Bookends

For a couple of years I've been looking for a pair of decent bookends. Yes, I've got shelves and book cases, but I've also got books on every other available surface, and those old fashioned adjudictors of mantlepiece collections, are just what I need. Yet, bookends aren't part of the fashionable modern interior it seems....and on the odd occasion I've found something that might do the job they've seemed too heavy or too gauche (there appear to be quite a few "erotic" bookends around, for those er... neo-classicists amongst you.) What I was looking for was something plain, but elegant, sturdy but not overly obtrusive. Two bits of nicely lacquered wood with a carved animal feature to add character, for instance. £6.99 from Didsbury Oxfam on Saturday. I am a happy man.