The stars and their collected works
CONSPICUOUS CONSUMPTION
rad Pitt collects architecture paraphernalia and kielbasa-lipped beauties. Liberace collected candelabras. Michael Jackson collects everything. But doesn’t necessarily pay for it. Martha Stewart collects scalps.
So says Judith Miller — not the disgraced New York Times reporter — Judith Miller, the author of over 90 books on antiques and collectibles.
Miller is billed as “the queen of collection.” She obviously hasn’t seen my shoe stash. A child of the Formica generation, she doesn’t come by it naturally. London-based Miller began collecting crockery in the ’60s while a university student in Edinburgh, Scotland.
She started with old plates she found in junk shops. She just had this thing about old plates. “I like pottery,” she explains. “I started to find out about plates and I couldn’t find books in the library. Some plates went back to the 18th and 19th centuries.
“I became an addict,” she smiles. “I was scurrying around in job lots. If they couldn’t get rid of stuff, they dumped it into a box. Some of it was rubbish. I tried to find out where they
Bwere made, how old they were. It was really difficult because when I went to the library to look them up, there were no books that showed you ordinary things.” Which led to her own series of price guides and books, including four new ones published this fall: Antiques Price Guide 2006, Collectibles Price Guide 2006, Collector’s Guides Art Deco and Furniture — World Styles from Classical to Contemporary.
She has a core collection of 80 pieces including 17th- and 18thcentury Chinese porcelain; English pottery; 20th-century glass; costume jewellery; and single chairs. “My husband ( John Wainwright, with whom she has coauthored several books) says when I leave the house, ‘Repeat after me, We don’t need a single chair.’ If any more chairs go around the wall, we’ll look like God’s waiting room.”
Martha Stewart collects Wedgwood and English and American glass — everything to do with country. Miller has guested on Martha Stewart Living.
“She was in the middle of her court case so she was very stressed,” Miller recalls. But she was very rude. She is a control freak.
“If you get Martha Stewart holding up your book and saying, ‘If there is one thing you do today, buy this book,’ it’s a good thing. We got a lot of sales in Middle America. Usually we get New York City and New England. Michael Jackson collects everything flashy and showy. There is no thought into what he collects.
“Brad Pitt is into arts and crafts. He goes to furniture sales. Nicolas Cage collects comics — he adopted his name from Marvel Comics superhero Luke Cage. Early originals from the ’50s can be worth $40,000 because of the original artwork. He sold a 1938 Superman comic for $1.6 million.”
Miller viewed the Liberace estate sale in New York.
“ All the lot numbers were in the shape of pianos; it was high camp,” she says. “There were hundreds of candelabras, cherubs and cupids. Lots of pink and gilt. His clothes were in peacock colours.” As for new trends: “Scared boys go back to their toys,” Miller explains. “London is a very nervous place now; people don’t know the enemy. Lots of men in their 50s and 60s are buying toys they had as boys. Men in suits are going along Bond Street with teddy bears. “When they were children, life was much safer. My memories are of beautiful, sunny days. Yet I was raised on the Scottish border and it rains all the time.”
Her advice is to collect anything you like. “Why live with stuff you don’t like? There is nothing that isn’t collectible. And don’t be afraid to make mistakes. An old dealer once said to me: ‘If you buy something for $100 and you find out it’s only worth $50, the other $50 is experience.’ ”