The Dresden figurine has rosebud cheeks, a tiny waist and a lacy, flowered skirt. It was given to Shirley Cameron on her 16th birthday, and although Shirley now has a cabinet full of Dresden ladies at Country Charm Antiques, this gift will always be special because it sparked a lifelong fascination with antiques.
“Most antique dealers start off like this, with one collectible item,” she says. “Mine was Dresden. People started giving me pieces for birthdays and Christmas. Then I began collecting Meissen porcelain, and moved on to French Sèvres, all types of fine china that Shirley now sells at Country Charm.
Born in Martinborough, Shirley shifted to Wellington as a child. She did well at history at school, and gained her antique dealer’s license in 1981. She started Turn of the Century in Lower Hutt in the 1980’s and later opened Country Charm there also. After returning to Wairarapa, she purchased the Clareville Church Hall, which was restored and became home to Country Charm. The shop moved to the High Street, Carterton building 17 months ago.
She has run scores of ‘Antique Roadshows’ for charity groups – “it’s a way of giving back to the community” - and was a resident expert on Radio Pacific in the early 1990s. “I had 32 calls in half an hour, so there was no time to consult books.” She has been involved with the Wairarapa branch of New Zealand Historic Places Trust for 14 years, and has restored a number of large homes in the lower North Island.
“I love to leave something in a better condition than I found it. When you look at an object that is perhaps 200 years old, you hope that it will go to a good home, because maintaining our history is so important. All older folk value history, but you’d be amazed at how many young people do as well,” she says.
Shirley’s self-proclaimed perfectionist streak is obvious on the shop floor, with objects arranged by category and era, every surface polished and gleaming. In the back rooms, dozens of Beswick animals have been herded, by species, into carefully labelled boxes: “I have to be organised, to get through everything I have to do,” she says.
Shirley has an international clientele at Country Charm, and objects arrive daily for identification and valuation. The shop also supplies antiques and clothing for movies and commercials.
“Many heritage pieces are sold off when people downsize from large homesteads. People find that what suits their home in Wairarapa might not suit in a new place in Wellington. Many pieces come in from large local houses, and owners often express the hope that these will stay in Wairarapa.”
Shirley has studied in England and Europe, and made trips to ‘antiques meccas’, with businessman husband John Cameron, including the Waterford crystal, Moorcroft, Royal Douton, Royal Crown Derby factories, Venetian glass factories and Cloisonné in Japan.
“It’s constant learning. I’m constantly seeing things that I’ve never seen before,” she says.
A 1820s Swiss music box with intricate dials and a walnut casing, still stands out as one of her most remarkable ‘finds’. She is proud of the fact that, to date, she has “never been stumped” with an identification, and she gives credit to her team at Country Charm, who have contributed to her success as a dealer, she says.
Shirley has seen many swings in taste during her 30 years in the business.
Decades ago, she predicted that New Zealand-made furniture of colonial kauri and totara would become the antiques of the future.
“Trends seem to go in 10 year cycles. One year it will be Royal Doulton, then Carlton ware, Royal Winton, and crystal. Right now, we’re seeing a revival of the old fashioned ‘high tea’, with cake stands and people making up ‘carnival sets’ of different, pretty cups and saucers.”
A recent client wanted some ‘Maori Ware’ china for his New York apartment. Once overlooked, the distinctive red and black dinnerware made by Doulton for the 1906 New Zealand Exhibition in Christchurch, is now highly collectible.
Shirley has also been surprised by the demand for ‘kitchenalia’: enamel pots, salt canisters, and beaters. “So many people in are restoring cottages, I call it a New Zealand phenomenon. Often a single piece will be enough to give the room a vintage flavour.” She struggles to meet demand for old-fashioned metal mincers: “Men come in looking for them because they’ve ruined the food processor by putting paua through it!”
And though the stream of antiques shows no sign of abating, she says online selling has been the death knell of many shops like hers. “Many pieces are going out of New Zealand because they are worth more overseas.”
However, Shirley, who is appalled by the practice of ‘cold calling’, and visits clients’ homes only if invited, is committed to giving her customers a fair price. “I think the key quality of a dealer should be honesty and integrity. My reputation is the most important thing to me.”
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