I admire my antique collector clients who have such a passion for collecting vintage and vintage items that are so commonplace in every sense of the word. They can pick up spoons, plates or shoes. You and I may think that these items are so commonplace that collecting them borders on amassing a junkyard. These vintage and vintage collectible items are such an important part of everyday life that we take them for granted. My collector friends see beyond the everyday and commonplace to these antique and vintage items and therein lies the secret to their desire to collect such items.

Not for them the gold or silver objet d’art or the French antiques decorated with tortoiseshell or ivory or inlaid with mother-of-pearl. Old music boxes that cost thousands don’t interest them. They despise such opulence and advance with an old antique boot worn by a soldier from the great war or an ancient pewter plate famous for its coarseness, without any decoration and made of a material now despised by collectors in general. A 1960s chrome spoon from Blackpool piques his interest even though it was made in batches of thousands. Those astute readers among you will feel that money is not a concern for these collectors. It is not the value of the individual pieces that excites them, but the place that the individual pieces occupy within their collection. Each piece purchased adds to the history of these common items and when they have brought together in some cases thousands of vintage and antique items, the true genre of their company emerges.

I have seen a collection of antique and vintage boots dating back to the mid 18th century and the entire collection shows that it is an inspired collection. Most vintage boots cost a pittance, but every once in a while a special one was found and the collector had to dig deep to acquire it. One such example was an antique metal boot made for a boy who worked in an iron foundry. It is an evocative antiquity in many ways and invites us to ask, ‘Is there similar abuse of children today?’ And what is the iron boot that marks his suffering and that will tell future generations of his ordeal?

We now see that while most antique collectors collect the trappings of the rich and famous of yesteryear, collecting the ordinary, everyday things can be even more rewarding, especially when it reminds us of what life was like for most of our ancestors who never thought that their well-worn plate, spoon, or even boot would be part of a treasured collection of antiques by a 21st-century collector. If it were possible for them to comprehend such a bygone time, I am sure they would consider such collectors insane. The next time you’re shopping for antiques, take a look around what others are collecting and start a conversation. It can change your life if they have a little metal boot in hand or maybe you will find your own equivalent of that evocative antique that will keep you grounded in the future.