FASHIONS IN ANTIQUE

Dominion, Volume 20, Issue 60, 4 December 1926, Page 18

FASHIONS IN ANTIQUE

The phrase "the very latest thing in antiquities" may sound rather paradoxical! But dealers know that flic public fancy for the relics of past ages varies in the same way as the popular taste in clothes or novels. Ever since it became known that the (Jucen is a keen admirer of Chinese antiques, of which her Majesty has a valuable collection, these fascinating vases, bowls, statuettes, and other ornaments have been in* special favour among those who can affprd them. One West End dealer told me that even throughout the "slump" from which the antique trade has been suffering recently. Chinese antiques have continued to find a satisfac. tory sale.

The discovery of the tomb of King Tut-ankh Amen gave a fillin to interest in Egyptian antiquities; full of memories of the splendour of the monarchs of a dead people, which has not yet died down. Just at the moment the oldest antiques of all, going back to the verv beginnings of art in different parts of the world, are fetching high nrices. but these are not often bought for private collections. Tt is a far cry from antiques thousands of vears ago to the relics of our Victorian ancestors, but there is a decided vogue for Victorian ornaments iust now narticularlv china trinket boxes minted with the designs topical in the Victorian era. Bristol glass panerw-eighfs. which are filled with multi-coloured glass "flowers." are now fetching good nrices