Welcome to the WCN Collecting Articles and Features Channel dedicated to all things related to collecting, antiques, pottery, vintage toys, dolls, teddy bears, memorabilia, books, comics, figurines and everything else collectable. Our aim is to provide collectors with information on all aspects of antiques and collecting, from identifying and valuing antiques, to tips on starting and growing a collection, and to featured collectible histories.
We feature hundreds of articles and features on all aspects of collecting, written by experts in the field. Whether you’re a seasoned collector or just getting started, we hope you’ll find something of interest here. Thanks for reading! You can also search for articles using the magnifying glass to the top right of the web site.
The leaving of visiting cards was a prevalent feature of Victorian society and life. Visiting cards were an essential accessory to any proper Regency or Victorian lady or gentleman and served not just as a letter of introduction or aide memoire, but as an indicator of social class and good manners. In those […]
It is not surprising that so many collectors find vinaigrettes a fascinating subject. These small boxes, used for holding a sponge soaked in sweet-smelling vinegar, were made in an endless variety of shapes and decoration. Their inner grilles were delicately pierced for the escape of the scent in charming and […]
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.
As an obsessive follower of fashion one of my favourite pastimes is spending copious amounts of money in the designer shops lining London’s smartest streets. Just recently I caught the train home armed with bags bearing the names of Gucci and Lulu Guinness, but if I’d had enough money then […]
What will top your tree this year? Will you opt for an English traditional fairy, a continental angel, or play safe and affix a star? Nowadays, it seems almost impossible to buy a tree-topper fairy doll – Christmas stores are full of angels. Where have the wand-waving fairies disappeared too? […]
A decade of tragedy; in the space of a few short years, almost ten million young men died on the battlefields of Europe, with 200,000 losing their lives on the fields of Flanders. Yet it was also a decade of triumph and creativity. Pictured right: Ernst Heubach 1910 bisque When […]
Jumeau was a French company, founded in the early 1840s, which designed and manufactured high quality bisque dolls. It was founded by Louis-Desire Belton and Pierre-François Jumeau in the Maison Jumeau of Montreuil-sous-Bois, near Paris, France. While Belton did not remain with the company for long, under Jumeau’s leadership (and […]
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 […]
Robert (Mouseman) Thompson (7 May 1876 – 8 December 1955) was a British furniture maker whose designs were both functional and very collectable. His designs with their clean, simple lines, careful workmanship, classic construction and mouse carvings have attracted and continue to attract considerable interest from collectors not only in the […]
Nailsea glass was originally an inexpensive means of introducing radiant colour into farmhouse and cottage. This was because the basic glass was pale green bottle-glass or, from about 1815, crown glass. Such glass was not subject to the excise tax of sixpence per pound levied on flint-glass. Colourful curios in many shades of blue, green, amber and red, which might be flecked, mottled or striped, were made not only at Nailsea in Somerset but by the glassmen of Sunderland, Newcastle, Stourbridge, Wrockwardine Wood in Shropshire, Alloa in Scotland and elsewhere.
