Antiques shopping in Europe
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Bric A Brac
This is a wonderfully cluttered cave of old household items and glassware and toys and apothecary jars and 1940s leather jackets and cigar boxes and typewriters and stringed instruments and… Despite the junky look of the place, the knick-knacks are surprisingly expensive, but the affable Serbian owner can give you a guided tour around every piece in his extensive collection.
reviewed
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Glasfabrik
Glasfabrik specialises in antiques dating from 1670 to 1970, so the range on offer is eclectic to say the least.
reviewed
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Antiques Centre
A Georgian town house with a veritable maze of rooms and corridors, showcasing the wares of about 120 dealers selling everything from lapel pins and snuff boxes to oil paintings and longcase clocks. And the house is haunted as well…
reviewed
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Antique Music Instruments
It may not get the prize for most inventive shop name, but this place is a real treasure-trove of vintage stringed instruments. You’ll find an interesting stock of antique violins, violas and cellos dating from the 18th century to the mid-20th century, as well as bows, cases and other musical accessories.
In the same premises you’ll find Icons Gallery, a luminous collection of Russian and Eastern European religious icons, as well as lots of other decorative objets d’art, watches, porcelain and art-nouveau glassware.
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E
Dorotheum
Although you may never dream of dropping into Sotheby’s for a quick browse, when in Vienna it seems perfectly natural to inspect what’s on offer at the Dorotheum. Among the largest auction houses in Europe, this is the apex of Vienna’s Altwaren (old wares)–consumer culture, the Flohmarkt’s wealthy uncle. Something between a museum and the fanciest car-boot sale you ever saw, the rooms are filled with everything from antique toys and tableware to autographs, antique guns and Old Masters paintings.
reviewed
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Báv
This chain of pawn and secondhand shops, with a number of branches around town, is always a fun place to comb for trinkets and treasures, especially if you don’t have time to get to the Ecseri or City Park flea markets. Check out this branch for chinaware, textiles and furniture. Other stores include the Belváros branch for knick-knacks, porcelain, glassware and artwork and the Buda branch for jewellery, lamps and fine porcelain.
reviewed
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Michael S Michael Antiques
This place is a real treat. It's like delving into the town's history through the dusty antiques, old glassware, jewellery and ornaments. The cool, cavernous shop is owned and run by Michalis (Mr Michael), who will give you the lowdown on each item's past. Check out the charming glass paintings by a local artist, which include portraits and depict the circle of life, and lost love. A hurricane lamp makes an excellent souvenir.
reviewed
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Galerie & Atelier Puncinello
This delightful gallery and workshop stocks masks, shields, spears and other collectables and antiques from Oceania and Southeast Asia. The items coming from the Asmat region of Irian Jaya in Indonesia are particularly fine, though expensive. The workshop can make you a socle – a stand or pedestal for your new treasure – to any specification in wood, bronze or plexiglass.
reviewed
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Vetešnictvi
This is an Aladdin’s cave of secondhand goods, bric-a-brac and junk with, in all likelihood, some genuine antiques for those who know what they’re looking for. There’s affordable stuff for all, from communist-era lapel pins, medals, postcards, old beer mugs and toys to crystal, shot glasses, porcelain, china, pipes and spa cups, all presided over by a bust of Lenin.
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Zut!
If you're looking for a conversation piece to dominate your lounge room, such as a turn-of-the-20th-century railway clock or other over-size industrial object, Zut's proprietor, Frédéric Daniel, can help you track it down. Even if you're not, it's worth sticking your head around the doorway to see some resplendent relics of Paris' past. Frédéric also does repairs.
reviewed
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El Bulevard dels Antiquaris
More than 70 stores (most are open from 11am to 2pm and from 5pm to 8.30pm) are gathered under one roof (on the floor above the more general Bulevard Rosa arcade) to offer the most varied selection of collector’s pieces, ranging from old porcelain dolls through to fine crystal, from Asian antique furniture to old French goods, and from African and other ethnic art to jewellery.
reviewed
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Antikvita
This antique shop is a collector’s delight, crammed with cases and cabinets overflowing with vintage toys, model trains, dolls, coins, medals, jewellery, clocks, watches, militaria, postcards, porcelain figures, glassware and much more. If you have something to sell, Antikvita holds buying sessions on Wednesday and Thursday.
