Antique auctions: the thrill of the chase

The passion for collecting creates as many appetites as it satisfies. Not least among these is the thrill of the chase. The same human emotions come into play whether you are at an annual pre-Christmas jewellery sale in Geneva, a record breaking Irish art sale in London, a gallery in Dingle, a house sale in Dalkey or a community hall in the wilds of west Munster.

If you are the collector it doesn't really matter that much if you are spending hundreds, thousands or millions. What concentrates the mind wonderfully is the knowledge that you must have it and you can't afford it. If you are a discriminating purchaser who is really desperate to get something you can be sure someone else is after it too.

For true collectors most major opportunities are one-off affairs. They are unlikely to repeat in the short term, sometimes never. If you come across something that will fill a gap - it can be in your collection of clocks, miniatures, glass, bronzes, books, 18th century furniture of 20th century Irish art - you have to have it and to hell with the cost.