Advertise on podcast: Antiques Radio Show on 2RPH

Can mistaken oddities, fakes and failures be valuable ? We explore this through a bit of an ancient fish, an overly complex woodworking plane, an outmoded typewriter, and some outright fake intaglios. All prove very costly to their buyers! We cross other bridges before our zoom chat which opens the mind to collections, collecting and how one can relate to the items. We have some light relief on the collecting/hoarding issue and find out about the opening up of an enigma.   Presented by Jolyon Warwick James, recorded for the studios of 2RPH in Sydney.   Original broadcast date: 23.05.22

A truly eclectic mix! Rocking horses, then and now. An alternative view of political impacts on the art and antiques trade, including money laundering, de-forestation and elephants. A Zoom chat uncovers a lifesaving family heirloom, and reveals something of the workings of 2RPH. Captain Cook features, in relation to the pen and the spear. And something to go back to boarding school with – in 1895.

We focus on museums, both the jewels in the box and the jewel box itself. Has their function changed over the years? We pose a few questions and leave you to decide. Our Zoom chat is with a curator who describes her museum, the jewels inside and its accessibility to people with sight impairment (companion dogs welcome). We hear about a fascinating BBC documentary, and we even break into verse, reciting some poetry about antiques.

Whilst the objects history leaves behind tell us about past glories, disasters and all things in between, we need to be careful not to judge past times through present day spectacles. This program offers a number of things that illustrate that point – a silver trophy for a now questionable sport, a doll with seemingly “inappropriate” marketing wording, a patented toilet which eschews flushing as detrimental to the environment, and an early 17th century “four-poster bed” which may prove people taller today. Our Zoom chat is with the descendant of a maker of very strange musical instruments.

History becomes alive through the things it leaves behind. We examine a few relics to highlight obsolete trades, old rituals, obscure behaviours and forgotten discoveries. Our vehicles are a frock, a small box, a fake map a genuine globe, an interview with a researcher, an “ice age” spoon, and a manuscript with an ancient cure you’d rather not have to take. Will all this successfully bring history alive for you?

Thinking well ahead to Tuesday 8th March and International Women’s Day, we focus on women connected with antiques and art – as creators, owners, users or students. We include a nurse, two artists, a wife, a model, a mummy (in both senses), a goddess and a suffragette. We also offer paintings, sculptures, an art installation, ancient artifacts, a medal and some lighting equipment.

For the festive season we have the Christmas antiques and art quiz, plus some gift ideas. We touch on Lars Magnus Ericsson, Maxie, ping pong, Brian May and Quinnies. And there’s a tip for Sydney to Hobart yachtsmen to improve their luck in the Boxing Day boat race. Finally, a bit of philosophy. Does art have to physically exist? Can it exist by its own absence? We hear about one artist who thought so - and pocketed his fee.

The dramatis personae (in various contexts) include Winnie the Pooh, Dr. David Livingstone and Henry Morton Stanley, Emile Berliner, Cecil Rhodes, David (the one who KO’d Goliath in the first round), and a social media “non-influencer”. How do all of these relate to objects and their creators, from Hester Bateman to Michelangelo? The program explains how, what and why, as well as solving the previous program’s crossword clue.

The program looks at some predictable and some unexpected impacts, by the COVID-19 lockdown, on the antiques and art industry. Some antique curiosities come up for sale giving an insight into how life was lived in years gone by, and we get an amusing insight (“guru’s view”) into the art of the future. What if a sculptor does not wish to see her finished product, and the “sitter” cannot? We hear about a fascinating project (very much) touching on this. We include some cross words – cryptic, not angry.

Whilst avoiding NFT’s, the program concentrates on some very material oddities and curiosities. It examines the recent history of the trade in some “well past use-by-date” comestibles, an old leaky beaker, an unexploded WW1 artillery shell and a weird wristwatch. There’s a follow up to the previous program's “lost and found,” with some parts of a suit of armour that were re-united. We end with some helpful quotes about art from Tolstoy, Kipling and Wilde.

Our main topic is “lost and found” – four stories of items “separated” from their owners, and which eventually found their way home – some ornamental lions, bronze tortoises, paintings and Indian artefacts. Who were the dispossessed, where was home and what was the journey in the middle? On other matters, where is the dividing line between erotic art and porn? - we take a short (and seemly) peek. “Mechanical toy” versus “automation” – we compare virtues and descriptions. Lastly the issue of humour: can the antiques and art industry laugh and laugh at itself? The program offers few answers but lots to ponder. Original broadcast date 16.08.2021

What links a 16th century gold medal and a 20th century combination silver cigarette lighter and case? Both were the gift of Kings with one also being to a “King”. We hear about both and detail some historical irony surrounding medal, almost 500 years after it was made. We discuss two intriguing opium legacies to the decorative arts, and then look at two non-original works of “flat art”. One a downright fake and the other a copy, both having intriguing stories surrounding them and sold for surprising sums. We ask if the price was for the singer or the song. This is followed by an excursion into body art, a teddy bear, Humpty Dumpty, a stopwatch and ends with a favourite quote. Original broadcast date 19.07.2021