reviewed
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Kunst- & Nostalgiemarkt
Just west of Museumsinsel, this art and collectible market gets high marks for scenic location, but you’re more likely to be fighting over that antique coaster set with Maggie from Brighton than Mimi from Berlin. Antique book collectors have plenty of boxes to sift through and there’s also a good sampling of furniture, bric-a-brac and small-scale Eastern Bloc detritus.
reviewed
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Almárium
This wonderful shop near the entrance to the tunnel under Castle Hill sells antique and country Hungarian folk art of every shape and size: mangle boards, woodcarvings, chests etc. But don’t expect any bargains. An early 19th-century tulipán láda (trousseau chest with tulips painted on it) from Transylvania will cost you as much as 150,000Ft.
reviewed
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Comics Bazar
Not a comic in sight – this attic-like treasure-trove is crammed to its rafters with antiques. Wade through the lamps that hang everywhere like jungle creepers and you’ll find old dolls, framed prints and furniture dating from the 19th century to the 1940s, including pieces by the 19th-century Viennese designer Thonet. You might even find the shopkeeper hidden away among it all.
reviewed
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Mauro Bolognesi
Midcentury shops are surprisingly thin on the ground in Milan (presumably because everyone was wise enough to hold onto their hand-me-down Arco lamps and Murano art glass). That makes this collection - Danimarca sideboards, white-on-white biomorphic vases, colour-blocked wall hangings and Kay Bojesen monkeys scampering up the walls - all the more special.
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Adam
Looking for a Renaissance pistol? Pick one up at this offbeat ode to all things vintage Italian. It's all here, from antique Ischian urns and handmade Punchinello dolls to shining armour (knight not included). Take a detour through the leafy back garden, complete with giant lemons, sleepy turtles and one very determined pussycat.
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Francis Street
Some of the most interesting - and wackiest - shopping is done along Francis Street in the Liberties, the home of antiquarians and, in recent years, art dealers of every hue. Although you mightn't fancy transporting the hand luggage, you can have that original Edwardian fireplace you've always wanted, shipped to you by the shop.
reviewed
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Camden Passage Market
Not to be confused with Camden Market, this is a series of four arcades selling antiques and curios, located in Islington, at the junction of Upper St and Essex Rd. Stallholders know their stuff, so bargains are rare. Wednesday is busiest, but it’s worth visiting on Sunday for the Islington Farmers Market between 10am and 2pm.
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Campiello Ca’ Zen
Antique Murano glass lamps are the last thing you’d want to cram in your luggage – or so you thought before you saw the 1940s Salviati silver chandelier and the rare Scarpa table lamp. That hand-blown golden goblet seems practical in comparison, but here’s a dangerous thought: they ship.
reviewed
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Animalier e Oltre
This basement appears to be full of the cast-offs of an eccentric, aristocratic family, with bric-a-brac, curios, antiques and unique furniture. Wrought-iron furniture and leather sofas sit alongside a selection of animal-shaped antiques that includes reproductions of 19th-century French animalier sculptures.
reviewed
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Wannenes Il XX Secolo
Aurelie and Sophie Wannenes father’s collecting philosophy was ‘a few things but good ones’ and it’s reflected in their shop of carefully chosen 20th-century furniture, artwork and objects. Among the Deco gems and museum-quality pieces from the likes of Gio Ponti and Fornasetti are unique but affordable treasures.
reviewed
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Pop @rt
This tiny shopfront, which doubles as the entrance to the owner’s home, is packed full of antique toys like 19th-century wooden soldiers, dolls and toy boxes. Occasionally, the owner opens up the shop for a few hours, but if you’re really keen call for an appointment.
reviewed
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Pintér Antik
With a positively enormous antique showroom measuring 1800 sq metres in a series of cellars near the Parliament building, Pintér has everything – from furniture and chandeliers to oil paintings and china – and is the best outfit on Falk Miksa utca for browsing.
reviewed
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Art Deco Galerie
Specialising in early-20th-century items, this shop has a wide range of 1920s and '30s stuff, including clothes, handbags, jewellery, glassware and ceramics, along with knick-knacks such as the kind of cigarette case you might imagine Dorothy Parker pulling from her purse.
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