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The Naturalism of Manuel Mafra Portuguese Palissy Ware

June 3, 2020 8:09 pm by Darryl Views: 377

Manuel Cipriano Gomes Mafra (1829-1905) was one of the foremost Portuguese ceramists of the 19th century who developed a vast array of work influenced by the natural world. Manuel Mafra’s pottery work, marked by naturalism, was strongly influenced by the French 16th century engineer, craftsman and potter Bernard Palissy .

Palissy was famed for his figulines rustiques (rusticware), or decorative faience fired in a high-relief pattern inspired by nature, and especially pond life: reptiles, insects, vegetation, flowers and fish. Palissy’s work apparently often used moulded from casts taken of dead specimens.

manuel mafra frogs and lizards palissy bowls — Pair late 19th century Manuel Mafra Portuguese Palissy ware pottery dishes with applied lizard, frog and beetle decoration, on naturalistic grass ground – impressed – B. Mafra, Caldas, Portugal, 23cm diameter. Sold for £560 at Reeman and Dansie, April 2019.

The tradition Mafra developed of Portuguese Palissy-style ceramics became an important movement in the decorative arts in the second half of the 19th Century.

Mafra moved to Caldas de Rainha to work at the famed Maria dos Cacos factory. He was later to run the same factory from 1853 till his death in 1905. The town was to become a magnet for other ceramicists and it became the centre for Portuguese Palissy Ware. The factory produced faience wares and later

Did you know?
Mafra was actually christened Manuel Cipriano Gomes and took the name Mafra, the county of his origin in 1853

19th Century copies of Palissy’s work were made in both faience and in majolica, a 19th Century version of faience with an improved lead-based glaze.

Reference
Manuel Mafra at the Met Museum
A Concise Guide to Caldas Ceramics

Random Collecting Feature

Tintin Books & Tintin Collectibles

The Adventures of Tintin (Les Aventures de Tintin) is a series of classic comic books created by Belgian artist Georges Rémi (1907–1983), who wrote under the pen name of Hergé. The series is one of the most popular European comics of the 20th century, with translations published in more than 80 languages and more than 350 million copies of the books sold to date. With the recent The Adventure of Tintin film we take a look at Tintin Books & Tintin Collectibles. Pictured right: Tintin Book – Tintin in the Land of the Soviets (in the original French, Les Aventures de Tintin, reporter du “Petit Vingtième”, au pays des Soviets) is the first title in the comic book series The Adventures of Tintin, written and drawn by Belgian cartoonist Hergé (1907-1983). Originally serialised in the Belgian children’s newspaper supplement Le Petit Vingtième between 10 January 1929 and 8 May 1930, it was subsequently published in book form in 1930. Designed to be a work of anti-Marxist and anti-socialist propaganda for children, it was commissioned by Hergé’s boss, the Abbé Norbert Wallez, who ran the right wing Roman Catholic weekly Le XXe Siècle in which Le Petit Vingtième was published. The series first appeared in French in Le Petit Vingtième, a children’s supplement to the Belgian newspaper Le XXe Siècle on 10 January 1929. The success of the series saw the serialised strips collected into a series of twenty-four albums, spun into a successful Tintin magazine, and adapted for film, radio, television and theatre. Pictured left: Tintin Collectible Tintin Holding the Unicorn figurine from the Steven Spielberg adaptation of Tintin and the Secret of the Unicorn Set during a largely realistic 20th century, the hero of the series is Tintin, a young Belgian reporter. He is aided in his adventures from the beginning by his faithful fox terrier dog Snowy (Milou in French). Pictured right: ABS Tintin Collectibles figurine showing the historic first meeting between Tintin and Captain Haddock, as featured on page 15 of The Crab with the Golden Claws. Each model is neatly presented within a Plexiglas cube, The high-quality finish of every character ensures that each tiny detail, movement and expression has been faithfully rendered to reproduce Hergé’s original drawings. Later, popular additions to the cast included the brash, cynical, grumpy and often drunk Captain Haddock, the highly intelligent but hearing-impaired Professor Calculus (Professeur Tournesol) and other supporting characters such as the incompetent detectives Thomson and Thompson, who can only be told apart by the cut of their moustaches, (Dupont et Dupond). Hergé himself features in several of the comics as a background character, as do his assistants in some instances. The comic strip series has long been admired for its clean, expressive drawings in Hergé’s signature ligne claire style. Its engaging, well-researched plots straddle a variety of genres: swashbuckling adventures with elements of fantasy, mysteries, political thrillers, and science fiction. The stories within the Tintin series always feature slapstick humour, accompanied in later albums by satire, and political and cultural commentary. Pictured right: Movie poster from the The Adventures of Tintin Secret of the Unicorn Tintin Books & Collectibles Related AbeBooks.co.uk – find more than 110 million out-of-print books worldwide. Tintin Book Titles 1. Tintin in the Land of the Soviets (1929–1930, 1930) 2. Tintin in the Congo (1930–1931, 1931, 1946) 3. Tintin in America (1931–1932, 1932, 1945) 4. Cigars of the Pharaoh (1932–1934, 1934, 1955) 5. The Blue Lotus (1934–1935, 1936, 1946) 6. The Broken Ear (1935–1937, 1937, 1943) 7. The Black Island (1937–1938, 1938, 1943, 1966) 8. King Ottokar’s Sceptre (1938–1939, 1939, 1947) 9. The Crab with the Golden Claws (1940–1941, 1941, 1943) 10. The Shooting Star (1941–1942, 1942) 11. The Secret of the Unicorn (1942–1943, 1943) 12. Red Rackham’s Treasure (1943, 1944) 13. The Seven Crystal Balls (1943–1946, 1948) 14. Prisoners of the Sun (1946–1948, 1949) 15. Land of Black Gold (1948–1950, 1950, 1971) 16. Destination Moon (1950–1953, 1953) 17. Explorers on the Moon (1950–1953, 1954) 18. The Calculus Affair (1954–1956, 1956) 19. The Red Sea Sharks (1956–1958, 1958) 20. Tintin in Tibet (1958–1959, 1960) 21. The Castafiore Emerald (1961–1962, 1963) 22. Flight 714 (1966–1967, 1968) 23. Tintin and the Picaros (1975–1976, 1976) 24. Tintin and Alph-Art (1986, 2004) Unfinished work, published posthumously
Lowestoft Porcelain A Brief History and Price Guide

