We were watching a programme on TV about the history of Chinese porcelain, presented by Lars Thrup, who I'm sure is not really called Lars Thrup - I'm convinced he's the younger brother of Christopher Biggins; he's a dead ringer for him.
Anyway, he mentioned the Ming and Ching dynasties, and it struck me that one of the local villages here - Minchinhampton - is actually a corruption of Ming Ching Hampton, and must have been an entry point for Chinese porcelain in the 18th Century...
I have a pair of Chinese porcelain vases - unfortunately one was accidentally broken by a friend and I don't have all the pieces. Bonhams in Henley valued them (pre-damage) at £800 over 12 years ago. Hearing that some old dear's vase, that she was using as an umbrella stand, sold for £43m has raised my interest in having the pair revalued. My dad brought them (along with a lot of other stuff) back from Shanghai in the 60s when the Chinese had a downer on imperial antiques and they were being sold off for a song.
No.1 Son is coming home from university for the weekend. Looking forward to having a chat with him about university life after his first month. All he will probably be interested in is having his laundry done and getting some nourishing sustenance.
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