Antique shops exert a peculiar fascination on a great many people. The more
expensive kind of antique shop where rare objects are beautifully displayed in
glass cases to keep them free from dust is usually a forbidding place. But no
one has to muster up courage to enter a less pretentious antique shop. There
is always hope that in its labyrinth of musty, dark, disordered rooms a real
rarity will be found amongst the piles of assorted junk that litter the floors.#
No one discovers a rarity by chance. A truly dedicated bargain hunter must
have patience, and above all, the ability to recognize the worth of something
when he sees it. To do this, he must be at least as knowledgeable as the
dealer. Like a scientist bent on making a discovery, he must cherish the hope
that one day he will be amply rewarded.#
My old friend, Frank Halliday, is just such a person. He has often described
to me how he picked up a masterpiece for a mere $50. One Saturday morning,
Frank visited an antique shop in my neighbourhood. As he had never been there
before, he found a great deal to interest him. The morning passed rapidly and
Frank was about to leave when he noticed a large packing case lying on the
floor. The dealer told him it had just come in, but that he could not be
bothered to open it. Frank begged him to do so and the dealer reluctantly
prised it open. The contents were disappointing. Apart from an
interesting-looking carved dagger, the box was full of crockery, much of it
broken. Frank gently lifted the crockery out of the box an suddenly noticed a
miniature painting at the bottom of the packing case. As its composition and
line reminded him of an Italian painting he knew well, he decided to buy it.
Glancing at it briefly, the dealer told him that it was worth $50. Frank could
hardly conceal his excitement, for he knew that he had made a real discovery.
The tiny painting proved to be an unknown masterpiece by Correggio and was
worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.&