MEET THE COLLECTOR BARNEY JAMES

What I collect: English and European folk art - objects that predominately, but not exclusively, were handcrafted for a certain purpose. The makers of these items were usually unknown and rarely professionally trained as would have been expected in the world of fine art. Instead the makers were guided by popular tradition and practicality. My wife Sam and I have been collecting for 10 years and have a range of pieces from decoys, weathervanes and trade signs to naive paintings.

Why I collect: Having been made by hand, all folk art is unique. The pieces are unencumbered by formal discipline and theory, making their character and innocence hugely exciting. Form, naivety, patina and originality are all considered, but most importantly, each piece must make us smile.

How I collect: As dealers in folk art and decorative antiques (homebothy.co.uk), we are always searching antiques fairs in the UK and Europe for original pieces. It’s easy to overlook the importance of folk art and the most intriguing finds inevitably come from the most unexpected of places. We have 20-30 items in our collection, but we do sell some pieces and replace them with others if we find things we prefer. Items of wonderful quality can be found at very reasonable prices, however some fetch into the thousands.

My collection highlight: We have a collection of 18 wading bird decoys, all from the Baie de Somme region of France. We found these in the hunter’s home and purchased them from his grandson in an original leather hunting satchel. They are well used but in good condition; it always adds to a piece when you manage to purchase from source rather than a dealer.