With fabulous flair: Baby it's cold outside...collecting with flair...January is a good month to start....

Mark Birley started collected paintings at a young age then installed them at his club, Annabele's. www.annabels.co.uk/home

He also collected witty cartoons and used them at one of his clubs

Malcolm Forbes started his Faberge collection early. Shown here is his son Christopher on the right.

The first Fabergé egg was crafted for Tsar Alexander III, who decided to give his wife, the Empress Maria Fedorovna, an Easter Egg in 1885, possibly to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their betrothal. It is believed that the Tsar’s inspiration for the piece was an egg owned by the Empress’s aunt, Princess Wilhelmine Marie of Denmark, which had captivated Maria’s imagination in her childhood. Known as the Hen Egg, it is crafted from gold. Its opaque white enameled ‘shell’ opens to reveal its first surprise, a matte yellow gold yolk. This in turn opens to reveal a multi-coloured gold hen that also opens. It contains a minute diamond replica of the Imperial Crown from which a small ruby pendant was suspended. Unfortunately, these last two surprises have been lost.^[4]

Empress Maria was so delighted by this gift that Alexander appointed Fabergé a ‘goldsmith by special appointment to the Imperial Crown’. He commissioned another egg the following year. After that, Peter Carl Fabergé, who headed the House, was apparently given complete freedom for future Imperial Easter Eggs, as from this date their designs become more elaborate. According to the Fabergé family tradition, not even the Tsar knew what form they would take: the only requirement was that each one should contain a surprise. Following the death of Alexander III on November 1, 1894, his son presented a Fabergé egg to both his wife, the Empress Alexandra Fedorovna, and to his mother, the Dowager Empress Maria Fedorovna.

Tartanware has long been a favorite for collectors like Ralph Lauren. William and his son Andrew Smith built in a large factory in Mauchline, designed a machine capable of printing complex tartan patterns onto paper which could then be applied directly onto boxes.
Tartanware box

The production of tartanware ceased in 1933 after a brace of fires destroyed the printing machinery.

You may have some old family pieces to begin a collection

The obelisk symbolized the sun god Ra.

A group of prints that have a common theme makes a great wall.

The sterling silver mounted coconut cups are so hard to find..if you find one, let me know! An antique Silver mounted carved coconut cup with cast ball and claw feet can be found on eBay right now for a little more the $1000.

The Duchess of Windsor had lots of collections..she is especially known for her jewelry which the Duke would often reconfigure.

One of Ralph Lauren's desks with his tartanware..he loves classic automobiles too! www.ralphlauren.com

Design a case for your collection like this couple did for their oriental sculptures

Another case designed to showcase a collection

Axel Vervoordt collects it all. I love the way he prepared the powdered wall for the display. www.axel-vervoordt.com

Luggage is necessary and looks great piled up..I have used my great-grandfather's old Louis Vuitton trunk as a coffee table.

Carolyn Roehm loves the blue and white www.carolynroehm.com

Mexican silver milagro flaming hearts ex-votos are fabulous!!I recommend going to museums or galleries where you can look and possibly handle the real thing. For those of you who do not have access to those resources, invest in a small reference library. These books will pay for themselves over time.

Some important books include: Mexican Folk Retablos by Gloria Fraser Giffords (mostly retablos with some ex voto), Miracles on the border (ex voto only), Answered Prayers by Eileen Oktavec (mostly milagros with photos of shrines in Mexico), Milagros by Martha Egan (milagros only).

Chinese Armorial Porcelain by David Sanctuary Howard (Dec 1974) www.amazon.com

A collection of Chinese heraldic porcelain in a elegant traditional home.

At Chateau de Groussay, Charles de Beistegui spent his life collecting .

Charles de Beistegui (1894-1970), an enigmatic interior decorator whose passport was Spanish and whose wealth came from his family's Mexican silver mines

He wanted an interior that looked as if it had been improved by several generations living in and loving the house.

This cash reservoir allowed de Beistegui to indulge himself in the homes he decorated, such as his Chateau de Groussay and the 17th century Palace Labia in Venice. The latter was the site in 1951 of a grand costume ball with masked guests Cocteau, Dali, Dior, the Aga Khan, the Rothschilds and other notables; de Beistegui, on stilts, oversaw the proceedings in his costume of long wig and gown.

