JUNE 2015

Antiques With Gary DonFeatures

I would like to thank you all for the great response I have had to this valuation section. I do respond to everyone through this column, some items taking a little more research than others but all will be answered when I have the relevant information. Please keep sending them in. You never know what might be discovered!

Dear Barbara,

Thank you for your email and images of your ivory bracelet and your two silver covers of the Taj Mahal.

You have touched on a very emotive subject with ivory. At the moment, you are allowed to sell ivory if it can be proved it was made before 1947 and has been changed from a tusk into a decorative item. The Conservative government recently announced that it would the ban the sale of all ivory products. This is already the case in California where antiques made of ivory are being destroyed. Buyers are naturally wary of putting their money into ivory here. Unfortunately it may prove to be the case that instead of protecting elephants, it may drive the illegal market up causing more elephants to be killed.

As for the Taj Mahal covers, it will depend on whether your items have a silver content as to their value. Many of these covers were brought back from India after the war as souvenirs. The value would be under £100.

pen

Dear Reader,

Thank you for sending the image of your cast iron pen holder.

This type of cast iron pen holder was popular in Victorian times and lots of other shapes were produced. The registered design number “44197” marked beneath the base shows it was made circa 1870.

I have seen similar examples on sale between £40-60. Although it is not worth a fortune, it is a lovely thing to have and maybe you could start collecting all the other weird and wonderful pen holders!

P1080716

Dear Reader,

One of your teasets is marked EPNS which means Electro Plated Nickel Silver. It contains a very small amount of silver and not as collectable as a solid silver tea set. It would sell between £50-80. Tip: do not polish your silver plated tea set too much, otherwise the thin layer of silver will wear off and it will show a copper colour.

The other tea set is much more interesting.  The lion hallmark shows it is silver and the anchor hallmark shows the assay mark of Birmingham. The letter next to it will show the year of manufacture, and the initials are the maker.

Subject to its weight and the current silver price, it should be worth between £400 – 600. This is an article that has a value greater than scrap silver.

wmfmark

Dear Anita,

Thank you for your image of your metal vase. It has the marks WMF, MB, I/O and OX impressed onto it. Unfortunately it is not silver, the marks mean as follows-

WMF stands for WURTTEMBERGISCHE METALLWARENFABRIK

I/O = Normal thickness of gilding or silver-plating

MB = partly brass, partly Britannia metal

OX = oxidized.

The WMF factory in Germany was founded in 1853 as a metal works factory and by 1892 it had patented a special technique to silver plate  cutlery known nowadays as “The Perfect Hard  Silver Plating”. WMF became the largest factory in Wurttemberg and became heavily influenced by the art nouveau style. Their decorative items were on the market by 1925 and by the 1950’s, silver plated tableware and cutlery accounted for two thirds of their business.They had hundreds of designs and exported them all over the world.WMF was responsible for producing the special “Ikora” finish, which earned an important place in the annals of art history.

Your WMF plated archaeological vase could possibly be one of  a pair and is missing its glass liner. It is worth between £30-50.

You may be sat on a treasure trove! It is often the items that you think are worthless that can turn out to be the most valuable.

Not sure? Then send an email to antiques@yorkshirereporter.co.uk. I will answer everyone.

Look forward to valuing for you

Gary Don

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