Jan 28, 2025
When you consider that chocolates and flowers are the most frequently chosen Valentine gifts, it’s a little surprising that a whole collecting field dedicated to this theme exists. After all, chocolates and flowers don’t last long, so what is there on the vintage and antique front to collect?
The most obvious answer is Valentine’s cards, which date back to the 1600s at least.
At the time these were almost always handmade.
The Museum of London has a collection of more than 1700 Valentine’s cards, but the oldest known printed examples, dating to 1797, can be found in York Castle Museum. Hand-painted and pierced to produce a lace effect, it is decorated with cupids, doves and flowers.
The printer was John Fairburn, of 146, Minories, London, and it was printed with a month to spare on January 12.
Printed around the swags of flowers that frame the design are the words:
Since on this ever Happy day,
All Nature’s full of Love and Play
Yet harmless still if my design,
’Tis but to be your Valentine.
It captures a moment in time from the devoted Catherine Mossday, writing to the intriguingly anonymous Mr Brown of Dover Place, Kent, Road, London.
The rather frustrated Miss Mossday tells her intended:
As I have repeatedly requested you to come I think you must have some reason for not complying with my request, but as I have something particular to say to you I could wish you make it all agreeable to come on Sunday next without fail and in doing you will oblige your well wisher.
Half a century on from Miss Mossday’s plaintive missive, by mid Victorian times, the Valentine industry in Britain was so huge that it is thought the public spent hundreds of millions of pounds a year on cards and gifts for their loved ones. Today it is well over £1.5 billion in the UK and around $15 billion in the United States – equivalent to around a quarter of the sales for the entire global art market in a year!
Elaborate cards decorated with lace and ribbons – and even some with moving parts – demanded a considerable outlay on the part of the purchaser. Most popular were the ‘marionette’ cards, with their paper dolls with moving limbs, created by Raphael Tuck, who worked under Royal Warrant.
Celebrated artists and illustrators of the day were drafted in to create designs which collectors seek out now, among them children’s author Kate Greenaway.
Jan 22, 2025
John Nicholson’s will be holding a valuation day on Friday 21 February between 10-4 at:
St.Paul’s Church,
Churchside, Chichester PO19 6FT
(opposite the Fire Station, Northgate
Please bring in your pictures, silver, porcelain, jewellery, etc. which we will be glad to value and put into our forthcoming sales (if the item itself is too big to bring in, please bring a good image of it on a smartphone or tablet).
For any enquiries, please contact us on 01428 653737 or sales@johnnicholsons.com
Dec 24, 2024
At this time of year, collectors’ minds turn to special anniversaries that fall in the coming 12 months that might help boost a particular field of interest – and prices. So, what have we got to look forward to in 2025?
To start with, January 8 would have been the 90th birthday of Elvis Presley, one of the most sought-after figures in the history of music when it comes to collectables. It’s amazing to think that Elvis, who died in August 1977 at the age of 42, has now been dead for longer than he lived.
Just under a month later, on February 6, would have been the 80th birthday of the king of Reggae, Bob Marley, who succumbed to cancer aged just 36 in 1981.
Will there be a boost to items relating to Winston Churchill, who died 60 years ago on January 24? And what about a retrospective for the wonderful March Chagall, who passed on March 28, 1985, 40 years ago, aged 97? Pilgrims still visit his grave in the beautiful town of St Paul de Vence to lay a stone on his tomb.
March 27 is also a day to remember: 400 years since the death of King James I and the accession of King Charles I to the throne.
While Hitler and Pol Pot both have significant anniversaries, they are unlikely to troubles the rostrum, but December 16 marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of Jane Austen, surely a cause for celebration, special events and maybe even a reappearance at auction of rare first editions.
Making his first appearance eight months before Austen on April 23, and so also celebrating a 250th birthday, will be the man who is arguably England’s pre-eminent artist, J.M.W. Turner.
On the sporting front, 2025 will be 50 years since the inaugural Cricket World Cup, which began in the UK on June 7, 1975.
Hollywood is always a rich source for collectors, so expect to see raised interest in all things Spielberg as Jaws marks its 50th year. And can you believe that the Disney classic Lady and The Tramp will turn 70?
For me, the most important anniversary to look out for falls on September 27: 200 years since the first service of locomotive-hauled passenger trains opened between Stockton and Darlington – an innovation that changed the world. Few enthusiasts are as dedicated to their field as those interested in trains. Look out for Hornby, Bassett-Lowke, Märklin and the rest at auction when autumn comes.
Dec 4, 2024
A recent change at Christmas time has been the decline of the greetings card. With first class post now £1.65, that is perhaps not surprising, but it is a shame.
We have the United States to thank for the modern image of Father Christmas, or Santa Claus, as they call him. That’s also true of greetings cards, which became popular, initially in the United States in the 1880s, thanks to the development of offset lithography, a form of printing.
Britain picked up on the trend early. Hallmark, one of the biggest names in greetings cards, has been around since almost the start, when savvy British makers saw what was happening in the US and started exporting cheaper folded versions there not long before the First World War.
The first Christmas cards were hand-coloured for Sir Henry Cole, founder of the Victoria & Albert Museum, who ordered 1000 in 1843. They depicted a family raising their charged glasses in a toast above a draped banner carrying the words A Merry Christmas. He used half himself and sold the rest for a shilling apiece.
It’s thought around nine or ten survive, and each is valued at around £10,000 today.
Some of the most sought-after Christmas cards today are those designed by well-known artists of the late Victorian and early 20th century periods. Kate Greenaway, who illustrated many of the most popular children’s books of the 1880s and ’90s is a favourite, as is her great rival at the time, Walter Crane.
Perhaps the most desirable cards, though are the early Hold-to-Light cards depicting Father Christmas, or Santa Claus. These were generally die-cut and got their name because if you held them up to the light, the die-cut parts lit up, creating a glowing Christmas scene.
When first produced in the US, in postcard form, these were the preserve of the wealthy as each could cost as much as a day’s wages for a working man. Nowadays while religious or other scenes can be had for as little as around £20, the pick of the Santa cards can cost £400.
Collectors tend to specialize in subject matter, such as comic cards, or anniversary type, such as birthday or Christmas cards. Condition can matter a great deal. If they are unused and have not been stuck in albums with the accompanying sticky tape. And particular printers, such as De La Rue, also tempt collectors.
Nov 13, 2024
Due to ongoing legislation, our inhouse delivery service is no longer available for items with destinations outside the UK. Independent courier companies can be found on the BUYING page in the DELIVERIES section.
We apologies for any inconvenience.