Not as it appears to be!

It's one of those strange times in every dealers life when something you hold turns out not what you thought it was. We have had in the family a (what can only be described as) wirework preserve stand. This item I thought was brass, although why you would serve preserves using a brass spoon hadn't permeated my braincell. The item as you can see below,  has a spoon which is embossed with acorns and oak leaves (but not photographed) sits on the stand and a plain glass dish (again not photographed sits in the ring at the base, which is supported on three ball feet.

Yesterday whilst photographing other items for sale, I decided if I was going to sell this, I had better clean it first. Out came the Brasso and the polishing cloth and away I went with gusto. As I got down the handle of the spoon, I thought this is a bit light for brass and moved on to the main piece. It was only on the inside of the base rim, that I had started to clean, I suddenly realised there were what looked like hallmarks. Away went the Brasso and out came the silver polish. I thought; here we, go a bit more than a shilling for this then. In bringing it in and showing it to my daughter who kindly photographed it for me. Sadly it was not the Holy Grail of the silver world but was EPNS, which as everyone knows stands for Electroplated Nickel Silver. The marks underneath which I thought were hallmarks were in fact just makers marks and initials. 

  

On enlarging the marks, it transpires it is the mark of Deykin & Sons of Jenens Row, Birmingham. Deykin & Sons was a partnership which was created in 1854 at the start of electroplated goods being manufactured instead of Gilt buttons which had sustained the company from its birth in 1781. 

If the internet is to be believed, this item if the mark is as I believe it reads from Deykin and Sons. It was made during the period 1854 - 1895. So I ask you take a look at the marks. Look at the website: www.silvercollection.it/  and tell me if you also believe this item could have originated from the mid to late 19th Century. 

As I said in the title "Not what it appears to be!".

Thanks for reading, until the next time.

It's been a while!

Hello again, I wrote the following article a little while ago to attach to my facebook page @OohThatsNiceAC after those annoying posts when you get told that "482 of your followers have not heard from you in a while". I was then thinking yesterday, I don't think I have written a blog for a while. Looking back through the list of articles it is over two years and around the time that the day job changed and my life became a lot more hectic.

I still have loads of china and trinkets to sell, just not a lot of time to do it. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the reprinted article below, I would realy appreciate you popping along to my facebook page just so I can get my numbers over the 500 mark.

Thanks

Clive

This is the first is a series of occasional articles on various aspects of antiques and collectibles. I say occasional articles as I will only write one when the mood takes me. So to work!

Packing and shipping Bone China or other similarly fragile articles.
Most shipment companies will not insure you for the shipment of Bone China, so it is your responsibility to pack it safely and securely, to ensure it gets there in one piece. Now, I know I am preaching to the choir to a lot of you but that being the case why I do I see an increasing number of smashed cups, jugs, teapots, etc, being shown on online where people think it is acceptable to ship wrapped in newspaper. You wouldn’t send your grannies heirloom wrapped in a supermarket carrier and newspaper is only good enough for wrapping up fish and chips.

So, first things first, look at your item and ask yourself if I put it in that box, will it touch the sides? If the answer is yes, get a bigger box. Ideally you need about two inches or 50mm (in modern money) around your items. Second hand boxes are ok as long as they are sound and by that I mean they do not have any holes in the cardboard, which you think a bit of tape on the outside and no one will know.
Wrap the item in bubble wrap, not expensive and even better if you have a local company that you know, where all they do is receive goods and then throw away the bubble wrap. Recycling at its finest, I will caveat this with, please make sure that the bubbles are still active otherwise you are wrapping your precious items in something akin to plastic wrap.

Wrapping your item(s) in bubble wrap may still leave space at the edges or top and bottom of the box. This can be padded in a number of ways, one of which does not include newspaper, (I can almost smell those fish and chips). Anyway, back on plot, you could use more bubble wrap rolled to form a sausage which fills the void. Another is to use poly chips , these are incredibly light weight and fill most box spaces. Alternatively and one for the true earth lovers, is cardboard zigzags. You know the stuff, it is strips of cardboard that look they have been through the pasta maker. In the good old days manufacturers shipped to their dealers in crates, with the china packed in straw. Now that really was earth loving before it became popular.
Whichever method you use please make sure that the item you have sold and shipped arrives in first class condition. Sad customers never return and we don’t want that.

Thanks for reading, see you again soon.