Welcome to my second article for the Yorkshire Reporter. Hopefully, you saw my article last month in which I introduced myself and my shop – Antiques and Collectables in Crossgates.
This month, I am opening this piece by bragging that I was born in Hazlewood Castle! I am not landed gentry however, I should explain that I was born just as the second world war ended, being one of seven children living in a small cottage on Manston Lane. As we lived right at the end of the perimeter fence of Barnbow, which was an armaments factory, the authorities thought this might be a good target for the Luftwaffe so expectant mothers were confined to a tiny makeshift ward at Hazlewood.
I am often asked for memorabilia from this time in the shop, including medals, documents, strangely enough German articles and even weapons.
War memorabilia remains highly popular with many military collectors, and I am always happy to view and value any items you may have lying around at home.
Even older, are items from the Victorian era. People often bring me unusual things to value and it appears to me that the Victorians had invented some type of gadget for almost everything imaginable, particularly when it came to dining. I have had apple corers, melon spoons and unusually shaped forks for every conceivable use including pickles, fish, lobster and fruit. I even once had a spoon warmer made of silver – ‘One couldn’t put a cold spoon in one’s mouth!’
Victorian ladies had silver purses, calling card cases and silver pill boxes and match cases, all ornately made. It seems to me that if they could make it fancier then they would do so. This extended to furniture, pottery, porcelain and all manner of soft furnishings. The craftsmanship was truly outstanding and would be pretty impossible to replicate in the present day due to the amount of time required in manufacturing items and the lack of apprentice trained craftsmen.
However, despite the incredible care and attention to detail that went in to much of the Victorian items, they seem to have gone out of fashion somewhat as most young people these days prefer less clutter and simpler design. There is always a demand for silver antiques though.
Some small, pretty items of Victorian furniture do seem to be making a slight comeback, but only slowly, still fetching only a fraction of the price they would have made 30 years ago. If you are lucky enough to have any of these wonderfully made pieces of furniture, my advice to you would be to pass them on to your children and grandchildren because fashions change and I am convinced that this furniture made over 100 years ago will still be going strong in another 100 years. I don’t think the same will ever be said about flat pack furniture.
In the current market, Ercol furniture is doing quite well, but only ‘blonde’ Ercol will achieve good prices. You can pick up a good quality Grandfather clock at auction for around £100 as opposed to £300-400 not that long ago. Despite these somewhat depressing figures there is a silver lining – the best quality antique furniture will always achieve the best prices. The emphasis is always on quality, so if you can afford to invest in the best, you should be able to recoup your investment in the future.
If you do have anything at interest at home which you would like to learn more about, then please do feel free to pop into the shop for a free valuation, myself and my daughter Carol are always happy to help. Please see our advert below for opening times.