Lowestoft Porcelain is a type of soft-paste porcelain that was produced in the town of Lowestoft in Suffolk, England. The porcelain was produced from 1757 to 1800/1802 and was known for its delicate painting and intricate decoration. The soft-paste porcelain used by the Lowestoft factory was a combination of local clay and a high level of bone ash. During the factory’s 45 year production period it produced a range of wares for which it has become well known for including motto ware, Lowestoft souvenir wares (many featuring the words ‘A Trifle from Lowestoft’), birth tablets, animals, and blue and white porcelain. The factory was actually the third longest lived soft paste porcelain company after Derby and Worcester. What is Soft-Paste Porcelain? – Soft paste porcelain is a type of porcelain that is characterized by its soft, chalky texture. It is made from a mix of clay, water, and other minerals, and it is typically white in color. Unlike hard-paste porcelain, soft-paste porcelain is not fired at a high temperature, which makes it more fragile and prone to breaking. However, soft-paste porcelain can be decorated with delicate details that are not possible with other types of porcelain. As a result, soft-paste porcelain has been used to create some of the most beautiful and intricate works of art. In Geoffrey A. Godden’s The Illustrated Guide to Lowestoft Porcelain he divides the production of pieces to pre-1770 blue and white porcelains and post-1770 porcelains. Although not reference another source suggests Early Lowestoft c. 1756-c. 1761, Middle-Period c. 1761-c. 1768 and Late-Period c. 1768 to factory closure in 1802. The main market for Lowestoft Porcelain is in East Anglia, where it was predominantly created and sold into the local market. Earlier pieces especially the blue and white are the most valuable and later pieces from 1770 are off lesser quality and often had more simplified scenes. Figures were made from 1780 including the very popular Lowestoft Cats and Lowestoft Pugs. Lowestoft Record Price at Auction The record price for a Lowestoft piece is by Bonhams who sold a flask from the Geoffrey Godden Collection of Blue and White Porcelain which sold for £24,000 in June 2010. The thinly potted and of flattened circular form with a cylindrical neck and slightly thickened rim, painted in blue with a ship-building scene, the boat flying two flags, a workman on deck and another on the beach beside it, the reverse with four ships sailing in choppy waters, the largest three-masted, its rigging carefully depicted, within borders of scrolls and husks, 14cm high (crazing and slight staining, rim chip). Related Lowestoft Porcelain Cats and Pugs Price Guide Bonhams record price for a Lowestoft Porcelain piece Lowestoft Collection at the Victoria & Albert Museum
Fieldings Crown Devon

