A Passion for Collecting
Decorating with Your Favorite Objects
By Authorby Caroline Clifton-Mogg
Simon Upton (Photographer)

     A Passion for Collecting is a wonderful book written to help us better understand our passion and how to present it in order to enjoy it even more. It's a book beneficial to all collectors, no matter the size of the collection or the collecting skill (professional or amateur).

     Some discover their passion for collecting early in life. Some realize much later that items gathered on a shelf for years are actually a collection. Whether your passion is silver, knickknacks, books, potter, clothes or unusual items from another world, Caroline Clifton-Mogg's work is aimed at you. If you aren't sure what type of collector you are, A Passion for Collecting can tell you.

      The author begins with Collecting Instincts. How we respond to collectors and their passion with an instinctive interest, and that sometimes it is the one thing we remember about a person after meeting him or her. She analyzes and discusses the passionate occupation and the characterization of the collector.

     Next Mogg lists and discusses nine various collector types - Antiquarians, Classical and antique, Explorers, Inheritors, Perfectionists, Naturalists, Utilitarians, Enthusiasts, Decorators, and Miniaturists.

     Mogg ends with the Art of Display. She discusses the Contemporary Display, Grouping Objects, Background Designs, Solo Stars, Textures and Contrast, and Thematic Displays.

     Photographer Simon Upton compliments Mogg's work with his pictures. Although most of you may have created a visual effect with the objects of your passion, Mogg offers even more ideas through Upton's photographs. Some are unusual, some are typical, all are well-photographed and the reason I couldn't get enough as the pages flipped back and forth, time and time again.

    A Passion for Collecting is a coffee-table size book, loaded with pictures mirroring art. It's the kind of book that should be left out for company to thumb through. I recommend it.