Collecting things can be great – but it certainly makes life complicated

A collection of ceramics is expected to make one couple more than £250,000. All my various collections have done is take up plenty of space, writes Janet Street-Porter

All my collection of ceramics has done is take up space (AFP via Getty)

If you suffer from the curse that is called “compulsive collecting”, everyday life can get complicated.  

Alison and Leonard Shurz – who lived in a modest three-bedroom house near Welwyn Garden City – were passionate collectors of beautiful ceramics by leading artists.  

Every single space in their home, every shelf and window sill, was crammed with 1,500 pots of the highest quality – so how on earth did they manage to move around and not break a single one? Their collection is to be sold next week and is expected to fetch more than £250,000.  

Over the years, I’ve been through various collecting binges, none of which ended up making money. My homes have accomodated 1,000 pots by Susie Cooper, 50 can openers shaped like bull’s heads, more than 150 paper advertising fans, 50 novelty teapots, and 100 cruet sets shaped like animals.  

Not to mention more than 50 fish plates, and a lot of glass rabbits.  

Like most of my relationships, they come and go, and currently only the glass animals remain. I don’t know what that says about me.