Fieldings Crown Devon The history of Fieldings Crown Devon spans more than a hundred years from 1878 until 1982. During that period the company experienced two very distinct peaks in terms of design and output. The first period saw the company achieve great success with high quality ‘Vellum’and hand painted wares. The second major phase of the company’s success arrived with designer, Enoch Boulton, in 1929 and lasted until the outbreak of World War Two. Boulton’s influence as an Art Deco designer of note carried the company to new heights. One of the features of this later period was a ‘neck-to-neck’ commercial race with rival Wiltshaw and Robertson for supremacy in working and middle class markets. In 1878 Simon Fielding, the owner of a colour mill, bankrolled a group of potters to manufacture majolica, green-glaze wares, toilet wares and fancies. Hackney, Kirkham & Co languished soon after and the Fieldings family took over the pottery to preserve their investment. From those rather shaky beginnings, Fieldings rapidly built a business of note, greatly extending the range of products and exploiting market gaps in fancy tablewares, toilet wares, art vases and dinnerwares. By the turn of the century the company was recognised in the trade press and indeed the marketplace as a leading manufacturer of a vast range of quality products for middle class Britain. The company’s expansion was underpinned by a range of labour saving advances and design breakthroughs. Abraham Fielding, son of Simon, is credited with the invention of a gas flow-through biscuit oven that allowed major efficiencies and savings. He also invented new glost oven designs, revolving dryers and implemented numerous other improvements that placed the Fieldings factory in an enviable commercial position. Fieldings had seven of the largest kilns in the potteries and the practice of improving quality and efficiency, coupled with constant release of new lines, strengthened Fielding’s position in the domestic and overseas markets. Collectable early period wares include a broad range of Vellum shapes in patterns such as Thames, Etna, May, Elm, Erin and Wick. Good quality examples of Indian are also highly collectible as is early Majolica. Fieldings also produced a range of ‘Royals’, such as the eminently collectible Royal Devon, Royal Chelsea, Royal Windsor, Royal Sussex and many others featuring extensive hand painting of the patterns. Art vases, plaques and chargers, similar in style to Royal Worcester, featuring hand painted roses, peacocks, cattle, rural scenes, and dogs are highly sought after and fetch high prices at auction. Most of these pieces are signed. Some of the most sought-after Fieldings Crown Devon wares are from the 1930s. In 1929, when Abraham Fielding was in the twilight years of his life, he began a talent search to fill the gap that would be left when he went into semi-retirement. His choice to lure Enoch Boulton away from his major competitor, Carlton Ware, to take on the role of design chief at Crown Devon was a masterstroke. It helped create conditions for a unique combination of inspiration, motivation and expansionary zeal that positioned Fieldings to make the most of the economic circumstances of the time. Soon after Boulton’s arrival at Crown Devon, the company’s back stamp was changed from a somewhat tired Edwardian logo to a modern Art Deco motif that, in hindsight, was a strong portent of what was to come. Interestingly, one of the actions Boulton took in the earlier stages of his role as design chief at Carlton Ware was to redesign its back stamp, again signalling the beginning of a new design story that ultimately changed the course of that company’s history. At the Devon Pottery, Boulton presided over an extraordinary upsurge in the development of contemporary decoration, overseeing a significant improvement in both quality and design. The results of this burst of activity were the subject of much trade comment. The Pottery Gazette of April 1st, 1932 recorded that, “Many wonderfully attractive lines of altogether fresh interest and above all at very popular prices are continuing to pour out of this source”. One of Boulton’s great successes was Mattajade, which, combined with a rich array of sybaritic designs is one of the most collectible of all Crown Devon patterns today. Another success was the Amazine ground. A matt, azure tone emulating the lightest of turquoise colouring, it provided an ideal canvass upon which to create enamelled designs, amongst which were the Swallows and Exotic Bird patterns. The Mattita, Mattasung and Mattatone series are further examples of Boulton’s genius as a designer. He was particularly prodigious in producing designs and shapes for the Mattita range, from quirky novelties to modernistic shapes hosting dramatic Art Deco designs. He is also responsible for Crown Devon’s highly popular musical novelties. In fact, he can be seen as a trailblazer in the design and manufacturer of musical novelties in the United Kingdom. His Daisy Bell musical jug, incidentally, became a favoured possession of the young Princess Elizabeth. Boulton worked with Kathleen Parsons, Margareta (Greta) Marks, a Bauhaus graduate, and Olga Hartzeg to produce many of the most memorable Crown Devon figures, of which the Flapper, Rio Rita, Peasant Girl and Russian lady with Borzoi are some of the most memorable. Boultons lustre wares are the equal of anything that came to market in the 1930s. The most decoratively important and collectible Crown Devon patterns include Fairy Castle, Parrot, Spider Web (Copied by Carlton Ware) Fantazia (More decoratively balanced than Carlton’s Fantasia), Swallows, Coral Trees, Dragonfly, Dragon and some of the later sybaritic floral patterns. More often than not Boulton opted for sybaritic Art Deco design for his lustre wares, while Carlton Ware in many instances chose to follow the path of modernism. There is curious and somewhat uninformed snobbery occasionally expressed by Carlton Ware collectors and sometimes reciprocated by Crown Devon devotees in respect to the superiority of one factory’s lustre wares over the other’s. It is more accurate, however, to state that both Carlton and Crown Devon produced lustre and other wares of such […]
Louis Comfort Tiffany and Tiffany Favrile Glass

