Jan & John Maggs

Antiques and Art

This issue marks the beginning of the twenty-first year of this monthly newsletter. In February 2004, when we published the inaugural issue, we had no idea of what the future would hold for us; the tornado of 2017 and Covid were both unimaginable. But when the pandemic knocked the bottom out of many businesses, this newsletter and Jan’s large presence on Instagram not only kept our business healthy, it increased its reach to an international audience. You have played a part in that evolution, and we are very grateful to you.

As we’ve reviewed the past twenty years of posts, it struck us that many of the stories related in past newsletters might still be interesting today, particularly to those who have joined our subscriber list recently. So, in this month’s issue, we’re beginning a new column: Notes from Our Past, a monthly re-issue of articles and stories published during the past twenty years. We hope you’ll find them interesting.

We’re pleased to report that Jan’s recovery from hip replacement surgery is going very well. Our thanks to all who expressed concern. She is now walking without the assistance of a walker or even a cane. Her physical therapist told her that he had never worked with anyone who had come so far in such a short time. Fully confident that her recovery will continue, we’ve booked a spring trip to England. We’ll be there for two weeks, rather than three, and we’ve built an itinerary that can be easily adjusted, if need be. 

This month's new listings

We began the year as we have for several by exhibiting at Marvin Getman's virtual New York Antiques Show. We posted more than fifty pieces and had quite a busy weekend answering inquiries and writing invoices. As usual, more than half of our sales were to returning customers and old friends, but we also sold several pieces to first-time customers.

For those who missed the show, we've posted some of the unsold pieces on our website. To see them all on one page, click on the picture of our show booth, above.

Our National Trust Pilgrimage

Autumn 2024 - Part IV

In this month's newsletter we're publishing the fourth group of images taken during our visits to National Trust properties in East Anglia. This leg of our journey took us to some of the most satisfying properties of our autumn itinerary, including Anglesey Manor, Ely Cathedral, Lavenham Guildhall, Ickworth, and Paycock's House, whose picture above, if clicked, will take you to our digital journal.

Notes From Our Past

In this first installment, we go back to a regular feature of our first newsletters - Tales of the Trade. This month's tale recounts an incident that we witnessed at the Guilford Show. We hope you'll find it amusing. Here's the LINK.

We hope you've enjoyed this month's offering.

Thank you being a subscriber and customer.

Stay safe and be well.

John & Jan