables there are three reasons. Investment, the love of the item and the delight ownership can give you and just as importantly & maybe the most fun is to show it off.

Anyone with money can buy a beautiful Bentley, a Sunseeker yacht or an apartment in Marbella but not everyone owns a Jimmy Hendrix last guitar, a letter from John Lennon or Mary Queen of Scots pearl necklace.

For example filling an empty ten bedroom Georgian mansion with beautiful, interesting art and antiques that will turn out to be a great investment long term can be a daunting task, but infinitely simpler than hunting down Napoleons old loo or the SS100 brough superior that Laurence of Arabia died on. It is very labour intensive just to buy ten sets of bedside tables alone means you have probably vetted 100 pairs! And even when the ten sets are purchased they may need renovating, polishing and then storing until the work on the property is complete or a moving in date is set, that has certainly been the case with the beautiful Southernhay House Hotel

With far less antiques shops than there used to be and 100's of fairs every month claiming to be antiques fairs but turning out to be upmarket car boots how does the buyer make sure they are getting the best for their money and a guarantee of authentication? The two best pieces of advice are learn as much as you can if you have the time and never buy anything over the internet! If you don't have the time though or the inclination you find an art & antiques consultant who can take you on that journey or simply do it all for you and that where I found myself this year.

A good deal of my customers want anonymity as much as good service for many reasons, it's true to say that when a famous face asks the price of a painting or great bit of furniture it's not uncommon for the seller to double the price because they feel the celebrity is rich enough to be able to afford it! Or just as importantly the last thing a person in the public eye wants when they are creating a new home is all their personal details ending up in the Sunday papers! 

To say our work is diverse is an understatement and just when we feel we have seen everything up comes something new. Now we have attached ourselves to a big auction house in the US the items just get more fun and stranger. It is the UK that we prefer working though as our stock of fabulous items are everywhere here, just look at what's available on LoveAntiques.com, you would not get that anywhere else in the world that are as genuine and so diverse. If you want to know more about our work feel free to contact us through LoveAntiques.com or direct via our website: www.curtisdowlingart.com 

Happy hunting, those unique, fabulous items are out there and so often as we know they are in the most unlikely places and quiet often for pennies.