Above: Keith brought this fabulous gothic marble and stone arcade from St Phillips, Kensington, to Salvo 2006 where it did not sell. It is still for sale and Keith is looking for £11,500 but is probably open to offers. So why not come along to Salvo Fair and haggle?
Salvo Fair, Knebworth Herts UK, Fri 27 - Sun 29 Jun 2008 - KEITH Edmonds from Oxfordshire is bringing a load of stone figures rescued from the clearance of buildings around the Beijing Olympics site in China. Among the figures will be Buddhas and other Buddhist related carved stonework including steles. Tel Keith Edmonds 07970 070457.
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Interesting. As someone who is inadvertently connected to all this, on one level you feel terrible so many old buildings were destroyed in the name of the Olympics but at the same time, you know you can do little to prevent it.
ReplyDeleteOften the material from these old buildings comes our way. We get old doors panels and frames, stone tiles, architectural elements, door stones, even the wood beams... We often ironically joke in the office that we sell Chinese trash, as the average local guy really does see it this way. They know the old door has history, but that just makes it garbage WITH history - still to be thrown away (or sold to some unwitting foreigner who attaches value to it).
I'd like to think that at least we appreciate it, and that it going onward to a new life. I see some local Chinese wholesalers who ruin beautiful pieces. They could care less about taking the time to restore it lovingly. Rather then jut splash some lacquer on it and pump it out the door into a shipping container. Main goal: make a buck. Probably why they make more money then us - we make the mistake of actually caring about the piece!
If you want to see what happens to some of the building materials from these old sites have a look at the "salvaged materials" section on our own blog.