Decorative Arts History through Second Hand Shopping

As avid op shoppers will know, secondhand and antique stores still turn up treasures. Objects from past eras, fallen foul of fashion but that will inevitably return to the cool shelf.

Of such shoppers Poneke Wellington’s Walter Cook is a collector legend. Cook’s first purchase was as a 24-year-old student in 1965. It was an art nouveau tea set from the Willis street shop Odds and Ends.

Cook didn’t just have a rare passion for old things, as an obsessive collector and reader he had the rare ability to think beyond trends and smartly create a rich private collection, at a bargain.

A collection that tells the history of decorative art, from the Arts and Crafts Movement from the 1860s on, through Art Deco, to 1970s modernism. And then, just as the market caught up with Walter in the late 1980s, Cook had the public largesse to gift his collection to the nation.

Justine Olsen is curator of decorative art and design at Te Papa.

The title of her recently released book Towards Modernism: The Walter Cook Collection at Te Papa, is deceptive.

Deceptive because this smartly designed book is about far more than just about Walter Cook and the collection. It provides an accessible history of modern decorative art as it relates to Aotearoa as a trading nation.

It also highlights notable designers through beautiful objects, and chronicles many great retailers and passionate antique dealers along the way.

She spoke to Culture 101‘s Mark Amery.