LETTERS Have your say
Your Letters
While one reader makes a play for Barry Humphries’ Sydney Opera House glasses, another calls for information on a
Dutch bowl
Our star letter receives a copy of British Designer Silver by John Andrew and Derek Styles worth £75. Write to us at Antique Collecting magazine, Riverside House, Dock Lane, Melton, Woodbridge, Suffolk, IP12 1PE or email magazine@ accartbooks.com
Star letter
How I enjoyed last month’s feature on gifts of love through the ages (Love Me Sender,
February issue), although possibly not for the right reasons. As a husband of 47 years, gifts to my wife over the decades have included a grouting gun (in my defence she does enjoy DIY), knee pads and a telescope. So it was with a sense of both relief and vindication to discover apple corers were once the go-to present for one’s beloved. It gave me all sorts of ideas for Valentine’s Day. H. Boswell, by email
I am hoping to appeal to the collective brains of your readership. I recently bought this charming arts and crafts bowl at auction and am keen to find out more about it. The stamp on the bottom appears to read ‘Liberty Made in Holland’ with a maker’s mark possibly of AR. While it appears to be in the Liberty style, did the London retailer commission pottery in Holland? My research suggests it may originate in Gouda and come from the the company Plateelbakkerij Zuid-Holland, also known as Plazuid or PZH. But what is the link to Liberty? There are numbers written in blue on the base which I think read 3062/2. Any help gratefully received. Judy Baxter, by email
Left Fruit corers were once given to the apple of the sender’s eye
Top right The diamanteencrusted ‘Sydney Opera House’ spectacles were set to make £1,000£1,500 at Christie’s sale
Above right Barry Humphries at home, 2021, ©Tereza Cervenova, courtesy of Christie’s Ltd
Below left The arts and crafts style bowl was bought at a local auction
Below Can readers help decipher the marks to reveal the maker and retailer?
As a lifelong fan of the late Australian performer
As a lifelong fan of the late Australian performer Barry Humphries it was a joy to get an insight into his life off stage and away from the camera. And, having just finished his very readable memoir, it came as no surprise that in his private life he was a thoughtful and considered collector, with a good eye. I am writing this before the sale on February 13 while, at the same time, trying to persuade my better half that Humphries’ diamante-encrusted ‘Sydney Opera House’ spectacles should join our own collection. Anon, by email
The answers to the quiz on page 36. Q1 (b). A docker has spikes with which to prick biscuits before baking. A spurtle is a Scottish stirring spoon. Q2 (c). The Brodie helmet was designed for WWI troops. Made from one sheet of metal, easily manufactured and a grazing-bullet deflector. Q3 (d). The lights were erected in Parliament Square in 1868, but they were gas powered, totally unsafe and exploded, sadly killing a policeman. Q4 (b) and (d). The illustrations were only in black and white and had to be annotated. In that gentler age, horse riding along most roads was normal. The whip could be used instead of hand signals. Q5 (a). A small dagger. Although the Rhineland was well known for making such things, they were also manufactured in the Northumberland region of ancient Britain and possibly elsewhere, obviously. Q6 (c). Known as ‘curse tablets’ they were written/scratched entreaties (often on lead) to deities to exact revenge on thieves etc. Q7 (b). Q8 (d). Q9 (c). In 1919 it was the oak leaf spray, later it was changed to a single bronze leaf. Since 1993 the emblem has been in silver. Q10. All of them.
Cook herrings is an anagram of rocking horse; Lushed loos can be rearranged to make the words dolls’ house; Clear pad is an anagram of pedal car and Oar shank can be rearranged to make the words Noah’s Ark.
10 ANTIQUE COLLECTING
