29 November 2016

Pretoria Antique Shop Shootout Round 1

Sinkhuisie & Bellbottoms

By In Life

Pretoria Antique Scene

Many of you might not know this, but Pretoria actually has a fantastic collection of Antique shops and even boast a dedicated Antique route.

Enter the antique shop shootout!

antique-shop-2

We took some time out to get to know some of the owners and a little bit more about the shops.

These aren’t your typical thrift shopping joints like Joburg or Cape town, they’re the real deal!

There is so much more than what meets the eye and in a few posts we’ll round up some of the unique treasures we found and the stories behind the shops.

 

Sinkhuisie Antiques

First stop was Sinkhuisie Antiques, they actually have two different shops and they also do furniture renovations. The name, afrikaans for “zinc house”, was inspired by its first premises in an 1892 house. Now a restaurant.

Here you will meet Natie, an avid collector and the main man at Sinkhuisie Antiques. He started the shops in 2009 and especially loves his collection of bibles, piggy banks and creepy freemason artefacts.

antique-shop-14

His love for collecting and getting to know the stories behind objects probably comes from his dad who was a museum curator. Natie says he prefers to collect less valuable items as it can become a very expensive hobby to fuel.

He is a very informed and no nonsense kind of guy and we’d definitely recommend swinging by the shop in Soutpansberg road.

 

Bellbottoms

The second shop in this round is Bellbottoms. Situated in Pierneef street, between 30 & 31st Ave,  it has become somewhat of a landmark especially considering it dates back to 1999.

antique-shop-18

The owners, Didi and Coba, well known names in the Pretoria antique scene clearly has a passion for their shop. The couple had their first antique shop on Voortrekker road and Coba proudly states that after they started working for themselves it was never an option to go back.

Didi took the initiative to start Antique route 6, the Pretoria antique route guide and map. We’ll send you a soft copy of this in the newsletter.   

The large collection of objects date from the 50’s 60’s and 70’s and currently the most sought after item must be the Mobil fuel pump. (an offer of R40k was turned down) Didi however feels that the shop as a whole and especially some of the old signage has the most value to him. Bellbottoms also has a big collection of vinyls, furniture and those handy Coke crates.

antique-shop-32

antique-shop-21

The interior has a really comfortable old school feel and their glass display counter is stocked with sweets and interesting artefacts.

The couple is very knowledgeable and Didi always have good suggestions about innovative ways to save or restore an old piece of furniture.

 

and the winner is…

Both these shops are great , but we still have a long way to go in this shootout series. At the end of this we’ll put together a guide of what to see and do around the shops  so you can make a day out of it.

Written by The Louwkuls

a guy, a girl & an old land rover
2 Comments
  1. Enricoh Alfonzo 30 November 2016

    Se manifique! Love the photo journal and descriptions.
    I would love to visit there, reminds me of this antique shop in Jozi by Art on Main.

  2. Ina Louw 30 November 2016

    You will be able to do a shoot in our house alone. Some pretty weird things there too.

Leave a Comment