"Sometimes he used very cheap items next to expensive ones just to get the look he wanted. One of his legacies is that he knew how to correctly put things together. He was a perfectionist in everything he did. In fact, Orson Welles said that Charlie was even a perfectionist in the women he loved. He preferred duchesses."

It is hard to tell in this photograph if these are Meissen, Dresden, or something of similar quality..they would also look great on your dining room table. should you start a serious collection, I found a Mr. Davies located at Christies Fine Art Services in London.

Davies Antiques
Room 776
Christie’s Fine Art Services
42 Ponton Road London SW8 5BA
Tel: 44 (0)208947 1246 | Mobile : 44 (0)7753739689
E-mail: hdavies@antique-meissen.com

Davies wrote, "In the last few years there has been an influx of new money from wealthy Russians into the Meissen china market, especially for Meissen figures from the eighteenth century. This interest in Meissen china I can see expanding into other periods such as that of the Art Nouveauand Art Deco. Russia was always a good patron of the Meissen Manufactory in the days before the Communist regime and going back to the reign of Catherine the Great. It is partly this new Russian money along with established Meissen collectors which will help to maintain the value of Meissen porcelain which has been such a solid investment since I started dealing in Meissen over thirty five years ago."

Reticulated creamware plates arranged on white corbels looks fresh.

After the revival of civilization and literature in Europe, there arose among those of learning and rank a rivalry for the preservation of the relics of ancient art. The enlightened Medici familyacquired early eminence in this noble pursuit. Among the most valued treasures bequeathed to us from antiquity, engraved intaglios were prominently distinguished; and justly so, because the ancient pictures had all perished, except some frescoes, and very few statues survived the test of time and barbarism.

Engraved intaglios were held in the highest esteem, not merely for the purity, brilliancy, rarity and costliness of the stones, but also for the fact that they represented a connnecting link between the rival and sister arts of painting and sculpture, preserving the excellence of both. While they present to us the delicacy and animation of portraiture, they possess the boldness and three-dimensional solidity of statues, exemplifing the pinnacle of the artistical talent, grace and skill of the ancients.

This is Charlotte Moss' collection..they look so good on a Thanksgiving table. www.charlottemoss.com

Indian pots, arrowheads, and kachina dolls are regional collectables for the southwestern states.

Charlotte Moss collects a lot..she frames these vintage Vogue magazine for her powder room.what fun!! I also collect Flair back copies from the 1950's. That is the most remarkable magazine to me!

I built my kitchen to cook and to display my antique teapots and English porcelain.

Another view of my kitchen display

For the younger crowd..try wine corks or wine labels..then display them in your bar area.

Great memories captured in simple mementos..need a display

I love my small silver items on my bedroom 18th century italian desk. I used to have lots family pieces until I was robbed..

Baron de Rede at L'Hotel Lambert had his artist friends like Salvador Dali sign and draw on his beautifully leather bound books that he collected

Baron de Rede also collected many interesting friends now his guest book is priceless

Baron de Redé was a committed aesthete. In 1949, he moved into the ground floor of the 17th century Hôtel Lambert on the Île Saint-Louis in Paris and restored the building and its décor.

Role as host

The baron was described as "the Eugene de Rastignac of modern Paris" by Sir Henry 'Chips' Channon and as "the best host in all Europe"; his parties were famous.^[16]

Rédé's Hôtel Lambert dinner parties were at the center of le tout Paris. Philippe Jullian described the world of Lopez-Willshaw and Redé as like a small 18th-century court: Members of the circle included the poet and patron of the Surrealists, Marie-Laure de Noailles (1902–70); such musicians as Henri Sauguet, Georges Auric, and Francis Poulenc; and the artist Christian Berard. Important influences were the interior decorators Georges Geffroy and Victor Grandpierre. Cecil Beaton photographed Nina Ricci's costumes for "the elegant aesthete" at the sensational 1951 Bal oriental given by his friend Carlos de Beistegui at his Venetian palace, the Palazzo Labia.^[17]

In 1956, at Alexis de Redé's Bal des Têtes, young Yves Saint-Laurent provided many of the headdresses—the Duchess of Windsor being one of the judges—and received a boost to his career. When Diana Vreeland heard of the plans for Redé's upcoming Bal oriental, to be given on 5 December 1969, she promptly contacted the Baron expressing her interest in having the event photographed by Vogue.^[18] The guest list was the creme de la creme of the international high society, with such attendees as Queen Margrethe of Denmark and Marie-Hélène de Rothschild.