The most famous American name in the history of art glass is Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933), the first and the greatest of his nation to make an original and lasting contribution to the art of glass making.
Crackle Glass

Glass is the third most popular collectible in the world, and Crackle Glass is one of the most beautiful and interesting. Crackle Glass is also known by other names, such as Craquelle Glass, Ice Glass and Overshot Glass. How is crackle glass made? It was the Venetian glass makers of the 16th Century who invented this process. Even though there are many different processes, basically, the glass is immersed into cold water while it is molten, thereby cracking the glass. It was then reheated to seal the cracks, and either molded or hand blown into the desired shape. Glass makers from the 19th Century and even today are still using the same methods. Crackle Glass was reborn in the mid 1850’s as glass makers often used this process to cover up defects in their work. If there were cordings or striations in the glass (defects), they would crackle it. Crackle Glass comes in a tremendous variety of shapes, styles and colors. It was made by the common glass makers and the best glass makers, such as Galle, Steuben, Moser, Loetz, Stevens & Williams, Webb, etc. Collectors, who start collecting crackle glass, often start by purchasing the miniatures. These items are usually 3″ to 5″ tall. They will fit on any window shelf, and when the sun hits them, they sparkle beautifully. The best thing about collecting crackle glass, is that it’s one glass that has not been widely reproduced. There are only a few companies making it today, and there are some imports from China, Taiwan, and other countries, but the experienced collector can tell these apart from the old pieces.
Barbie Turns Fifty!

