Reviews: Victoria Galeria 73 / Plus:
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SHOPPING
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ACCESSORIES 74/ ANTIQUES 74 / BOOKS 74 /FASHION 74 / SHOPPING MALLS 76
“ Every house has space for a beautiful picture with a history”
Insider’s Pick
W
PHOTOGRAPH BY ED WIGHT
ere you to ask me about the antiques scene in Warsaw I would first start by describing the Sunday market in Kolo, its stalls groaning with treasure and trash. I would also give a nod to the antique stores found downtown: cobwebbed lairs staffed by hunched geezers as old as their relics – there’s an eccentric magic to perusing such places. But there is also an alternative to such junky looking haunts, and that comes in the form of Victoria Galeria.
It is, it must be said, the very polar opposite of the aforementioned venues. For starters, there’s the staff – not here grouchy old dudes who watch you with suspicion. The welcome is warm and genuine, and comes courtesy of Magda and Maria. As I enter, a regular English customer is sitting on the sofa talking shop over biscuits and tea. Immediately, you’re at ease. That’s all very conducive to the browsing experience – and browse you will, for Victoria is nothing if it is not Aladdin’s Cave. Generous as the floor plan is, you’re lucky
to see anything of it – every inch, every surface is utilized for stock. On the whole, that means items from the 19th century up to the inter-war years. Sourced from the auction houses of London, with deliveries arriving each month, the offer is overwhelmingly English, though not exclusively so – there are oriental pieces, French, and more. “Polish antiques tend to be heavy, dark and ornamental,” says Maria, “of course there are different styles, but in general British antiques are ‘lighter’. They have little secrets, and more of a character to them.”
It’s such little details that attract Victoria’s repeat clients – included in that number, production companies hiring pieces for TV and film sets. Inching my way through the maze of swag, paranoid I’ll send the loot crashing to the ground, I am impressed by the diversity of the offer: tables, desks, cupboards and chairs. But it is the little details that cast a spell – hair brushes, perfume bottles, magnifying glasses. I pause at a deep sea diver’s helmet, before mulling over a complete set of Encyclopedia Britannica’s from 1910 (zł. 1,800). And here’s another thing I like about Victoria. Everything has a price tag, meaning no awkward negotiations with a profiteering owner. That the pieces are highly affordable is another welcome boon. Prices top-out at around zł. 4-5,000 for the more substantial pieces, though there’s no end of items that are open to all: there are picture frames and crockery that cost barely beyond zł. 100. “Every house has space for a beautiful picture with a history,” says Maria, and at these prices, every household can afford one. But not for me a painting of some flowers or a quaint village scene, instead I find myself coveting a hand-drawn map of the Norfolk broads. It’s fascinating, and one of those pieces that holds my curiosity – next month, it’ll be mine. Refreshing in its bright, clean style, Victoria is a magnificent environment to shop for that statement piece every living room requires. (AW) Victoria Galeria ul. Żytnia 15 lok. 4, open daily 10:0018:00, www.antykivictoria.pl
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