Portobello Road Market, London 1989
$20.00 $10.00
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This 1989 Portobello Road market scene focuses on a stallholder’s makeshift display of garden ornaments arranged against the front of a bright green Volkswagen Type 2 T3 Transporter van. Set out on a deep red cloth are plaster busts in the style of Michelangelo’s David, a larger classical nude figure, a metal soldier and a pair of black-and-white badger ornaments, while a handwritten sign taped to the van advertises Garden Ornaments all £10.00 and notes a Greek statue at £25. The slightly improvised presentation, with goods laid directly in the roadway beside the van, captures the casual, inventive trading style that long made Portobello Road feel more like a working street market than a polished antiques destination. It is a strong little record of the market’s everyday texture in the late 1980s, when quirky second-hand objects, decorative oddities and traders’ vehicles were all part of the scene.
About Retro Stock Photography
Retro Stock Photography specializes in genuine vintage color photographs from the 1950s through the 1990s, all available as royalty-free instant downloads. Our photos are popular for editorial features, books, magazines, websites, documentaries, advertising, social media, local history projects, creative design, and as unique gifts when printed.
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