Visit Rait Antiques Centre and you enter a world filled with mystery and surprises.
-
Some Courier online content is funded by outside parties. The revenue from this helps to sustain our independent news gathering. You will always know if you are reading paid-for material as it will be clearly labelled as “Partnership” on the site and on social media channels,
This can take two different forms.
“Presented by”
This means the content has been paid for and produced by the named advertiser.
“In partnership with”
This means the content has been paid for and approved by the named advertiser but written and edited by our own commercial content team.
The Perthshire outlet is the oldest country antiques centre in Scotland and is filled with rare treasures.
Comprising 18 separate stores, a visit to it is more of an experience than a normal shopping trip. It’s a place for a day out with a tearoom and its network of shops, each offering something different and intriguing.
As manager Val Easson-Milne says: “No two days are the same here. When you’re surrounded seven days a week by antiques, nothing is unusual. We’ve sold a ship’s anchor. There are Edwardian dresses with bodice and skirt. We’ve had church fonts. There was a masthead of a ship with a mermaid. There’s such a wide range of things.”
Shop has stories behind the treasures
With this level of variety there’s something to suit every pocket. Items can sell from one pound to tens of thousands of pounds. The store even has Scottish made soaps, which sell repeatedly because they’re such good quality. There’s also the chance of unearthing something of extraordinary personal significance.
Valerie tells the tale of an elderly customer who while doing a round of the centre spotted a portrait of herself. It turned out the painting was one of her as a young girl done by an artist who was a friend of the family.
In another amazing coincidence, a customer honed in on a painted vase as she was leaving the shop, recognising it as one she had made as a child at school.
Valerie says: “She recognised the painting on it and we chatted about if for a bit.”
Wheel deals and a grizzly resident
Among the more unusual items to have gone through the stores were two penny farthing bikes, both of which sold for a few thousand pounds.
There was also one intimidating resident who came close to outstaying his welcome.
Valerie says: “There was this stuffed grizzly bear in one of the shops and it was there forever. A customer had bought it several years before. He’d paid for it then never came back to collect it and we didn’t know how to get in touch with him. If someone leaves something we’re not allowed to get rid of it for a period of time, so it just had to sit there. He’d just paid for his stuffed bear and then never appeared for it.”
Outlander uses Rait Antiques Centre
With such a treasure trove of collectibles, it’s perhaps not surprising that Rait Antiques Centre piques the interest of TV crews. It has played host to the BBC’s Antiques Road Trip on several occasions and provides props for the Scots time travelling saga Outlander. The outlet draws scouts from the Amazon Prime hit because it helps them with the authenticity of the show.
Valerie says: “They come and buy up actual real antiques to use on set. They’ve bought blacksmith’s hooks, irons, pulleys, locks for doors and furniture. They’d come every year and go away with a vanload of props because they were the real McCoy and not just made up by a joiner to look aged.”
It’s a fact that sums up the centre’s appeal – quality, authenticity, rarity and charm. All in all a vintage day out.
For opening hours and more information visit the Rait Antiques Centre website or you can have a look at some themed products on their Facebook page.
