STORIES & GUIDES
Stories & Guides
How to live with old things, how to buy them well, and the wonderfully specific reasons some of them existed in the first place.
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Three ways to look closer
You do not need to know antiques to enjoy them. Choose the question that brought you here.
HOW TO LIVE WITH OLD THINGS
Make room for something older
Decorating, mixing periods, small-space ideas, hanging art, and using inherited or found pieces without turning your home into a museum.
HOW TO BUY OLD THINGS
Buy with curiosity, not intimidation
Auctions, marks, condition, attribution, restoration, pricing, provenance, and the practical clues that make buying old things easier.
WHY ON EARTH DID THIS EXIST?
The objects that make you ask twice
Sardine boxes, forgotten table rituals, obsolete domestic tools, and other useful things that became unexpectedly elaborate.
WHY ON EARTH DID THIS EXIST?
Every object has more than one life
Look past the auction photograph. Good pieces carry evidence of their making, their use, and the people who kept them long enough for us to find them.
LATEST FROM THE HOUSE
Read, learn, wander
Assign real articles here as the Henbury House library grows.
Antique Decorating
The Room Is Fine. That’s the Problem.
A room doesn’t need to look old to have history. Discover how one well-chosen antique can add character, tension and personality to even the...
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Antique Decorating
Before You Bid, Turn It Over.
The prettiest auction photograph is rarely the most useful. Ida Madder shares the simple checks that can reveal marks, repairs, honest wear—and save you...
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Antique Decorating
Why on Earth Did This Exist?
A porcelain box with a sculptural sardine on the lid seems absurd now. Ida Madder looks at the forgotten dining rituals that made it...
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