Steve Kember has been a restorer of antique musical boxes for over thirty-five years. He has an antiques shop on Cinque Ports Street in Rye and is nationally well-known for his work on the BBC’s well-loved show The Repair Shop. During the Rye Arts Festival 2023 Stephen will be in conversation with Rye’s pianola specialist Mike Boyd. Stephen will talk about his life before antiques and, of course, his television appearances.
But what is the private man like behind the public figure that he has become?
What three words describe you?
Pedantic, under-priced, and grey-haired
What have got left on your bucket list that you hanker after doing?
What? To repair or in general?
Anything in your life.
I want to dive headfirst into a blue sea off a Greek island.
Is it the feeling of the cold water as you splash in that makes you want to do it?
No, the water would be nice and warm, I am thinking blue sea of the Mediterranean not Camber Sands. In my mind’s eye there would be a column of smooth water that will replace my presence as I hit the water but in reality, there will be a big belly-flop and a splash.
What traits did you think essential to instil in your daughter when she was growing up ?
To be kind. To strive to be the best version of you that you can be.
What would your eighteen-year-old self think about where you are today?
I think he wouldn’t be surprised. When I was eighteen I had to fill in an application form to decide what I wanted to do at university and I really didn’t know what I wanted to do. I thought economics and accountancy would be the thing to do and then I saw this poster with a Formula One car and a steam engine and I thought that’s me, engineering.
So off I went. I was always the sort of child that was never far from a soldering iron or a screwdriver. I wanted to know how a thing worked and how to fix it and if wasn’t broken I took it apart to find out why it hadn’t broken. So the die was cast, and engineering was my chosen path. I worked for a while for a big company, but I didn’t really like being part of something so big so here I am forty-one years later still working for myself. I enjoy what I do and it’s not like a job at all.
What is your favourite thing to take apart and mend?
Musical boxes of course. When I started my business all those years ago I considered myself to have a general interest in antiques but over the years I have specialised and found my natural path. I can tell a musical box manufacture for instance from the other side of the room because of the characteristics that I observe.
Have you ever found a real gem at a bargain price?
Yes, one or two. I bought a really beautiful box at auction: it was very satisfying to feel that I had found a gem and no-one else had spotted it. It was special and when I sold it, it was worth a great deal more. I have approaching sixty unrestored musical boxes of my own and yet I am always interested in new ones.
How long have you been in your Rye shop?
Fourteen years. I kept on telling people it was about seven or eight years but I discovered the other day it is fourteen. Before that I was in Tunbridge Wells and before that I was a bit nomadic and used to go to the London markets and it was basically trade dealing with trade. Things have changed and you have to move with the times.
Have you a favourite place to be?
Yes, my workshop. It is my domain and I don’t have customers there as it a place to work in peace and tranquillity.
Do you have a pet hate? What would you put in Room 101?
People who hate things.
What habits did you pick up from your parents?
I suppose smoking from my dad but I gave that up a long time ago. A silly thing to do.
My mother was really handy with her hands, she was always making and modifying clothes so I suppose I picked up the interest in craft side from her.
What advice would you give to someone starting out in the antiques trade today?
Do it because you love it and not because you think you are going to make a lot of money. Specialise, offer something that someone else can’t, like restoration or knowledge. Ask yourself, “Why would anyone buy something from me? Why should they?” Put yourself in the place of the buyer and ask yourself that question and if you can answer it properly you are in with half a chance.
http://www.antique-musicboxes.co.uk/
Image Credits: Kt bruce .