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 Martin,
This is in the manner of some of the fine 17th century and earlier tapestries that were produced in Europe for wealthy clients with castles and manor houses. Unfortunately this is a more modern version not of that quality and would be difficult to sell in today’s market. It does surprise me that items like this do not sell for their true worth or reflect that time and effort put into producing them. I am sure if you did donate it to a charity shop they would find a buyer and benefit from your gift. Your other alternative would be hold onto it for the future. Its value is under £50.
Dear Mary,
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a 1937 American film based on the fairy tale of the same name by the Brothers Grimm. It was the first full length animated feature to be produced by Walt Disney. The British Chad Valley toy company was one of several who were licenced to make Disney merchandise and the set of Snow White and the dwarfs proved to be extremely popular.
Chad Valley started in the 1920’s and received a Royal warrant in 1938 and the toys carried the highly prized accolade in the boxes or sew in labels ‘Toymakers to H.M The Queen’.
In the condition they appear to be in from the image I would expect them to sell between £350-400 at auction.
If they were in mint condition with the original boxes (practically impossible to find), they would sell for double that price.
Dear Sharon,
I really love this watch of yours and the fascinating story about it.
After a lot of research, I have only found one similar watch sold at auction in the last 10 years, but that was not a gold one like yours. I have no idea of the condition of that watch but it sold for £600.
It is impossible to guess how much work would be needed to put your watch back in working order. It can work out to be quite costly repairing the watch. It is really important to replace any of the parts with original ones if possible which are not always easy to find. For instance we had two Rolex watches in our auction recently. One had had a repair by Rolex with the original parts and sold for £4500. We later had an identical watch repaired by a jeweller not with the original parts in and it sold for £900.
I feel your watch, if repaired properly, would be a valuable and desirable object.
Dear Margaret
I really love this coffee set, it is just the type that is popular at the moment, very pretty and retro looking. Unfortunately the value is in the name and Royal Stafford is not as collectable as other makes such as Shelley or Clarice Cliff.
Royal Stafford was founded in 1845 in the town of Longton by Thomas Poole. Your coffee set is probably from the 1920’s – 30’s.
If you had a perfect coffee pot, this set may have sold between £80-100. The damage will lower the price.
Dear Betty,
Your figure is Capo di monte china from Italy. Capo di monte china was made as far back as the early 18th century and was made in the kingdom of Naples. Items from this period are rare and valuable.
Most of the figures like yours were made in the 1960’s and 1970s’. My nana and mum both collected it and some of the finer handmade ones sold for hundreds of pounds. This period was the most popular for the mass market sales, but unfortunately they did flood the market and have now gone out of fashion.
Capo di monte is still made today and just about everything from flowers to jewellery is made.
I would suggest hanging on to your piece. One day it may reverse its position and once again become pride and place in your home.
Your vase named “The Gardens of Powerscourt” by Waterford is a modern piece.
This you can tell straight away because it has a copyright symbol underneath.
The vase’s Lily pattern and name comes from the Powerscourt estate in Enniskerry, County Wicklow Ireland. It is a large country estate which is noted for its house and landscaped gardens. The house was originally a 13th-century castle,
I have come across lots of examples of this vase with prices varying between £20-50.
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
