Antiques Portals
Imagine a wintry Sunday afternoon settled on the sofa, tea at hand and pet at foot. Ahead lies the delicious prospect of a few free hours, so you reach for your laptop to do some window shopping of the antiques kind, browsing through favourite online portals to see what’s new, in search of inspiration. Calmly, you zip around the likes of Barnebys, 2Covet Vinterior and Hoarde Vintage, narrowing down your searches to view just some of the millions of pre-owned items put up for sale by myriad dealers and auction houses in the UK and abroad. Nesting has never been so much fun. With the click of a mouse, that Victorian copper jelly mould is yours, or the Art Deco chaise longue you’ve longed for, or a colourful French print.
Twenty years ago, (founded 1999) and (founded 2003). Now, the online marketplace is a sophisticated universe where curated platforms match selected dealers, galleries and auction houses with discerning buyers. ‘The increased interest in sustainable consumption together with the technological maturity of users as well as auction houses and dealers has increased radically,’ says Pontus Silfverstolpe, cofounder of Swedish auction house search engine , and he is sure the trend will continue: ‘It offers huge opportunities for our industry as a whole to grow.’
