my Ceredigion and my Cardigan Bay » art antiques and collecting

New Web Pages: Wales Antiques Update

Paul Williams — Wed, 19 May 2010 08:27:55 +0000

After some late nights I have re-launched my Wales Antiques web pages; somewhat predictably it’s powered by the mighty WordPress using the incomparable Atahualpa Theme by BytesForAll.
Take a look and let me know what you think.

Photographing the Sun

Paul Williams — Wed, 12 May 2010 21:30:04 +0000

Cutting across my earliest conditioning and ignoring my camera’s manual, today I photographed the sun.

Conditions were favourable; a light breeze, some cloud but a bright sky with a south facing aspect.

During a 30 minute tea break my boss is man-handling a rare Carl Zeiss Jena prism lens into position on the outside workbench. Originally intending to photograph the lump for eBay and doubtless a very good price, the opportunity to mess about with the light from our nearest star was too good to miss.

While he manouvered the beast into position I set up an adhoc viewing surface (the back of a short wave radio manual) and set about capturing the clouds scudding across the face of the sun.

With no way of accurately focussing the image and with me working hand held it is of neccessity a rough a ready pair of images I brought home.

Somehow, and I don’t know quite how, we felt like twin Galileos, rather awed by the simple fact of looking at the Sun.

What next; running with scissors?

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Photos: Arts and Crafts Oak Candlesticks from Carmarthen Showground

Paul Williams — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 19:54:09 +0000

I spent the best part of this damp morning at Carmarthen Showground Antiques and Flea market distributing the 2010 Wales Antiques Guide. A side benefit of this is getting in early before the civilians, and having a good look around the stalls and meeting the mostly laconic and downbeat stall holders.

The goods on offer were piled high and of a pretty good standard; with more cash I would have come home with a lot more that I did.

So here’s the star lot; one pair of arts and crafts candlesticks, oak, carved, 16 inches high and probably late 19th or early 20th century. I’m unable to identify the maker but I suspect a Welsh connection. I guess they could possibly be made for ecclesiastical use though I’d have expected something a little more ‘gothic revival’.

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Making Coffee the Harry Palmer Way

Paul Williams — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 22:27:43 +0000

While stumbling about the internet looking for info on the magnificently retro Russell Hobbs brushed stainless steel coffee percolator, I found the the Harry Palmer Movie site.
I’d had it in mind that Deighton had give is then un-named anti-hero some fancy-dan device for brewing his coffee. I was nearly right. It seems that the executive producer had put together a product placement deal to promote the Insta-Brewer, a rather nasty looking cafetiere and it features rather prominently in The Ipcress File.

So apart from learning that Deighton taught Caine how to crack an egg I learnt that my vintage Russell Hobbs Model 3008 looks cooler than an Insta-Brewer. And it makes damn fine coffee.

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Disposable Sharps for Vinyl Junkies; Gramophone Needles and the Damage Done

Paul Williams — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 21:47:07 +0000

Every day, I confess, I visit a certain charity shop. It is a rather unreconstructed affair; no pricing policies, no Fair Trade, no over-priced secondhand books and no visiting window dresser. You’ll gather that this is my kind of charity shop. It’s old school and I like it because there’s most likely something worth buying. As often as not it’s a ‘nothing’, a ‘yes-thing’ that’s cool to have around, but not a thing that will make worry about getting too rich, too quick.

Here are today’s treasures.

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£1 never better spent; until tomorrow.

Grammophon-Nadeldosen / Gramophone Needle Tins: Geschichte und Katalog mit aktuellen Bewertungen / History and Catalogue with current Valuations