A Piece of Diamond Lil’s in Scone

JODI Lantz who ran Diamond Lil’s a famous antique store in Seattle for many years, is at the Scone Antique Fair this year with many rare and interesting pieces.

Jodi was going back to Queensland from a show in Adelaide when she heard of the Fair in Scone and called to be a part of it.

Jodi Lantz who ran Diamond Lil’s in Seattle was at the Scone Antique Fair this year.

At 83 she says she still has a passion for antiques which she described as an addiction.

“I have always loved antique jewellery and in my 40’s I turned it into my business,” said Ms Lantz.

“I had five shops in Seattle, the most famous being Diamond Lil’s which was a large shop with a large staff and we had a lovely tea room, with a water fall and people would come and drink champagne around the waterfall and view the antiques,” she said.

“Americans love their antiques and I still source a lot of my antiques from America.

“I do a lot of French pieces and there are a lot of French pieces in America, the time period I do was a period when America was at its peak and so they imported the finest that Europe had, so there are beautiful things in America.

“A lot of people in antique shows today are doing vintage, but I try not to do that, I mainly look for Victorian and Georgian pieces.

“We look at things that are unusual because at many shops you see the same things repeatedly, I look for unique things in perfect condition,” she said.

“I also love ink wells and perfume bottles,” said Jodi Lantz.

So what does an antique dealer have in their own collection?

“I’ve had some magnificent things, but after I’ve had them a year or two I think I’ve enjoyed them and it’s time to let somebody else have them,” she said.

“A shell that was carved that was carved 200 years ago, but the one I had was twice as big and the best I’ve ever seen anywhere in the world, I brought it to sell but I couldn’t sell it for a very long time, I wish I hadn’t sold it,” she said.

“I also had a crystal liquor set I loved which I only sold last week,” Jodi Lantz said.

In the collection Jodi has brought to Scone there are two pieces she secretly hopes does not sell, a carved shell and a 1920’s decanter.