Apr 18, 2025
What’s the strangest thing you have ever seen at auction? I was asked the other day. A good question, but difficult to answer after several decades in the job.
Thinking back, though, several items stand out – not necessarily ones that passed through my hands, but nevertheless memorable.
The New Patent Exploding Trench was one. A Great War toy produced briefly by Britains, it involved a wooden and fabric trench loaded with six lead riflemen of the Gloucestershire Regiment. When hit, a specially placed flagstaff set off a cap, which made a loud report, shaking the trench and “killing” the soldiers. Why a British factory should have put British soldiers rather than the enemy in the trench is anyone’s guess, but it was a marketing disaster, and the toy was soon withdrawn. The result? A rare collectable that has made a decent four-figure sum in the two or three times it has appeared at auction over the past 20 years.
Perhaps the most chilling thing I have seen was not at auction but at a restoration firm. What looked like a framed piece of parchment turned out to be a collection of tattoos cut from the bodies of French soldiers in the field of Waterloo. Now who would want to buy that?
Almost as chilling – and certainly intriguing – is the Fiji Mermaid. This has its origins among Japanese fishermen, who sewed parts of different animals together to create chimera – in this case the head and arms of a monkey sewn to the body and tail of a fish.
They first came to Western notice after the captain of an American ship, thinking it a real creature, bought one from Japanese sailors in the early 19th century for thousands of dollars. The great American showman PT Barnum displayed it as a curiosity in the 1840s.
As a trip to Wikipedia will attest, Barnum understood how to generate publicity, writing to the newspapers under various pseudonyms on the subject of the Fiji Mermaid and creating a ruse whereby his associate booked into a Philadelphia hotel, secretly showing the creature to the manager, who then insisted on spreading the word and staging a display to a select audience, including journalists.
Probably destroyed in a fire around 20 years later, by then the legend had caught on and many copies were made. Look it up on Google images and see one for yourself.
Each example is usually named after the town in whose museum it now rests.
Mar 26, 2025
As Easter approaches, it reminds me of one of my favourite dreams: being asked to go through the boxes of a client’s attic to see if anything emerges that might be worth selling and coming across a Fabergé egg.
These jewels are among the most famous luxury items ever produced.
The first of several dozen of these jewel-encrusted eggs (around 70 are thought to have been made of which 61 are known to have survived) was commissioned as an Easter gift for the Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna by her husband, Tsar Alexander III, in 1885.
The House of Fabergé was established in St Peterburg in 1842, the celebrated eggs being the invention of Peter Carl Fabergé. The first, known as the Hen Egg, is an enamel shell surrounded by a gold band that opens to reveal a golden yolk. That opens too and is found to conceal a golden hen perched on golden straw. Rather like the Russian Babushka dolls, the hen itself then opens to reveal a miniature replica of a diamond Imperial crown and a ruby pendant.
Unfortunately, the crown and ruby pendant have since been lost, but the egg must have created quite a stir when first presented. We know this because such was the Tsarina’s delight that within weeks Fabergé had been awarded a royal warrant.
To make the following orders even more of a surprise, it is thought that Fabergé gave no clue even to the Tsar as to what the eggs would look like. Fabergé himself would oversee the design before handing the creation of the eggs over to a team of craftsmen, whose names have passed down through history as a result.
When Alexander’s son Nicholas II ascended the throne, he continued the tradition of presenting eggs as Easter gifts, both to his own wife, Alexandra Feodorovna, and his mother, the Dowager Empress. In all, they received fifty eggs between them, inspiring further commissions for Fabergé eggs from the Rothschild family and the Duchess of Marlborough, among others.
The Russian Revolution of 1917 put an end to the St Petersburg workshop, with the Fabergé family leaving Russia. More than a century on, the eggs sit at the centre of an impressive output of stunning silver, gold and jewelled pieces that continue to change hands at auction for stupendous sums.
I’ll keep my fingers crossed next time I’m asked to rummage through a few old boxes.
Mar 2, 2025
Easter Monday falls on April 21 this year. It also happens to be the birthday of our late Queen. Elizabeth II, a reminder, if one was needed, of the rich Royal heritage we enjoy. If there’s one thing we Brits do better than anyone else it is fostering our great Royal tradition, not just with pageantry and our recognition of the symbolic importance of the monarchy, but also in producing all the colourful memorabilia that goes with it.
I still own my 1977 Silver Jubilee mug, a rather tasteful design compared with some others that have emerged down the years, and a healthy market remains for all sorts of rarities, from the Victorian era and beyond – although they go back much further.
When Her Majesty turned 90 in 2016, The Royal Mint unveiled another birthday coin to mark the occasion, while mugs, plates, tea towels and any number of other collectables are already on sale. Various commemorative mugs are already on offer, ranging in price from around £8 to £25.
King Charles III’s Coronation produced another flurry of activity, and in this era of digital payments it was, if anything, even more exciting to see the newly unveiled coins and banknotes featuring His Majesty’s bust.
When it comes to Royal memorabilia – particularly coins and notes – mass production has dampened price rises over the years unless you manage to get your hands on something that has a printing or other error, making it a rarity. The real money is in items with a very personal connection to a royal personage, such as a lock of hair in a locket. Highly personalised Princess Diana memorabilia remains among the most sought after almost 30 years after her tragic death. Who can forget the eye-watering prices raised for her frocks – especially the one in which she danced with John Travolta at the White House (£264,000).
Of particular interest are hand-written letters, especially from the late Princess and particularly if they are linked to historic occasions or shed light on behind-the-scenes lives of the royals.
Even wedding cake makes the grade; £30,000 was paid for a slice of Edward VIII’s wedding cake in 1998, 62 years after the event. Of course his was the marriage that cost him the throne, so it would have been of even more historic importance than perhaps any other.
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
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