ABOUT

Born in Carlisle in 1935, Michael Finlay was educated at the local Grammar school prior to nine years in the Army, serving in Korea, Japan, Malaya and BAOR. As a mature student he undertook a four-year course at Carlisle College of Art for the National Diploma in Design, followed by a year at Newcastle University where he received a post-graduate Diploma in Educaion. Since that time he has been active in the world of fine art and antiques, firstly as a self-employed dealer with a shop in Carlisle as a member of the BADA, more recently in the field of art and antiques auctions. In 1971 he took the Direct Final Eaminations of the Incorporated Society of Valuers and Auctioneers, winning the Society's Memorial Prize for that year, and was admitted to the Society as a Fellow. On the amalgamation of the ISVA and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors he became a Fellow of the RICS, but resigned from the Institution on retirement. From 1987 until semi-retirement in 1998, he was manager of the Carlisle branch of Phillips Fine Art Auctioneers and later an Associate Director of that firm, now Bonhams. After a further few years as a consultant to various auctioneers, in particular to Penrith Farmers' and Kidd's plc, and in a specialist capacity in the cataloguing of English metalwork to other national and provincial auctioneers, he retired and spent his leisure time collecting, and writing on, a variety of antiques. He published four books, on Western Writing Implements, Cumbrian Mining Tokens, English Decorated Bronze Mortars and Pastry Jiggers. This site is devoted to Michael's interest in the history and development of the kitchen and its implements and to a large archive of photographic images of items handled over some sixty years, on a variety of subjects. Michael passed away in November 2023.

PLEASE NOTE: COPYRIGHT - Images on this website may not be reproduced without the written permission of the copyright holder. Unless otherwise credited, all the objects illustrated on this site were formerly part of the stock in trade or personal collection of Michael Finlay.

Michael Finlay, 1935 - 2023

This website was created by Michael Finlay and is devoted to some of the many antiques that passed through his hands over the course of his life. It includes photographs on the subject of "THE CONTENTS OF A GENTLEMAN'S POCKET", which would have been his fifth published book. He also included many other images on various aspects of antiques in the hope that they might be of academic interest to others.