A rather period read - out of fashion, but still as relevant, recommended to me by Mark Twain in his "A Tramp Abroad".
The plot, well, nonexistent, rather a recounting of the fine treasures found by Major H. Byng Hall on his sojourns to the Continent in search of the perfect pieces of Bric-A-Brac, largely (in his eyes) fancy porcelain China and various other ornaments.
I do as much the same today, not to the continent, true, and rarely after fancy China, but other treasures...
Now, his notes are timeless, for example his comments on how fashion determines the value of items - how often it's much better it’s valued in it’s own country, how one year it may be a treasure, the next worthless, how - as with art, all attributions of value are spurious, and his perpetual recommendation to always start the bargaining at 1/3rd of the asked price...
His enthusiasm is contagious, and I find myself strangely sympathetic - especially volunteering at the thrift shop, where one sees no end to fine manufacturers of porcelain, fine china, cups, saucers, plate and dinnerware, fine bits of bric-a-brac that will never again fetch a price even close to their value, or that reflects the workmanship that went into them.
I go the extra yard, look up some of the bits of China he enthusiastically recommends, bits of Sevres, Wedgewood, Dresden, and I have to say that in this I haven't the eye, a fine 18th century piece could easily pass through my hands into the rubbish, the tastes of another era most definitely not my own...my knowledge needs some improvement, most of this would escape my taste, gaudy, garish, but - well, looking up current prices, some very definitely valuable...
He talks of vendors in Marseilles, Constantinople, Madrid, St. Petersberg, Berlin, Dresden, Vienna, Italy, Paris, London, he's travelling all of Europe looking for knick-knacks, lamenting the golden era (long past) of phenomenal bargains to be had, when not everyone knew what they owned, and he praises the critical eye, the collector's secret appreciation of what others would not be able to recognize, regional tastes and valuations that allow for profit, and I enjoy it, certainly, because in this he's a temperament similar mine own...
This, a curious, dated read, but the sentiment remains the same.