We had the pleasure of meeting 2 young brothers who have already started on their own collecting journey.
Zachary and Max local to Swindon have been to visit the Arcade a few times recently, this past Christmas they got chatting to Brenda, one of our dealers about metal detecting and coin collecting, as Max is an avid coin collector. He got some great advice from Brenda about collecting coins and expanding his collection. Max , Zachary and mum Laura popped in again recently where we had a lovely chat about both their collecting hobbies and how they started
Max became interested in coins when he was given a £2 coin which looked a bit different from the usual, he decided to see what he could dig up at his mums allotment, finding a few old coins that sparked his interest even more. Over the past 2 years he has built up a nice collection, keeping his most prized/favorites in a display box.
Zachary is a keen model car / boat collector and loves to visit the Arcade to add to his collection. A Ferrari 330 P4 which he purchased here was one of the cars that started off his collection. He mainly enjoys looking for supercars and older style models, Zachary also loves to build model kits, his latest being a blue Volkswagen Karmann Ghia.
We look forward to seeing both Max and Zachary here at the Arcade for many more years to come.
We have this beautiful Native American Navajo sand picture signed by Gilbert Yazzie currently available from one of our stall holder (Chula, Unit 22). Sand paintings, as created by Native American Navajo Indians, were not made to be an “art object,” but rather were made as part of an elaborate healing ritual or ceremony.
The artist, or in the Navajo context, the medicine man, would use naturally colored grains of sand, and pour them by hand to create these elaborate “paintings.” After the medicine man completed the sand painting, the person who needed the healing was asked to sit on top of the sand painting (scroll down to see a picture of this).
The belief was that the sand painting provided a portal so that the healing spirits could come through the painting and heal the patient.
After removing the illness from the person, the healing spirits returned to the sand painting, and therefore the illness was believed to have been transferred over to – or was now contained within – the sand painting itself.
So once the healing ceremony was over, the painting was destroyed in order to destroy the illness as well. While one can find “sand paintings” that can be purchased as art works, they were clearly made to be art works for sale, since the paintings in healing ceremonies were destroyed as part of the ritual.
One of our regular customers, Jeanette Ellis runs her own Commercial and Editorial Styling and Photography business.
She often pops in to to source her props for her latest projects, rummaging through our Junk Shop she always comes to the desk with interesting objects that are easily overlooked:
Rusty Keys, distressed books, brass door plates, vintage linens, old bottles can all find their way into Jeanette’s photography.
This beautiful early 20th century Austrian (marked Geschtzt) handmade cold painted solid bronze cat photo frame is a rare find indeed and we just had to show it off!
Gently peaking it’s head over the top with it’s paws holding the top and bottom of the frame with the tip of it’s curled up tail poking out underneath. Approximately 9.5″ high x 6.25″ wide and with an easel back.
This wonderful item is from our lovely dealer Ann Parker, it can be found in Unit 42P along with many other gorgeous antiques and mid century pieces.
In December, just before Christmas, we had the lovely Liza from Pixie Pottery visit us to stock up on vintage ceramics/plates, which she uses to make her beautiful mosaics.
Our Junk Shop is perfect for her to find what she needs, it always has a ready supply of china plates for use in craft / upcycling projects.
Liza re-purposes the vintage plates to make mosaic birds, wall hangings, plaques and mirrors. She sent us some lovely pictures of her work, using what she finds here at the Arcade and other places.
You can find her at www.pixietigerart.squarespace.com
It’s that spooky time of year again when all sorts of creepy goings on start to happen here at the Arcade.
As well as having plenty of unit holders haunting our corridors, frightening items have started to appear across the Arcade.
We have a wonderful colourful Halloween themed window display this month created by Brenda of the Blue Rooms here at the Arcade, if you look carefully in her unit, you might find you are being watched by her feathered friends!
Frances of Clockhouse Antiques has a large display of American Bethany Lowe grotesque figurines, which are sure to make you jump as you explore her unit, you have been warned!
So when you pay us a visit this month, be sure to look out for all our Halloween inspired items, from gargolyes in the garden area to Cards in Unit 22, and brass monkeys hiding their eyes in unit 109.
This month we had a visit from John and Susan with a rather uncanny surprise! This visit however just so happened to be for John’s 67th birthday. John and Susan have been visiting us for the last 20 years and always enjoy their time spent with us. Particularly having a coffee up in the Cosy Coffee Shop followed by some bargain hunting!
Their favourite stall in the Arcade happens to be our famous “Junk Shop” which is ran by Lou. So shortly after their coffee, John and Susan headed on down to the Junk Shop in search of any treasures or trinkets they could find! After a good rummage John was suddenly being stared in the face by what can only be described as the perfect and a must buy item with out question! It was obviously meant to be!
John was looking at a pair of silver plate goblets both stamped with a single word. One said “John” the other said “Susan”! What are the chances of that happening! A great find and we hope you enjoy your Goblets, lets see if you can beat that on your next visit!
It is with great sadness that Adrian and family announce that after a short illness, Hazel Browne passed away peacefully.
Hazel’s funeral is taking place on Tuesday, 18th October at 1.00 pm at St. Lawrence’s Church, Hungerford. You are all very welcome to attend.
Hungerford Arcade Voted The Best Antiques Centre in the UK
Hazel & Adrian (centre) receiving the
BBC Homes & Antiques Magazine Award
From Kirstie Allsop
Hazel’s husband, Adrian would like you all to know that Hazel lived her life to the full right from the early days, although she had a great love of riding motorbikes and horses, there was always antiques, having just acquired The Lamb at Wallingford (now Wallingford Arcade and Tearoom).
We are excited and thrilled to have yet another of our valued customers, Emma and James, celebrate their engagement by purchasing a stunning solitaire seen below. Nothing makes the day better for us than two people celebrating their love for one another in this way!
Emma and James live in Kent but have been visiting us here at the Hungerford Arcade since they met over 4 years ago. This particular visit however was a bit more special than others though!
It was to purchase the lovely engagement ring seen here on Emma’s finger. The ring they chose was from stall holder Brenda Neale (unit 4) and it’s a classic beautiful Solitaire.
We are all thrilled for the couple and delighted they chose to come to us at the Hungerford Arcade for their very important purchase. We wish them all the best and look forward to seeing them again soon, potentially with more exciting news?!
Its that time of year again where stall holder Ian
Spuffard concentrates his efforts in supporting his favourite charity, Macmillan Cancer Support. This week Ian has once again pulled out all the stops by doing his very own cake stall at
the Hungerford Town Hall.
With the cupcakes made by Jane Greenslade and the Flapjacks by our very own Wendy Spare, a successful day was had raising over £70 for Macmillan. Not to mention a belly full of cake no doubt!
Not only has Ian raised awareness and funds for his charity but Ian is also (as usual) taking part in the London Marathon this weekend to again raise funds for Macmillan Cancer Support. Despite all the train cancellations and potential travel issues in the capital, we have pulled together supporting Ian with cover and transportation so he can take part in the event.
We wish him all the best and will be cheering him on this Sunday. Currently Ian has achieved over £1000 towards his £1500 target but as always you can help support Ian and Macmillan Cancer Support by sponsoring him via the below link:
