LETTERS Have your say

Your Letters

This month’s mail bag includes tips for a cultural visit and a mystery object

Our star letter receives a copy of Bulgari Treasures of Rome by Vincent Meylan worth £55. Write to us at Antique Collecting, Sandy Lane, Old Martlesham, Woodbridge, Suffolk, IP12 4SD or email magazine@ accartbooks.com

Left What is the piece used for?

Below left A Grimwade’s Beatrix Potter toy tea service

I wonder if I might pick your readers’ brains? In an extravagant mood I recently bought this from my local auction house without doing any pre-sale research.

Part of it makes me think it is a bedside table, while the other half screams coalscuttle. Was there ever any need in times gone by for a bedside coalscuttle..? It seems rather unlikely to me. Any information would be gratefully received. S J Green, by email

I found your report on collecting Beatrix Potter in the February issue very interesting but was surprised to find no mention of porcelain. I have 20 surviving pieces from my pre-war nursery tea set by Grimwade and would love to discover more. Alastair Leslie, by email

10 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Star letter

In the February issue of Antique Collecting, Dr Philip Errington’s fascinating article on the collectability of Beatrix potter books and watercolours was well timed to coincide with the opening of the current Beatrix Potter exhibition at the V&A.

Very few museums have significant collections of her work. From 1913, Beatrix became a very active member of the Armitt Library and Museum in Ambleside, and her husband, William Heelis, also became a member, and subsequently a trustee.

They donated many books and letters to the museum but their most outstanding gift was a legacy of hundreds of watercolours by Beatrix. These are mainly of fungi but there are also lichens, fossils, microscope drawings and archaeological artefacts.

Your readers may wish to know about this important collection, particularly if they happen to be visiting the Lake District on one of the many wet days for which the region is noted. Tony Lonton, by email Above The Armitt Library and Museum is well worth a visit

Answers to the quiz on page 46 Q1 (a) The colours represent the three branches of the services. The wider central red for the army which had the major role. Q2 (d) Dating from the 17th century, the books illustrate the diversity of trees and were made from the different woods. Q3 (b). Q4 (a) and (c). Thompson faked paintings by ‘inventing’ the artist Captain John Eyre (1604-1644) who, he claimed, was educated at Oxford, fought for the Roundheads and produced more than 300 artistic works. Q5 (d) Gloag’s Dictionary of Furniture, 1990, lists 150 types of table. Q6 (b) Böttger (16821719) produced the first European hard-paste porcelain. He claimed to be an alchemist, but never produced gold. Q7 (c) When pronounced properly ‘déesse’ is the French for ‘goddess’. Q8 (b) 40 lines = 1in. Q9 (d) Three types were made by James Sinclair of London. Lord Carnarvon used the ‘Tropical Una’ (made to withstand hot, dry climates) in Egypt. Q10 Ans. (b) Stones polished in their natural irregular shape are baroque. Shaped, domed or rounded stones are cabochons. Flat-faced stones are faceted. (a) twitch charges = scratchweight; (b) Mag’s solace = cameo glass; (c) party set = tapestry (d) a new race = caneware