Barbara Millicent Roberts is fifty years old this year, yet she is looking younger and more glamorous than ever. How does she do it? It’s just not fair. This American icon, with her huge family of friends and relations, is famed world-wide and recently a megastore dedicated just to her opened in China. Blonde, beautiful, and above all, very pink, her wholesome image beams from toyshops, enticing even the youngest children to ‘want a Barbie’. Recently, a crowd of young upstart Bratz dolls tried to steal her thunder, and for a while they succeeded – but our heroine wasn’t having any of that. She took them to court and sued them. So, where did Barbie come from? Who dreamt her up? And why is she still so popular? Pictured right: 1959 Barbie Although this may sound a shocking thing to say about an international icon, Barbie’s origins are slightly salubrious, perhaps not as pure as she likes to make out. In the late 1950s, Ruth Handler, wife of Elliot Handler, a co-director of Mattel, was visiting Switzerland when she came across a kind of fantasy doll being sold in tobacconist shops. The dolls were sold to appeal to men, and were often used as mascots to adorn cars and trucks. They were based on a ‘good time girl’ who featured in a cartoon strip in ‘Bild’ newspaper, a German publication. The character’s name was Lilli. Today, collectors often refer to these very early figures as ‘Bild Lillis’. Ruth took back selection of the dolls to America, with the idea of producing a teen doll to appeal to girls. Mattel inspected the dolls, and from them created their own version, slightly less hard-faced and with less makeup. Ruth christened the doll Barbie, after her own daughter, and in 1959 launched her at the American toy fair. However, Barbie didn’t meet with much approval; the buyers for the stores demurred over introducing a glamour doll which had a voluptuous figure and pouting lips but which was intended for a young girl. Not wanting their new project to become a flop, Mattel screened a short black and white advertisement in the middle of a children’s television programme, which featured Barbie and her outfits. That was all it took – girls across America were hooked, suddenly they all wanted a Barbie doll of their own. In 1961 she acquired a boyfriend, Ken, and three years later, a younger sister, Skipper. Since then, many more additions to the Barbie family have been made. Pictured left: 1962 Barbie Pictured right: Barbie Can Can Even so, at first, not all the world was Barbie mad, and once Pedigree’s Sindy doll arrived in 1962, it was Sindy who was to dominate the teen doll market for almost twenty years. Even so, when Barbie finally did find her foothold over here, she was adored by thousands of girls, many of whom were won over by her high heels, curves and sophistication, as opposed to Sindy’s sweet girl-next-door look. The very early Barbies still had a rather ‘hard’ look, with red pouting lips, black lining around the eyes and arched brows, even though they had been toned-down. Barbie’s first outfit was that, now iconic, black and white striped swimsuit, teamed with high heels and gold earrings. Initially, the dolls weren’t sold in Britain, but in 1967 a Hobbies Annual supplement contained a section devoted to Barbie which stated, ‘America’s most popular (and certainly the most heavily advertised) range of fashion dolls, has recently been introduced into Europe with amazing success. Barbie, her MOD cousin Francie and her younger sister Skipper, are a range of beautifully made dolls with the most exclusive wardrobes yet seen. Barbie and Francie can wear each other’s clothes, so start with either doll and add-to as you go along. All models supplied with a pedestal stand’. Over the years, Mattel softened the Barbie doll features more and more, making her appealing to youngsters, and, certainly by the 1980s, she had become very popular in Britain. Toyshops soon had aisles of Barbie pink boxes, and Barbie demonstrated her versatility as she became a doctor, a vet, a dentist, an Olympic ice skater, a swimmer, a fashion model, a rock star and an astronaut. She also appeared with James Bond, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra and in Star Trek – all in miniature, of course. Above all, though, Barbie became a fashion icon. In 1984 she celebrated her 25th anniversary, and appeared in a special ‘Crystal Barbie’ outfit, a doll which every small girl wanted. The long dress was made of a kind of pearlised fabric which shimmered in the light, and Crystal Barbie became one of the decade’s best selling Barbies. A decade later, ‘Totally Hair’ Barbie was released, the biggest-selling Barbie to date. She wore a multicoloured mini dress and her hair reached down to ankles, measuring 10.5 inches, the longest-haired Barbie ever. Pictured left: Barbie Totally Hair At the end of the 1990s, the ‘Generation Girl’ series of Barbie and friends was introduced, showing Barbie as we had never seen her before, with a street fashion look. Barbie’s face has altered a lot over the years; today, she has a much softer, gentler look than the original 1959 doll. She has also extended her family circle considerably, acquiring sisters Skipper, Stacie, Kelly, Krissy, Tutti and brother Todd, as well as a myriad of friends and relations. Cleverly, Mattel began to issue special collectors’ editions, and top-of-the range Barbies, some of which sell for two or three times the price of a standard Barbie doll, while others, wearing outfits created by top designers, can cost hundreds of pounds. These are in addition to the basic ‘pink-box’ dolls, the dolls intended for children. Nowadays, the Barbie collectors’ market is booming, with a huge variety of fashion, retro and themed dolls being issued, most of them destined never to be played with – or indeed, never removed from their packaging. Naturally, to celebrate her fiftieth anniversary there are […]
Crowning Glory – Grow Hair Dolls

