Judith Miller, who has died aged 71, grew up with the ambition of becoming a history teacher. She never stepped inside a classroom in that capacity, but she said that channelling her energies into discovering the stories behind antiques enabled her to “touch” history. This came through co-founding Miller’s Antiques Price Guide, the book that has become the bible on the subject, and appearing on television as an expert on Antiques Roadshow and The House Detectives.
It was an interest she developed while studying at Edinburgh University, passing antiques and junk shops on her way to and from lectures. She bought plates to display in her student accommodation. “I couldn’t help but be drawn in,” she said, “and then drawn in particular to the bright colours of chinoiserie porcelain plates. I began to research them and very quickly I became hooked.”
