Flotsam & Jetsam’s Cameron Woodcock has a new shop in Grey Lynn that doubles as his home. From German candlestick holders to a horse’s head from a fairground ride, the vintage dealer shares his love of hunting and gathering and what makes a special piece
It’s a summer Sunday morning
“Where’s this from?” the customer asks owner Cameron Woodcock, thrusting the marble in front of him. “I can’t remember,” says Cameron. “I probably got it for my rustic kitchen that never happened,” he adds with a smile. The small, square slab of marble has the look of something that could have come from an archaeological dig in Italy. Worn and softened around the edges by time, it is beautiful – and useful. It would be ideal for serving cheeses or handy as a trivet. This, says Cameron, is what people are looking for these days.
“Vintage always goes through cycles and at the moment people seem to be looking for practical and useful things. Whereas the industry folk, food stylists and prop buyers are still after the more strange and interesting pieces.”
He has seen a few twists and turns in the market during his 24 years as a vintage dealer. The heritage cottage in Grey Lynn, Auckland, is the most recent iteration of Flotsam & Jetsam, a popular destination for those seeking something unusual and interesting for their home.
“About 14 years ago I looked at setting up the shop where we are now. At the same time the opportunity arose to rent the old Lord Ponsonby’s Antiques building on Ponsonby Rd, so I took that. When it was time to find another space this old dairy became available again, so we have gone full circle and moved back to Richmond Rd.” But his first foray into vintage dealing was at another Ponsonby location: Agnes Curran in Franklin Rd, a cafe-store he launched in 2001.
“I started off in design, then I fell into cooking, which led me to open Agnes Curran. I wanted to create a space that was like coming to my house for lunch and sitting around a large communal table,” he says. “We sold everything, from Crown Lynn swans to the chairs customers were sitting on. I guess that’s when my career as a vintage dealer began.”
Cameron has turned his passion into a way of life. The store showcases his gift for transforming potential chaos into calm. Flotsam & Jetsam is a treasure trove that has an informal, unfussy aesthetic. The random medley of stuff feels casual and relaxed.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.“I’m definitely a maximalist. I like to have things around me. More is always more.”
Grand inspiration
Half of the historic cottage, built over a century ago as the corner dairy, is dedicated to the store and the other half is home. Cameron’s skill as a collector and curator can be seen in the easy placement of things in both his home and store.
“The lines between shop and home are quite blurred. A lot of new finds intended for the shop end up in my hope chest instead.” Cameron believes he gets his fondness for beautiful old things from his grandmother. “My grandmother had an amazing eye for antiques, floral art and cooking. I think this must be where I get it from,” he says of his passion for art, vintage, design and cooking.
The artfully cluttered shop is filled with a charming mix of unexpected things in different mediums, styles and periods. All are sourced from markets and dealers from around New Zealand, with the occasional container load from the United States. “Whenever I travel, both here and overseas, I always hunt out local flea markets and vintage stores. Once I bought in some containers from New York and Massachusetts, which was super-fun. There were so many great pieces in that shipment,” he says. Cameron’s sourcing ethos comes down to one thing: “Generally, I just buy things I like in the hope that someone else will find beauty in them.”
Even with his decades of experience, he can never tell when something is going to be popular. “Once we had some ceramic jars in the shape of bok choy. We posted a pic of them and the demand almost broke our Instagram account,” he says. “I didn’t see that coming! It’s times like this, when something has sold well, that it would be great to get more. Unfortunately, we couldn’t source any more of the bok choy jars. There were no more to be had.”
At other times, purchasing pieces for Flotsam & Jetsam online has created challenges. “I have a history of buying things that are too big to fit into the shop. I bought a huge metal lantern from a motel in Christchurch and we needed to remove the doors to the store to fit it inside. Another time I was expecting a few old General Motors trolleys from their closed-down factory in Wellington. A truck turned up with hundreds of them. It was a mission to squeeze them in, but we managed.”
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.Long term, he has plans for his continuous collecting to spread to a new location. He’s bought the former fire station in Gonville, Whanganui, and will move there one day. “That’s on the backburner for now, but it keeps me going and inspires me. I’m sure my own home will never be finished. There will always be something interesting out there for me to discover! I just love hunting and gathering. I can’t see myself ever stopping.”
More great design
Stunning homes, breathtaking interiors.
This stunning off-grid home on Waiheke Island was inspired by a pōhutukawa seed pod. The angular home is a breathtaking homage to the natural world surrounding it.
How do you make a high-style home? 25 years of NZ interior design trends. Our love affair with cookie-cutter interiors is fading.
For Kelly Wearstler, the mother of ‘eclectic’ interiors, design is about love. After 30 years in business, she has remained a celebrity in an often faceless field.
Fashion designer Rory Docherty’s Kingsland apartment is an earthy, art-filled refuge. The warm, mid-century-dappled space spurs his creativity – and showcases it too.
In my studio: Where artist Katherine Rutecki makes glass bubbles and ghastly ghoststicks. In her Ponsonby studio, she develops the many strings to her bow, from glass to bronze.
