If it sparks something inside of you and you can afford it...buy it
ARK HILL will be a familiar face to fans of The
Antiques Roadshow, having appeared as an expert on the show since 2007. He also presented the BBC2 show Collectaholics, lectures widely and is an author of books such as The Canny Collector.
He began his career as a porter and then a specialist at Bonhams before moving to the Collectors Department at Sotheby’s, where he handled an enormous range of 18th, 19th and 20th century objects from toys to scientific and photographic equipment.
Here he shares the wisdom gained during his more than two decades as an antiques expert.
WHATEVER makes my heart beat faster at that time!
I used to be very focused on what I collected, such as vintage fountain pens, early plastics, or Victorian silver propelling pencils, but now I find my eye, ear and mind drawn to a myriad of different things from across the centuries.
I’VE always collected something, from rocks and stones that caught my eye as a child (who had no money) to vintage pens when I was a teenager spending money I earned on a paper-round in my village.
It’s always the story and people behind an object that capture my heart and imagination. Antiques Roadshow’s Mark Hill, speaks to
about what inspired him to start collecting and how the rise of the internet has changed the market the price level they were at in the 80s and 90s. But the good side is that many more of us can now own things that were previously unaffordable.
Above, right: THAT changes every time I buy something new and there are still many incredible things out there waiting for me. The thrill of the hunt is followed by the thrill of finding out about something – where it was made, by whom, and when. And then tracking its journey through time until it reached my hands.
One highlight is a (then unidentified) cracked bottle vase bought for £5 many years ago that I later found out is a superb example of post-war Czech glass that displays many of the core themes behind the design movement.
Left: A rare Queens Ware lidded and double-handled urn or cup by James Powell & Sons for Wedgwood, circa 1907
Below: A late 20th century plaster sculpture after Henry Moore, titled Reclining Figure:
Holes, dated 1975
Another would be a drawing of a Modigliani painting by a Russian artist called Marevna.
My research led me to discover that it was drawn in a tiny window of a couple of weeks just before Modigliani died, and he would almost certainly have seen it.
He’s a favourite artist of mine whose work is totally out of reach for me, so it’s probably the closest I’ll ever get to him.
Another is a tiny watercolour which I hope is by the French symbolist artist Gustave Moreau, who I wrote my dissertation on. But that’s another story. Above:
A 1930s-50s oil on board of an abstract landscape with an impasto low relief sun shining over a stylised harbour, with sgraffito lines and scarified surface
Above, right: COLLECTORS’ homes are endlessly fascinating, particularly those with varied tastes where you get a sense of the collector behind the collection. I’m lucky in that I’ve travelled widely across the world. I’ve bought at least one thing from nearly everywhere I’ve visited, ranging from Colombian contemporary art to 1920s American studio pottery. THE internet means that it’s never been easier to find something you’re seeking, partly because it’s never been easier to sell something and find the right buyer.
It’s been that way for nearly two decades now. So, if anything, the choice and availability have mushroomed beyond recognition.