WHEN Jan Finch died last year after a stoic and heroic fight against cancer, Finch & Co’s 37th catalogue was in the works and it was possible to include a fitting tribute from Ted Few, a fellow antiquarian dealer in collector’s cabinet items. ‘Whilst Finch & Co will continue to flourish,’ he wrote, ‘it is difficult to contemplate it without Jan’s quiet, unassuming yet ever-present persona. Bold, instinctive, compassionate, tough if necessary, thoughtful, loyal, fiercely protective of those whom she held dear, and empirically wise… her absence will leave a gaping hole in the industry, but her influence and the firm’s presence will thankfully be felt for decades to come.’
He expressed it perfectly. I shall particularly miss arriving at Finch’s stand at BRAFA or Masterpiece to find Craig, her husband and business partner for 33 years, happily selling and Jan standing ready to steer one to some wonderfully quirky treasure that she knew would appeal. In the grandest fairs and exhibition spaces, she retained the enthusiasm and charm of her early days stall-holding with her mother in Portobello Road. Her grandfather had also been an influence,
introducing her to the Egyptian rooms at the British Museum, to such effect that, as a young teenager in the 1960s, she donated her pocket money to a school initiative supporting the relocation of Abu Simbel and a lifelong fascination followed.
Denne historien er fra November 30, 2022-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra November 30, 2022-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Save our family farms
IT Tremains to be seen whether the Government will listen to the more than 20,000 farming people who thronged Whitehall in central London on November 19 to protest against changes to inheritance tax that could destroy countless family farms, but the impact of the good-hearted, sombre crowds was immediate and positive.
A very good dog
THE Spanish Pointer (1766–68) by Stubbs, a landmark painting in that it is the artist’s first depiction of a dog, has only been exhibited once in the 250 years since it was painted.
The great astral sneeze
Aurora Borealis, linked to celestial reindeer, firefoxes and assassinations, is one of Nature's most mesmerising, if fickle displays and has made headlines this year. Harry Pearson finds out why
'What a good boy am I'
We think of them as the stuff of childhood, but nursery rhymes such as Little Jack Horner tell tales of decidedly adult carryings-on, discovers Ian Morton
Forever a chorister
The music-and way of living-of the cabaret performer Kit Hesketh-Harvey was rooted in his upbringing as a cathedral chorister, as his sister, Sarah Sands, discovered after his death
Best of British
In this collection of short (5,000-6,000-word) pen portraits, writes the author, 'I wanted to present a number of \"Great British Commanders\" as individuals; not because I am a devotee of the \"great man, or woman, school of history\", but simply because the task is interesting.' It is, and so are Michael Clarke's choices.
Old habits die hard
Once an antique dealer, always an antique dealer, even well into retirement age, as a crop of interesting sales past and future proves
It takes the biscuit
Biscuit tins, with their whimsical shapes and delightful motifs, spark nostalgic memories of grandmother's sweet tea, but they are a remarkably recent invention. Matthew Dennison pays tribute to the ingenious Victorians who devised them
It's always darkest before the dawn
After witnessing a particularly lacklustre and insipid dawn on a leaden November day, John Lewis-Stempel takes solace in the fleeting appearance of a rare black fox and a kestrel in hot pursuit of a pipistrelle bat
Tarrying in the mulberry shade
On a visit to the Gainsborough Museum in Sudbury, Suffolk, in August, I lost my husband for half an hour and began to get nervous. Fortunately, an attendant had spotted him vanishing under the cloak of the old mulberry tree in the garden.
