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.
Optical toys such as kaleidoscopes have been popular for decades: children still play with stereoscopes which have been popular since the time of Queen Victoria, while projectors, toy cameras and many other optical novelties are all manufactured today.
No porcelain has been more misunderstood than that made at the New Hall factory at Shelton. It is by no means scarce, but very obvious specimens of it (on the present knowledge of its characteristics) are still sometimes ” identified ” as Lowestoft, Torksey, Wirksworth, ” cottage Bristol,” or conveniently […]
In England from quite early times leather vessels were used very generally. The black jack was a kind of leather pitcher or jug always lined with pitch on metal, of massive and sturdy build, corpulent and capacious. It quite dwarfed all rival pots, mugs, or pitchers of leather. Pictured right: A […]
One of the most prolific designers of the 20th/21st Century has to be French born Philippe Starck. His design achievements include an eclectic mix of everyday domestic items, lighting and furniture to more flamboyant interior design projects, making him an industrial design genius often referred to as “The Designer of […]
The term Victoriana covers a vast and interesting group of generally low-priced, mass produced wares, typical of the period. Pictured left: A pair of mid 19th C Victorian Staffordshire spill vases. Image Copyright Bonhams. Such wares as Staffordshire chimney ornaments and printed pot lids can still be found at a […]
Retro and vintage have become the new buzz words with those eagle eyed collectors who seek out all things dating from the middle of the twentieth-century onwards.
Known as Britain’s first ever independent industrial designer, Christopher Dresser was a major contributor to the British Anglo Japanese and Arts & Crafts movement.
Bisque china dolls are those tranquil faced beauties we see featured on the Antiques Roadshow, with glass eyes, hand-painted features and, often, ‘double-jointed’ limbs.
Most researchers agree that the first jigsaw puzzle was produced in 1762 by John Spilsbury, an engraver and mapmaker from London.
During the Wartime years of the 1940s, and for a few years afterwards, books for adults and children alike were economy editions, due to paper shortages and restrictions.
