Before becoming a dealer in antique glass I spent thirty years in education. During that time I taught in secondary and primary schools. Although primarily a teacher of English I was very much involved in integrated education which allowed me to lead teams of teachers in different disciplines which, in turn, allowed children to work with those teachers to explore broad themes bringing together English, History, Geography, Music and Art. During those thirty years I had the opportunity to further my research in this field at three different universities. Here I learned the value of properly co-ordinated research, something which is invaluable to a dealer in antiques.

I became interested in collecting books at a very early age. I was visiting Foyles in London at the age of nine. Quite soon the idea of collecting spread to other things and I found myself exploring junk shops as they were called in the East End of London where I was brought up. As I grew older I began to look at real antique shops and when I had been teaching for a few years I discovered that I could find things and sell them to dealers. The range was wide and the prospect of a quick profit encouraging. I had become a runner in my spare time. Of course, some of the pieces I found stayed with me to form my own collection.

Gradually I realised that the collection was leaning more and more towards glass. At first it was 19th century but gradually, as I learned more from talking to dealers and from reading, I moved to 18th century pieces. As a result of this, when I reached the point that my dissatisfaction with the way the education service was moving decided me to resign my headship of a small primary school in 1993, it was logical that I should choose to be a dealer in antique glass. I had actually started the business two years earlier as a spare time activity so 2021 marks the thirtieth anniversary of Brian Watson Antique Glass.

Read more about me HERE