My Passion with Tina Abbott: Enjoying the art and design of true craftsmanship

Tina Abbott, a solicitor and collaborative family lawyer for Emsleys, in Leeds, talks about her passion for antiques.

Antiques have always interested me. Initially, I would go to flea markets and buy some inexpensive pieces which caught my eye. Over time, I have become more interested in items from the British arts and crafts period, which are simple and unfussy and a celebration of design and real craftsmanship.

It's possible sometimes to find hidden treasures, often in the most unlikely places. A recent discovery was made through eBay, where an arts and crafts picture frame was being sold by a woman who was raising money to buy a pram for her daughter.

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After successfully bidding for the frame, my husband and I began to correspond by email with the seller. She had a collection of arts and crafts pieces which she had inherited.

The collection included a candlestick we recognised as being designed by Margaret MacDonald, the wife of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, and Frances MacDonald, her sister, two of the most important Scottish female artists of the period.

We put her in touch with the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow who have bought the candlestick for a substantial five-figure sum, and will exhibit it as a result. The seller had no idea of the value of the piece, which she had been using as an ashtray.

Continuing with the antique theme, my other passion is in classic cars, which became apparent when I visited a small museum in Thornton-le-Dale with my husband about seven years ago. What immediately struck me was the design of the cars and the range of classic vehicles that are still roadworthy years after they were first manufactured.

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Taking my interest to a totally new level I decided to buy a classic vehicle and after some deliberation settled on a 1971 Triumph Vitesse Mark II convertible. It was only after buying the car that I realised it had been featured in the first Practical Classics magazine I had bought, which showed the front cover of the magazine 20 years earlier. I had, in effect, purchased a cover model.

Thankfully, the car had been restored before I bought it, as although I have a love of cars, my mechanical skills aren't quite what they could be.

What I really enjoy is taking the car to rallies. Turning up on a scorching summer's day with the top down, is a wonderful feeling.

I know that some people think it is a little strange for a woman to be interested in cars but when you go to the rallies there is a real family feel to the events.

It's not all about spanners and dirty overalls.

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