Imagine how useful it would be if we had little knobs, strings or keys in our backs, enabling us to instantly lengthen our hair from a short, everyday bob to long, flowing locks which would make even Rapunzel jealous. Lots of dolls have this useful feature; they don’t need sessions at the hairdressers for fiddly hair-extensions!Probably the most famous ‘grow hair’ doll was Palitoy’s Tressy, produced under licence from the American Character Doll company. When she burst into the advertising spotlight in 1964, the slogan, ‘But HOW does Tressy’s hair grow?’ was chanted in school playgrounds. In fact, it turned out to be a clever promotional campaign because little girls who weren’t in on the secret became upset, pestering their parents until they too had a Tressy. So, how did Tressy’s hair grow? Simply by pushing a button in her tummy to release the ‘magic strand’ which could then be gently pulled until her hair lengthened. Afterwards, the strand was wound back into the head by means of a small metal key inserted into the hole in her back. Later versions had a plastic key as a permanent fixture. Tressy stood 12″ tall and was a slim, teen-type doll, with painted sideways-glancing eyes, but was afterwards updated and given forward-looking eyes, jointed wrists and gripping hands. Her younger sister, Toots, also favoured growing hair. Palitoy seemed quite taken with the grow hair mechanism, and in 1974 produced 18″ Sheena, more sophisticated than Tressy, with glamorous clothes such as a sparkly lilac outfit with flared trousers and a matching long-line tunic. Sheena’s hands were beautiful with long expressive fingers, and her slogan was ‘Just like magic her hair grows’. Instead of a key she had a dial in her back to wind the hair, though she still had the button in her tummy to release the strand when it was pulled. Yet another Palitoy doll was Goldilocks, a younger girl, rather than a teen, dating from 1968. Goldilocks wore a variety of outfits, and her hair was worked by a dial in her back, similar to Sheena’s. She was advertised as having 101 hair styles! Bradgate, a subsidiary company of Palitoy. issued Silky, a 10″ tall girl with a permanently fixed key, similar to Toots, Tressy’s sister. The American Ideal Toy Corporation produced a range of grow hair dolls, some of which were sold in Britain. Most popular was Crissy, a similar height to Sheena, who had striking large dark eyes. Crissy’s hair grew by gently easing out the main centre strand, and could be retracted by means of a pull-cord in her back. She was first made in 1968, and others in the series included Velvet, Mia, Kerry, Brandi and Cinnamon, all just as attractive. Haute Coiffure Sindy, dating from 1985, was a grow hair doll too. Made by Pedigree, she wore a beautiful pearlised strapless full-skirted dress over a lilac net petticoat, and a white fluffy jacket with three-quarter length sleeves. Sindy’s hairpiece was lengthened by carefully pulling it from a hole in the top of her head, and the idea was to style – or cut – the hair, which explains why so many of these dolls are found sheared! Replacement hair came in little plastic bags marked with the Sindy logo, and a panel in her back could be prised off, allowing the new hair to be inserted by means of a plastic ring tied to a thin string. Once the hair was fully extended it was virtually impossible to retract it, though sometimes, if you were lucky, the string attached to the plastic ring could be eased back slightly. One of the prettiest of these clever dolls was Katie, first issued in 1992 by Tonka, and made for a further couple of years by Kenner. Katie was the big sister of Tiny Tears and her blonde hair not only grew but could be changed from straight to wavy, depending on which hairpiece you chose to insert. This young girl doll was 17″ high, and her mechanism was activated by a plastic locket around her neck, attached to a pull cord. She is quite difficult to find today in perfect condition, and good examples sell for around £40. There were French versions of Katie, too, called ‘Kattie’, including a brunette version who seems to be fairly rare. Still easy to find, however, is Playskool’s cheerful Dolly Surprise, a 10″ high smiling girl dating from 1988. She was obtainable with many variations of both facial features and hair styles. Eye colours, dimples and freckles varied, and some dolls even featured TWO growing tresses. The mechanism was worked by raising the doll’s right arm, causing the hair to lengthen with a whirring sound. Twisting her left arm let the thick wavy strand retract back into the head, clicking loudly as it went. This doll came dressed in many different styles including a pretty pink and silver ballet tutu, and extra outfits were available. There was also a larger, 15″ version, a chubby faced baby, with a similar mechanism. Bride Surprise, from the Hasbro/Kenner/Tonka group, was a creative hair grow doll from the 1990s, a 14″ beauty whose hair cascaded down to her toes when her arm was raised. Amazingly, as it erupted, it turned from blonde to vivid pink! She had plenty of other unusual features, including a dress which turned from short to long by means of attached ribbons, a bag which changed into a bouquet and a secret gift hidden inside a rose fixed to her hair. Other grow-hair dolls which surface from time to time include a winsome-faced soft-bodied girl from Gotz, mini-sized ‘Kim’ dolls from Uneeda (with the mechanism worked by a cord in the foot), various Barbies, a range of ‘Haircut Magic’ Cabbage Patch dolls, Pedigree ‘Cut and Grow’ girl dolls with yarn hair and ‘Pert and Pretty’ by Horsman. There are many others. However, the prize for the most unusual of these dolls must surely go to Kenner’s 9″ tall Hair-Do Dolly. […]
Design in the British Garden – Garden Collectables

