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Mark Hill
Surrey’s wealth of historic properties fuelled the aspirations of a teenage Mark Hill. Emily Horton talks to the Horsley born antiques guru about the revival of collecting as his BBC2 show returns for a second series
Mark Hill may be more accustomed to discovering treasures than being called one, but with his blossoming TV career and fostering of young talent in the antiques industry, he is attracting more and more admiration for making the olde worlde cool again.
Antiques Roadshow stalwarts will know East Horsley born Mark from his seven years on the programme as a collectables and 20th century design specialist. The show is a dream gig for the boy who grew up watching it.
“I find it quite strange as the queue opens in the morning. I think: 'I used to love this programme as a child and now I'm doing it!’” he chuckles.
As one of the youngest ever members of the Roadshow team, Mark is showing us youngsters that an interest in the older curiosities of life is not just the preserve of the grey-haired and rich.
“I think there is a collector in everybody,” he tells me enthusiastically, down the phone from his London home. “We all understand the urge to collect. I don't know if it goes back to the hunter -gatherer mentality, or whether as human beings we are simply frivolous, but we do like to surround ourselves with things.”
His recent BBC2 show Collectaholics, which he presents alongside Bake Off's Mel Giedroyc (who grew up down the road from Mark in Leatherhead), shows us that anyone can start a collection – and it doesn't have to be in something obscure or expensive.
“Your collection is about you and the things you love about your life. If you want to fill your shelves with Beatrix Potter figurines, Sylvanian Families or art pottery from the early 20th century, that's great.”
The show has seen Mark and Mel discover weird and wonderful collections across the country. They have encountered a 7,000-strong beer can collection, a back garden replica railway station and a man who loves Forties trappings so much that his whole world is surrounded with them.
Such devotion is familiar to Mark.
“As a collector, I understand exactly what it’s like. I am looking at a shelf here which is crammed with 45 glass vases that I picked up for a couple of pounds. I don't have the space to buy any more, but I know I will,” he muses.
For those collectors on the show whose hobbies have got out of control, Mark's role has been one of confidant and counsellor, as much as that of industry expert.
“It is all too easy to lose track of a collection when it becomes part of the furniture. That's exactly when we want to go into people's homes and help them get a hold of it.”
Alarm bells ring in one episode, when a Star Wars fan – who owns 35,000 pieces of memorabilia – turns a blind eye to the way in which the pieces have come to dominate the family home.
“What is quite worrying is when the children have to share a bedroom because the spare rooms are stacked full of Daddy's collections,” says Mark. “It's even worse when it is all in brown boxes, so you can't even see it.”
Mark's own collecting also started with sci-fi toys. And while he didn't grow up surrounded by period furniture and master paintings, his parents – who still live in Surrey – did help him develop a vital skill for his future career.
“My father, who was an engineer, used to say that to understand something properly, you have to understand how it was made. It's really helped me to appreciate the value of something that is difficult to produce.”
It was in his teenage years, as a pupil at Guildford’s Royal Grammar School, that Mark became more discerning.
“My friends and I, being pretentious schoolboys, would go and visit the local country houses: Polesden Lacey, Clandon Park and Hatchlands. I was so inspired that I sought little, affordable versions of what I saw,” he tells me.
“I’d buy inexpensive 19th century prints from a man named Goodall, who used to be on Market Street in Guildford. They're still not expensive, but I love them.”
Inspired by the stately grandeur of these houses, Mark went to study History of Art at Reading University. Positions at prestigious London auctioneers Bonhams and Sotheby's followed. Then a big break running a dot com business, iCollect, in the early Noughties helped establish his name, and he was approached by antiques doyenne Judith Miller to work on her renowned Miller's Price Guide series. And in 2004 TV beckoned, with an invitation to appear on a spin-off from the Antiques Roadshow, The 20th Century Roadshow. He was only 29.
“I'm just very, very lucky,” he reflects. It's a tough industry to crack and it really doesn't pay a lot, but what you do get is an incredible sense of enjoyment, great friends and a wide experience of things.”
I suggest that he seems rather young, compared with our image of the typical antiques guru.
“People often think that the antiques world is dry, dusty and staid – not a place for career-driven, intelligent and entrepreneurial young people. But you'd be surprised at how many of those there are in the business,” insists Mark. Wanting to promote and foster young talent in the industry, Mark recently created Antiques Young Guns, which has just held its second annual awards.
“It can be quite solitary working at home or in a shop. We wanted to say: ‘Yes, there are more of you out there.’”
Nor is the revival of interest in antiques limited to those in the business.
“Harry Styles from One Direction was seen recently at Kempton Park Antiques Fair buying furniture for his new flat. He doesn't go to IKEA or send his agent to some posh shop – he actually goes out to choose pieces himself,” says Mark, clearly impressed.
And what of our modern preoccupation with the aforementioned Scandinavian superstore?
Not surprisingly, Mark’s response is as flat as the furniture the store produces.
“Without doubt there is a desire for value, but buying something that you know you’ll swear at trying to put up – and then again when it falls down six months later – is starting to annoy us. I was driving around London yesterday and passed two council rubbish lorries full of destroyed flatpack furniture!”
For Mark, it’s brown furniture all the way.
“Antiques have an enormous green side, as you’re giving them life again.”
So what emerging trends is he seeing from our generation, as they scour the car boots in search of treasures?
“Lots of people are taking things from different periods to build up their own story at home, and a lot of it comes from the vintage market,” he explains. “I really think mix and match is a big thing for the future – anything that makes a style statement is really good.”
Any other advice?
“First, don't ever buy just for investment – that’s crazy! You've got to want something, as you'll probably have to live with it for quite some time.
“Secondly, always think about how something is made. Get a good knowledge of how to recognise quality. And learn about the piece. Not only do I love and appreciate the objects I collect, but interest and value comes from discovering the history and story behind an item.
“And finally, mistakes. I’ve made loads of them, but the thing is not to regret them, but to learn from them. If any so-called experts won’t admit to mistakes, they’re liars.”
With such a great choice of dealers and auctioneers in Surrey – Wellers, Ewbank’s, Hamptons and The Packhouse in Farnham, to name a few – there is no excuse for not giving collecting a go.
“A lot of people think that all the good stuff has gone,” reflects Mark. “But it is all still out there. You've just got to go looking for it.”
Watch out for me at an auction house near you. It could get competitive!
