Tuesday 26 January 2016

Entry two:


Hello reader,

When I began this blog with my very first post in December 2015, I should have known that Christmas, the New Year and all the associated commitments and events connected to these, would divert my attention from any possibility of actually posting a second entry here in a timely manner!  However, all these have now passed and it is definitely time to put pen to paper, as it were.

It is amazing how a few days of not connecting with the blog universe can suddenly stretch into several weeks or more.  Many apologies.

Christmas is always enjoyed fully in this household; we decorate, we cook, we entertain… and it is lovely.  Here are some tiny glimpses of what transpired:



We inverted this Victorian specimen dome (the former "specimen" resident has  long gone) and filled it with coloured glass baubles, fresh conifer branches and small fruits to create an interesting, decorative Christmas-themed display.

My partner made these Nativity scene figures many years ago, using felt, cotton and wool.  It reappears every December and brings with it a lovely, cosy, hand-made feel to our observance of Christmas traditions.

Even this jaunty little porcelain fellow on the sideboard was able to participate in the festivities by displaying a somewhat Carmen Miranda-esque approach to the season.

I hope the new year has begun in a very positive way for everyone and I'm looking forward to delving deeper into the blog world as the weeks and months of 2016 proceed.

Gerard Alan

Tuesday 15 December 2015

Entry one:



Hello reader, 

May I introduce myself?  My name is Gerard Alan. This is my first ever blog post.

I have wanted to launch this blog for years now.  That is because I know that there are many other people who have interests in antiques and interiors, similar to my own.  I am curious to see if other people might be interested to read, follow and perhaps contribute to discussion of the topics I propose to write and share ideas about.

A French gilt mantel clock, from around 1880, purchased in Normandy. It is flanked by two 18th century porcelain dishes.  I have a particular interest in antique clocks, which will be the  topic of  a later post

I have a keen interest in and appreciation of antiques, the decorative arts and beautiful objects.  I am  interested in how the combination and placement of such items helps to create an appealing, comfortable atmosphere perhaps in a single room, in a whole house, or just on one table top. I am interested in how these spaces and the arrangements they contain can affect our sense of calm and wellbeing.  I am interested in the sense of luxury and timelessness, and importantly, security and comfort, which thoughtfully and beautifully decorated domestic settings can provide for those who live and move within them.

A pair of oak armchairs, upholstered in a woollen tapestry fabric with a typical verdure theme.  Although they look rather severe, they are remarkably comfortable by virtue of the angled, high camel-backs.  These chairs are faithful 19th century copies of Louis XIII style fauteuils.  Originally French, procured in Germany.

I also have a passion for collecting antiques, decorative items and beautiful objects.  Some of my friends have used the word “obsessive” to describe my collecting habits, but I find that word to be somewhat harsh and subliminally critical.  In my mind, “obsessive” implies an all-consuming pursuit at any cost, which does not describe my collecting behavior at all. 

However, when it comes to gathering beautiful objects, I am passionate.  I am also careful.  I am resourceful.  I am selective.  I am not nervous about purchasing an item in less than perfect shape and having it restored later, or perhaps doing the work myself.  Why not?  The thought of plucking a not-completely-splendid item out of dusty obscurity in the back room of an antiques market or even a junk shop and then, making it utterly and completely splendid again, is very attractive to me.  In these times of large-scale consumption, throwing things away and then consuming even more, rejuvenating an old item and making it beautiful and useful again seems such a great, Earth-friendly thing to do.

I have learned a lot along the way.


A 19th century brass bouillotte lamp.  The tole shade is able to be lowered as the  candles within (red ones in this case) burn down, preventing those in the room having to endure the glare of a naked flame.  Similar lamps were often placed on a small table specifically designed for playing the 19th century card game bouillotte, a very popular pass-time in stylish French salons.

I have been very fortunate in my professional life, in that it afforded me the opportunity to work and live in Europe for a total of sixteen years.  When not working, travel opportunities were just too tempting.  My partner and I spent countless happy holiday hours trawling through antique markets, bric-a-brac shops and second-hand establishments throughout Europe.  Some places we visited only once, others we eagerly returned to more frequently.

Over the years, we developed a reasonably good eye for interesting and unusual decorative items.  We became adept at haggling.  We scoured the famous Parisian antiques quarter.  Occasionally, we got up very early to drive into Belgium for the (fabulous) weekly antiques market in Tongeren. On cold and overcast Winter mornings, when the Tongeren market opened before sunrise, it was sometimes necessary to peer at the outdoor stalls by torchlight!

We visited regional antiques and bric-a-brac centers in the UK and across Europe.  Sometimes we did not purchase anything at all.  On other trips, our hire-car would groan under the weight of all the items we procured, leaving barely enough sitting room for the driver and passenger.  At one time, we managed to squeeze an 18th century oak clock case into the car with literally only millimeters to spare.  It almost touched the windscreen and the rear window at the same time!  I’m sure the police would not have approved had they seen how the clock case obscured the driver’s vision, but fortunately, we all made it home unscathed. In retrospect, it was definitely worth the anxiety we experienced on the day.

We always enjoyed the "hunt" immensely and sometimes, we also gathered! 

Accordingly, in January 2015 when my partner and I returned permanently to our home in Australia, we brought with us a 40 foot high-cube shipping container literally stuffed with an eclectic mix of treasures, large and small, collected during our years in Europe.  We are gradually combining these with those items we already owned in Australia, so consequently, careful consideration of some objects and occasional culling continues to be a necessity. 


A glimpse of the keyboard of our Flemish harpsichord.    Gerard built the instrument from a kit in 1986 and since then, it has developed a wonderful silvery, rich tone.  It is perfect for the music of Rameau, Couperin and J.S. Bach.  As a decorative object, it is captivating in appearance, providing a sense of history and refinement in the room.

In this blog, I would like to invite you to see what we have done.  You are invited to see the things we have collected over the years and how they have become a wonderfully nostalgic narrative of our life and the places we have lived and visited.  I will show you how we place and combine many of these objects and use them in our home to create, what is for us, a sense of comfort, timelessness and dare I say, perhaps even luxury, which I have so often admired in many places we have visited. 


For those of you with an interest in collecting, antiques, objet d’art, or perhaps more generally in domestic interiors, this blog could possibly hold some appeal.  I hope so.

Please feel perfectly free to join us.