Britain is a nation of gardeners; I’ve heard that 80% of houses in Britain have private gardens, covering an area twice as large as Surrey. That’s fifteen million gardens in our green and pleasant land. Every weekend sees thousands of us making our way to garden centres, where we choose plants, bulbs, seeds and sundries to try to make our garden beautiful. Slugs, aphids and caterpillars eat most of them, but gardeners are a tolerant bunch – it’s not just the plants, it’s the general feeling of well-being and of feeling at one with nature which urges us to plunge our hands into the soil to embed yet another plant into the ground. Pictured right: Alpine Strawberry by Roy Kirkham plate Some of us build conservatories, or maybe garden shelters, so that we can use the garden as an extension of our homes even when the weather is inclement. We dot ornaments around the flower beds, nesting boxes and insect homes along the garden walls and we build ponds and fountains so birds can bathe. When we dine in the garden, we use floral plates, butterfly-decorated glasses, flowery cutlery – and all these things can be deemed collectable, whether you use vintage pieces or go for modern or retro designs. Even if you don’t have a garden, you can still create a garden feel indoors by collecting items with a floral or naturalistic theme. I’ve known people who have created an indoor garden by displaying pretty flowered plates against white wall-mounted trellis and hanging a few indoor plants to enhance the effect. Another way of ‘garden collecting’ is to collect old gardening items, from tools to seed packets, and from statues to lawnmowers. The most obvious choice for garden collectables is probably the well-known ‘Botanic Garden’ range of tableware made by Portmeirion pottery. Portmeirion, though, have produced many other beautiful designs which would look stunning at an alfresco meal. Pictured right: 1980s Portmeirion British Birds One of my personal favourites is the ‘British Birds’ design, based on illustrations from the Natural History of British Birds by Edward Donovan, published in 1794. Forty birds were featured in the collection, and because the designs are in a antiquated style the pieces have a timeless quality about them, which is probably why they have remained in production for so long. This pattern was originally conceived in 1974, and sadly is not now sold in Britain, though is still available in America. I acquired my items in the 1980s when visiting the shop in Portmeirion village, but pieces do crop up at collector’s fairs. Pictured left: Portmeirion Strawberry Fair I’m also very fond of the ‘Strawberry Fair’ decoration – perfect for serving scones on a summer’s day – and the ‘Pomona’ design of varieties of fruits. There are many other Portmeirion designs with a ‘garden’ theme, amongst them the recent ‘Hungry Caterpillar’ which is based on the popular picture book by Eric Carle. Incidentally, if you are visiting North Wales, do try to visit the village of Portmeirion. The pottery isn’t made there, though there is a shop selling the current range – but the village is stunningly quirky. It’s as though a slice of a sleepy Italian village has been deposited on a beautiful stretch of Welsh coastline; it’s a restful place and one of my all-time special spots. Pictured right: Meakin Poppy Jug 1960s Many ranges of tableware from the 1960s and 70s employed the flower motif – these were the days of flower power. Think Meakin, for the delicate pink floral ‘Filigree’ design, or the more bold ‘Poppy’, while ‘Topic’, with its blue stylised flowers is classic 60s elegance. Even more stylised is the swirling 1960s ‘Spanish Garden’ from Midwinter, while their ‘Country Garden’, with its pattern of leaves and buds symmetrically curling from either side of a large blue and pink flower, is beautiful. It would be impossible to mention all the floral ranges – practically every manufacturer of tableware has included a floral design at one time – but they range from delicate chintz type patterns to vibrant, bold roses. Pictured left: 1960s Meakin Filigree & Viners Love Story Floral china is perfect for a meal in the garden on a summer’s day, and can be themed with pretty cutlery, such as the 1960s’ Viner’s ‘Love Story’ which bears a design of tiny silver daisies. Don’t forget glasses; there are plenty of beautiful designs to look out for, both vintage and modern, featuring flowers, leaves or butterflies. You could look out for a suitable vintage tablecloth, too – ‘lazy daisy’ stitch was very popular in the 1930s, 40s and 50s and will complement your garden theme. If you’re worried about risking your treasured china in the garden, then there are plenty of modern plastic pieces around – and some, such as the gorgeous retro sixties floral designs which Asda came up not so long ago, might even become future classics! As well as tablecloths, other fabric items can be used outside including cushions, throws and canopies; look out for vintage patterns, such as the large-flowered round-petalled daisy types from the 1960s and the bold flowered orange and deep green 1970s’ designs. It’s best, though, to bring them in at night as they could get damp, and also not to keep them in the sunlight for too long, in case they fade. Floral handbags and scarves, or wicker shopping baskets and hampers look good artlessly dotted around at a garden party or a get-together. They add an element of fun, and are a great way of displaying a collection of traditional or retro items. I’m a Simon Drew fan – he is an artist with a quirky sense of humour. He’s based at Dartmouth where he has a shop and gallery, and many of his designs are based on puns such as a ‘receding hare’ or ‘joined up whiting’. Some of his garden themes, including ‘Incapability Brown’ have been featured in a range of ‘bug proof’ mugs. They come […]
Chalet School Books and Chalet School Collectables

