Last month I wrote about how war memorabilia is very collectable. Good provenance often increases value with any antique but is particularly important with military items such as medals.
I recently bought three sets of medals from World War I, two sets from brothers and one from their brother-in-law. On tracing their history, I found the lads were from Leeds and two out of the three survived the war. The other one died in Egypt in a trench collapse. All this information was available on the internet – I wonder what these three lads would have thought 100 years later that such information would be available? I also recently bought the tiniest miniature tea set made of fish bones by a Crimean prisoner of war. All the pieces were no more than one inch high and had been passed down the generations to the eldest daughter in the family.
I quite often get older people in the shop just looking and reminiscing on items they remember from their childhood. I love to listen to their stories and have a good natter about the past. My own mum was the eldest of thirteen children. Her dad was a miner and I remember him sitting me on his knee straight from a shift at the pit with a completely black face apart from the whites of his eyes! These true Yorkshire men have helped to build this country over the centuries and decades, and this may be why I love to buy and deal in Yorkshire items. We have been blessed by some beautifully made products over the years.
Chippendale for example, regarded as probably the best furniture ever made, it cannot be compared. Yorkshire oak furniture made by Mouseman and other makers such as Rabbitman and Gnomeman are also very well made and something I personally collect myself. The craftsmanship is superb and gets better over time, unlike today’s modern produced furniture which doesn’t stand the test of time. Born in 1876, Robert “Mouseman” Thompson first used his trademark mouse around 1919, after complaining to a workmate that he was as poor as a church mouse. One hundred years later the company is still going strong.
Yorkshire was also famous for engineering with products ranging from traction engines made by Fowlers to tanks made by Barnbow. Some of their engineers also made items in their spare time. I have been lucky enough over the years to buy some of these items made of brass and steel such as miniature guns and cannons, superbly engineered to scale. Some of the engineers even made working steam models of trains and traction engines, taking hundreds of painstaking hours in their garden sheds to complete. I heard a story that an American firm once bragged about producing the smallest drill bit ever made, so the Yorkshire craftsmen drilled a hole through it and sent it back to America! That is typical of us Brits!
If you have anything old or interesting, please call into the shop – or I am happy to call out in exchange for a good cup of tea! We are always looking for new stock, and of course you are welcome to come and browse the vast range of antiques we have in the shop too, whether you are looking to make a purchase or just take a trip down memory lane. See our advert below for opening times.
