Antique evening
MEMBERS and friends attended the April meeting of the Charnwood Antique & Collectors Club, bringing with them a variety of items which they displayed on the tables arranged in their meeting room at the Rosebery Street Old Primary School, connected to the Rosebery Medical Centre.
The reason for them bringing along their items, was to find out what, if anything, they were worth, as the guest speaker for the evening was Vanessa Savage, the well-known evaluator from the Charles Hanson Auctions, in Etwall, Derbyshire.
After a short introduction, by the chairman, Vanessa explained how she became an antiques collector and her involvement with the Hanson Auction House. She then turned to the items laid out.
One-by-one, she examined each and every piece, making notes and weighing those made of silver and/or gold. She then proceeded to pick up every item and gave its owner and members an indication as to what date it was produced, also, its use and a valuation. She pointed out that the valuation she gave was a guide only, as depending on where an item was to be auctioned and the fluctuation of market prices, plus its rarity and condition, had a great effect on the actual outcome.
Items ranged from a 1970s square brass mantle clock to an album of “saucy sea-side postcards”. A “Harvesters Jug” (1815) to a variety of small bottles, (scent, oil and mustard pot etc). Moorcroft pottery, Stourbridge art glass, two large paintings, a teddy-bear, a Noritake vase (1880), an African native shield (1860), Spanish pewter candle sticks and a Limoges dressing table pot (1910). There were many, many more. To numerous to mention, with my apologies to their owners for not doing so (Rowland). I think possibly the most unusual item was a wooden box that contained some electrical equipment in it, (electrodes, wire and a coil etc), that apparently was used to ‘shock’ a person, possibly to bring someone round from a faint, or to get a muscle working again. It could be a very early fibrillator, who knows.
At the end, Vanessa answered questions from many of the members. It was certainly a very interesting and instructive evening from an expert. Everyone went home much wiser.
The next meeting will be on Tuesday 1st May, when John Noble returns to continue his talk on “Fun on the Post”. RT