Under the hammer

Going, going, but certainly not gone as antiques are still gaining in popularity. Pierre Grech Pillow helps Sandy Calleja Portelli bid on desirable antiques. The Obelisk auction house in Attard is a testament to Malta’s glorious past. As I walk through the door, the bustle of Mdina Road fades away. Incense wafts through the 18th-century palazzo beckoning me to browse leisurely through the antiques on display. As I admire an imposing oil painting, auctioneer Pierre Grech Pillow bounds through the door. No throwback to the past, Grech Pillow definitely belongs to the 21st century and is determined to modernise the local antiques industry. “We must move beyond the traditional way of doing things to keep our industry relevant to our customers,” says Grech Pillow. His auction house may have only been around for five years, but Grech Pillow has grown up in the industry as his parents owned an antiques shop. “I always wanted to be an auctioneer but I waited until my father retired to start up. It would not have been ethical for me to be an auctioneer while he was still in the business.” The path to becoming an auctioneer is not a short one. Grech Pillow studied with auction houses...