A ROYAL COLLECTOR OF SERENDIPITY

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30898, 3 November 1965, Page 2

A ROYAL COLLECTOR OF SERENDIPITY

[By

JOAN REEDER]

A love of antiques can have many different beginnings. It can come from pride of finding one’s first rare piece at an odd sale, from an absorption in history, or from a taste which prefers the design and mellowness of things created by craftsmen. It is true to say that the love which the Queen Mother has for antiques was born of all these things.

All her life she has lived in beautiful homes. In those lofty rooms modern furniture designed for open-plan, and small living areas, would look out of place and comfortless.

Her mother-in-law, Queen Mary, had a knowledge and passion as a collector which was formidable —and infectious. No member of the Royal Family has succeeded Queen Mary as a collector of such ardour aind vigilance but, nevertheless, she awakened in them an interest and love for antiques which the Queen Mother, in her own fashion, carries on today. For the Queen Mother, an-

tiique collecting is a happy hobby. She is not zealous about it, and she is not a hoarder. When she buys something it is because she can picture it in one of her homes, and it is immediately put into loving use. It may be furniture —perhaps, a beautiful chair—but even so her grandchildren can sit on it; her two corgis and the dachshund can romp around it, because it is part of the home and there is nothing in any of the Queen Mother’s homes to remind one of a m useum. Among the things he collects for safe-keeping are pieces of plate bearing her family crest of the Bowes Lyons, and Chelsea china, some of which may be used as centre pieces for the table if suitable, or displayed in cabinets. . The Queen Mother has a lively interest in art and, to some extent, her purchases of paintings are often governed by a quick liking for the work of some artist whose exhibition she has attended. GIVING INCENTIVE It is probable that she may buy the work of a contemporary artist the more readily because it is part of her warm and generous personality to give incentive and encouragement wherever she can. But, equally, she would not buy anything for which she did not feet a genuine liking. One of her favourite pastimes—on rare leisure days—is to visit one of London’s most famous and distinguished sale rooms, Sothebys in New Bond street, just a few minutes away from Clarence House, or Christie's in King street, almost “across the road” from her home. Often a member of her household will receive an unexpected telephone call from the Queen Mother, and hear eagerness in that warm, attractive voice as she suggests they should “just pop across to the sale rooms” with her for half an hour. INFORMAL VIEWINGS On such informal occasions, which the Queen Mother greatly enjoys, no prior announcement is made of her visit. She goes into the viewing rooms with the public and strolls around, gaining much pleasure from looking at the various pieces and objets d’art, able to linger and take her time without the emphasis on a strict timetable which any public visit would demand. If she is sufficiently interested in any item arrangements are then made by a member of her household for a bid to be made on her behalf. If her bid is successful the new purchase will be incorporated into her pleasant and lovely home, and, more likely than not, her friends will be

invited to comment on it, for the Queen Mother loves seeing other people’s homes and discussing with them ideas for furnishings and colour schemes. She is equally ready to return this pleasure as hostess herself. MELLOW GRACE The whole of Clarence House with its welcoming, graceful air, reflects her personality. No room is over formal or rigidy stately; a pleasant mellowness drawn from a mixture of periods contributes towards making it one of the loveliest homes in London. Perhaps the best description comes from a friend who, when asked if the Queen Mother’s taste in antiques followed any trend or period in particular answered: “Yes, one. I’d call.it a collection of serendipity.” And this endearing faculty of making “happy chance finds” seems to me an apt description not only of her antique collecting, but also of a characteristic which has patterned a great deal of the Queen Mother’s life.—British Information Services.

Josef Stefan Kubin, doyen of Czechoslovak writers, died in Prague on Sunday at the age of 101. Kubin wrote several books of short stories and fairy tales, based on folklore.