"MINT"

I buy lots of pieces that are in excellent condition and have an almost unused look but I rarely get something that I actually give the description of "mint" condition. I have just loaded onto the website a writing box that was made near the end of the 19th century and is very deserving  of being described in that way.

Fine Victorian leather writing box

The wood framed box is covered in embossed and gold tooled leather and has a gilded brass military style handle, engraved plate and Bramah type lock with key. The interior is as good if not better than the exterior, fitted with a lift out tray that has two smaller trays sitting in compartments at each end, two original glass ink wells with brass tops and the centre of the tray is lined with water marked blue silk.


The tray lifts out and the compartment revealed underneath is intended for storage and has a matching leather bound folder together with its' original bound paper writing pad, unused.


Inside the lid there sits a leather writing implement holder complete with ivory letter knife, pen knife and propelling pencil plus space for four more pens and pencils. The holder has a gilded brass catch which, when released, allows the holder to fall forward. The inside of the lid is lined with the same blue silk used inside the base and folder, has darker blue ribbon and is used to store envelopes and paper.


The box on the outside back edge has the makers name embossed in gold, "Carlisle & Watts, Edinburgh".  The Company was originally based at 49-51 North Hanover Street and then, at the turn of the century, moved to149 Princess Street, Edinburgh.

In comparison to how excellent the condition of the writing box is, its' original fleece lined leather carrying case has protected the writing box to its own detriment - it is marked and half of the leather fastening strap is missing. I think the box packed inside its case must have been left up on a shelf somewhere in a house for years, forgotten by all and the outter case has, as a consequence, dried out and the leather straps perished.

Graham

Graham Smith Antiques has been established for 14 years but Graham has been in the antiques business for 40 years. We trade on line and from showrooms on the edge of the city of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK and all the items shown on the website are available to view at the showrooms where they are displayed in four room settings - for ease of viewing. As long time members of LAPADA [the Association of Art and Antiques Dealers], the UK's largest trade association for professional art and antiques dealers, we want all our customers to be confident to buy from us on line or in person and make every effort to make each sale a pleasure. Please take some time to read our Testimonials page which can be found on the home page of our website.

Northumbrian Antiques & Collectors Fair

We have just returned from the Northumbrian Antiques & Collectors Fair organised by Malcolm Eglin and his family which was held from Friday 17th to Sunday 19th. The event took place in Corbridge on the Tyne in Northumberland and was attended by approximately 80 different dealers exhibiting a wide variety of antiques and objets d'art
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The fair is a first and a bit of a leap of faith to establish whether the good people of Newcastle and Northumberland would attend in sufficient numbers to make the fair a success. Overwhelmingly, the leap of faith proved to be justified -  it quite obviously ticked all the right boxes for both exhibitors and those who attended.A great time was had by all!

Graham Smith Antiques marquee

The large marquee housing many different dealers

              The Fair started at 9.00 on the Friday morning and people started arriving immediately and the sales followed all through the day and so it continued for many of the dealers. Overall the weather was better than predicted by the forecasters but the forecast was certainly spot on for the Saturday when we had heavy rain throughout the early hours of the morning and all through the day.

The flooding outside the large marquees

                                                                                                                  
        Despite the marquees and outside pitches suffering badly throughout Saturday due to the rain, Malcolm and his team worked ceaselessly to help make the best out of a difficult situation. The weather didn't put off the hardy customers who kept coming all day long although in lower numbers than if the weather had been better.
Sunday started cloudy but no rain and as the weather improved so did the attendance so it ended up being a very busy day - I lost count of the number of people I talked to, measured items for, gave advertising flyers to - but it was certainly none stop! In fact, we made more sales on Sunday than the other two days put together.  One customer purchased three pieces of furniture and, as they lived locally, we were able to deliver the items as the fair came to a close - very convenient for all concerned!

To sum up I would say that Malcolm has hit on a great idea and now has a big success on his hands that I can see growing steadily in the years to come.

Graham 

Graham Smith Antiques has been established for 14 years but Graham has been in the antiques business for 40 years. We trade on line and from showrooms on the edge of the city of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK and all the items shown on the website are available to view at the showrooms where they are displayed in four room settings - for ease of viewing. As long time members of LAPADA [the Association of Art and Antiques Dealers], the UK's largest trade association for professional art and antiques dealers, we want all our customers to be confident to buy from us on line or in person and make every effort to make each sale a pleasure. Please take some time to read our Testimonials page which can be found on the home page of our website.
                                       

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Bois Durci

A collection of five French mid 19th century medallions made from animal blood and sawdust a process invented by Francios Charles Lepage in 1856 have just been loaded onto the website. Creating the medallions involved a process using animal blood from the Paris abattoirs mixed with finely ground hard wood - rosewood was a favourite. This mixture which formed a paste was then cured and heated under extreme pressure in moulds. The process in France was called "Bois Durci" (English "Wood" "Hardened") and the outcome was an early form of plastic - very hard and with a glossy texture.  This technique was mainly used to make small decorative household items and the medallions you can see below.

The two medallions above are of "Victoria Queen of England" and "Prince Albert", you can see how fine the detail of the moulds is. The backs of the medallions have the Bois Durci name moulded into the back



 During the later 19th century medallions were made of most of the European royal families, the famous, the great and the good.

The medallions are of 'Giuseppe Garibaldi', Napoleon III Emperor and 'Napoleon Prince Imperial Né Le Mars 1856'.

The new material was used for the cases of Daguerreotypes, the early form of photograph invented in 1837 by Lois Jacques-Mande Deguerreand. Many other items including dominos, frames, ink wells, book covers, clock dials, etc. were made in the 19th century and into the early 20th century.

Graham Smith Antiques has been established for 14 years but Graham has been in the antiques business for 40 years. We trade on line and from showrooms on the edge of the city of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK and all the items shown on the website are available to view at the showrooms where they are displayed in four room settings - for ease of viewing. As long time members of LAPADA [the Association of Art and Antiques Dealers], the UK's largest trade association for professional art and antiques dealers, we want all our customers to be confident to buy from us on line or in person and make every effort to make each sale a pleasure. Please take some time to read our Testimonials page which can be found on the home page of our website.