This weekend I visited an extraordinary exhibition at the Art Workers' Guild in London. It was called the Table Top Museum and for one day only, 30 collectors had been invited to share their particular obsessions.
It was an eclectic mix, to say the least. There were beer mats, sugar sachets, perfumes, map postcards, 'all things blue', coloured knitting needles and...petrified potatoes. Yes. They were rather amazing actually. But there was much more, with each collection displayed on an allocated table in a couple of rooms in this beautifully historic terrace house near Bloomsbury.
A friend was taking part. She loves all things associated with libraries and invited visitors to her Table Top Museum of old library cards, stamps, badges and signage. I've seen some of her collection before, and it was fabulous viewing it in this setting (take a look at her Instagram account @bookyjen).
But I was thrilled to find other bookish collections here.
The incredible Rob Ryan had a table. He's known for his intricate cut paperwork and screenprinting, and he designs book covers and writes children's books. Here he revealed that when he has enjoyed reading a book, he redesigns the cover with something he considers more fitting than that commissioned by the art directors and marketing teams! (@robryanbookcovers)
The cartoonist and creator of graphic novels, Gary Northfield (@stupidmonster) was here with his collection of Norakuro alarm clocks. Based on the 1930s war propaganda manga dog character, the colourful and cheery models sound a bugle when it's time to get up.
And there was a Table Top Museum dedicated to 'things we find in books'. Two booksellers from the nearby secondhand bookshop, Skoob Books displayed the random items they had discovered in the pages of books handed in for resale. These ranged from shopping lists to party invitations, cigarette papers to love letters, and theatre tickets, photographs and prescriptions.
The exhibition as a whole was a perfect example of one person's trash being another person's treasure. While I'm busy trying to get rid of my clutter, it was wonderful to see these collections and I loved the stories behind them all.
So what have you discovered in the pages of a book? Or what do you think you might have left there?! And what would you present as your Table Top Museum? I'd love to know...
Thank you for reading.