Chalet School Books and Chalet School Collectables. Over the decades, thousands of schoolgirls became hooked on a series of stories written by Elinor Brent- Dyer, headmistress of a school in Hereford. The books featured a school set in the mountains, and followed the progress of Joey Bettany and her friends. In all, there were 59 hardback books in the series, and today early editions are becoming extremely sought after. Elinor Brent-Dyer was born in 1894 and combined writing with her scholarly career, often using events and happenings from her school in her books. The lively stories soon gained a large following of fans and today are still being discovered by younger readers, as well as being collected by those who read them the first time round. Her first book, The School at the Chalet, was published by W R Chambers in 1925, and the last book, Prefects of the Chalet School, was published posthumously by the same company in 1970. The locations of the stories varied with the first books being set in the Austrian Tyrol, but later venues included Wales, the Channel Islands and the Bernese Oberland. Apparently Elinor visited the Austrian Tyrol in 1924, and decided to use it as a location for her imaginary school. Years later, readers managed to identify the village, lake, mountains and small railway which featured in the books, even though Elinor always tried to keep the exact place secret. Perhaps the most dramatic of the books was a wartime publication, The Chalet School in Exile, describing the homicidal persecution of the Jews, and which dealt with the members of the school fleeing from Nazi rule. Elinor’s books spanned several decades, from the thirties to the sixties, and consequently are of interest socially. In the stories, the Chalet School was founded by Madge Bettany, who married a doctor. The school was linked to a sanatorium (this was an era when TB was still rife) which consequently provided plenty of additional storylines when the girls held fundraising events or became patients. The main character was Madge’s sister Joey, who appeared in the first book as a new pupil, subsequently working her way through the books to become prefect and head girl, before leaving, marrying and having eleven children including triplets! Elinor followed the progress of some of those children through the school too. Along the way, she introduced a host of unforgettable characters, such as Miss Annersley, the capable headmistress who took over from Madge, and Matey, a firm but kind matron. Elinor cleverly managed to keep most of her main schoolgirl characters throughout the series by bringing them back to work at the school once they had left. The second title, Jo of the Chalet School, was published in 1926, the third, The Princess of the Chalet School, in 1927, and the stories continued to appear at approximately yearly intervals. In between, Elinor was writing other books; her output was phenomenal, and over a hundred were published during her lifetime. Naturally, it is the original, hard-backed copies of the books which most collectors seek out, although, to her keenest fans, condition is less important than content. Many of the paperback editions were heavily edited; sometimes whole chapters were removed, and fans seek the original books so that they can read the missing bits. Prices vary tremendously. Some of the rarer titles, mint with dust wrappers, can now cost upwards of £50, and even tatty copies still cost around £20. If the wrapper is missing, then the book normally isn’t so collectable, and these are the ones which can often be found in charity shops and at car boot sales. Sometimes the books contain black and white line drawings, very characteristic of the era, which show the girls neatly dressed in immaculate uniforms complete with hats, a far cry from today’s more casual clothing, while the wrappers are charmingly illustrated, many of them in delicate colours depicting the scenery of the Austrian Tyrol and the girls of the school. The books are moral, with manners, religion and music playing a great part, yet the principles set by Elinor of different nationalities freely mixing, religious tolerance and the emphasis on the importance of learning different languages are surprisingly modern. Those early readers in the 1930s must have been given much food for thought. The stories were later issued by Armada in paperback form, and these are now becoming collectable in their own right, especially the later publications as these were uncut versions and only available for a limited period. Over the years, the titles have appeared in several different styles of paperback, the earliest being easily recognisable by a ‘chalet roof’ drawing at the top of the cover. Some of the books have been published as extra-thick ‘doubles’ format, containing two of the novels, while the paperback version of The Chalet School and Rosalie (originally published in 1951 by Chambers as a limited edition) was first published by Armada in 1987, and later republished in a single volume together with The Mystery at the Chalet School. Presumably the first version was so thin that it didn’t sell. The Mystery at the Chalet School was a story which originally appeared in the First Chalet Book for Girls, 1947. The Chalet School Reunion, 1963, was the 50th book in the series, and was celebrated in real life by a presentation to Elinor at a large gathering of fans. In 1994, Armada reprinted a facsimile edition of the first book, The School at the Chalet, from a copy first produced in 1930. The illustration on the front of the book was taken from the original dust wrapper. This attractive paperback is certainly well worth seeking out, and is sure to become a future collectable. Other Brent-Dyer publications include those in the ‘La Rochelle’ series, which seem harder to obtain than the Chalet School Books, the ‘Chudleigh Hold’ series, many individual titles, three Chalet School annuals and a Chalet School cookbook. Various tales also appeared in girls’ annuals […]
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