Articles

William Edward Atkins 1842 - 1910 The youngest son of George Henry Atkins, artist and organist of the Portsmouth Royal Naval Dockyard Chapel, and Sara Sophia (nee Shaw). He was born in Portsea about 1842/3. It has not been possible to find the registration of his birth to [...]

Victorian Staffordshire figures Despite the many successful auctions, books and many specialist fairs, there are still many who regard Victorian Staffordshire figures with an attitude bordering on contempt. This hostility I put down to ignorance. Victorian Staffordshire pottery is a wonderful art form and a very important part [...]

Singing bird automatons - an appreciationInternational antique automata specialist Laurence Fisher discusses the popular appeal of these marvellous feats of style and technical engineering.Why are antique singing bird automatons having a big impact on today's audience?Perhaps it is because these fine and rare examples are seen only occasionally, the [...]

19TH CENTURY SAILOR WOOLWORK PICTURES, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS WOOLIES Embroidered ship portraits are among the most charming and least known of the maritime arts. Thought to have originated in Great Britain around 1840, they reached their greatest popularity between 1860 and 1880. Interest in stitching these likenesses waned with [...]

The History of Palais Royal For collectors of thimbles needlework tools, and needlework boxes some of the most beautiful and sought-after pieces are known collectively as ‘Palais Royal’. The name refers to the Palace in Paris, built for Cardinal Richelieu in 1629. It was originally known as Palais [...]

The ‘Derby’ factory was founded on Nottingham Road, near ancient St Mary’s Bridge, around 1748.  A Huguenot jeweller, André Planche experimented with ingredients which he hoped would produce a similar material to that being successfully developed at Meissen in Germany.  In 1756 William Dewsbury, who had previously been [...]

A look at fine antique paperweights Most antique paperweights were made by one of three French factories, as a sideline, for just 10-15 years in the mid-1800s, and most collectors agree that only about 30,000-50,000 remain today. With many being tightly held by museums, only a precious few [...]

The World at Your Fingertips by Caroline Wallrock Nowadays it might seem incredible that, as late as the 1300s, Man believed the world was flat and that sailors departing for the unknown might drop off the end. Brave, enquiring minds were persecuted and even put to death for [...]

Undiscovered treasures Japanese works of artThere has been much coverage in the press recently of the extremely high prices achieved by Oriental antiques. These prices have primarily been for Chinese items (ceramics, jade etc.), but there is another area of Oriental art where pieces of outstanding quality and beauty [...]

Miniature furniture The skill of the cabinet makers in producing these pieces is truly amazing, and in some cases the work involved would be greater than producing the full size example. Indeed, the true test of of their skill, is when you see a photograph of the piece, [...]