Star Wars Drifter In 1977 George Lucas’s Star Wars was released in cinemas all over the world. The film revolutionised the cinema industry, and the two sequels, The Empire Strikes Back, and The Return of the Jedi were equally successful. Around the films has been built a massive merchandising industry which seems set to grow as a new generation of fans arrives willing to buy figures, comics, posters, autographs, cells, games, puzzles, light sabres, masks, stationary, videos of the films, videos of the making of the films, display pieces, promotional material, Pez dispensers, Tazos etc etc etc. Outside of the main characters which we are all so familiar with, there was a cast of hundreds. At a recent collectors show WCN met John Chapman who played one of the X-Wing Pilots in the briefing room scene. This scene never made it into the final cut and eventually only the scene with the back of the X-Wing pilots viewed. The lost briefing room scene still exists and has caused a lot of debate among die hard fans. His character Gil ‘Drifter’ Viray was one of the survivors of the assault on the Death Star and John also appeared in the end ceremony where Luke, Han and Chewbacca are awarded medals. John Chapman is attempting to find other members from the lost briefing room scene to have a re-union. He is also attempting to develop his character further with stories of Drifter’s adventures after Star Wars. Although in only a small, non-speaking part John Chapman is developing a fan base, especially among completist Star Wars collectors, who just have to have everything associated with the film. As well as attending memorabilia fairs, John has been a guest at several Star Wars conventions where he has been surprised by the interest in his character. “I’d never bothered with the convention circuit as I didn’t have speaking part, I was just one of the extras in the briefing room scene”. Will Drifter memorabilia be collectable? Probably not, but to the many Star Wars fans out there, this is another slice of unusual Star Wars history that adds a new dimension to their collecting.
Maria Longworth Nichols Storer founded Rookwood Pottery in 1880 as a way to market her hobby – the painting of blank tableware.
Political Character and Toby Jugs at Stoke Art Pottery Toby Jugs have been around since the early 18th century. They were revived by Doulton in the 19th century, who developed the idea into a range of character jugs. Today, their popularity shows no signs of waning and they hold their price at auction sales. Their appeal is wide reaching because Doulton jugs are varied both in their craftsmanship and their subject matter. The first Toby Jug was made in the early 18th century. It was a jovial, seated, male figure, with a mug in his hand and a tricorn hat which made a pouring spout. He was dressed in clothes of the time; a long coat with low pockets, waistcoat, cravat, knee breeches and buckled shoes. No one really knows why he was named ‘Toby’ although it is possible he called after Sir Toby Belch a character in Shakespeare’s Twelth Night. Or maybe it was after a song popular in 1761, around the time the jug was first produced in a traditional, brown salt glaze version. The song ‘Brown Jug’ featured ‘Toby Fillpot’. Doulton had made Toby jugs in the traditional manner since 1815 but in the 1920’s Harry Simeon added colour. This inspired Charles Noke, a Doulton artist and modeller to rethink the Toby jug tradition. He envisaged a more colourful and stylish jug based on the head and sholders of a character rather than the full figure. He had in mind characters from English song, literature, history and legend, designed to appeal to future generations. It took him almost ten years to be satisfied with the standards of design and production, but in 1934 the first character jug was launched. He chose as his subject John Barleycorn, a figure symbolising whisky. It became an instant success and the range was added to with Old Charley, the Night Watchman, Sairey Gamp, Parson Brown and Dick Turpin. Two years later the first character jug modelled on a real person was made with Herry Fenton’s John Peel, a trend which has continued to the present day. A feature of character jugs is their handle which often shows an elaborate diversity of applied decoration. However, this is a feature which has developed over the years. The first jugs generally had plain handles, with one or two exceptions, for some of the clown jugs had multi-coloured handles, Dick Turpin had a gun for a handle and the Cellerer a bunch of keys. It was during the 1950s that the handles achieved greater creative significance when Max Henk was involved in their production. His Long John Silver had a parrot handle and for the sake authenticity does not have an eye patch, sticking to Louis Stevenson’s book ‘ Treasure Island’. The handles developed to tell more about the character and their associations, so the Dutchess from ‘Alice in Wonderland’ has a flamingo handle, the Mikado, a fan. More recently, the London ‘Bobby’ has both a whistle and Big Ben. The character jug from 1996 shows how far this trend has developed in the model of Jesse Owen who won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympics. This handle contains the Olympic torch, a contemporary US flag of the time and a banner inscribed with the name of the Olympic town ‘Berlin’. Character Jugs Variations Sometimes variations have been made to handle design without altering the overall style of the jug. The Beefeater Guard who guards the Tower of London was introduced in 1947 and carried the initials GR on his handle for George Rex. In 1953 when Elizabeth II came to the throne, these were changed to ER, Elizabeth Regina. There was also a version with gold handle, now more valuable. In 1991 a completely new updated design shows the trend for more elaborate handles with its raven, the birds which legend says signifiy the fall of London should they ever leave the Tower. Other handle variations which help to date the character jugs are the easrly versions of John Barleycorn. The first plain handle disappeared inside the jug at their top end. Later handles were attached to the outside. Early versions of Stairey Gamp have an ‘S’ at the bottom end of the handle. There have also been limited editions of handle design. Founder members of the Doulton Collectors Club were offered versions of John Doulton with the clock on the handle pointing to eight o’clock. Members who joined at a later date find the clock points to two o’clock. Rare Character Jugs Other factors which aid dating and can affect value includes colour variations. For instance, the first clown range of jugs produced in the 1930s had red hair and multi-coloured handles, but due to the war time restrictions on supply of materials, the hair during the war years was changed to brown. Between 1951 and 1955 hair colour had changed to white. Red or brown haired clowns are two-three times more valuable than the white ones, but the most valuable if the one-off black haired clown, commissioned by a family whose grandfather was a black haired clown. This was sold at auction a few years ago for £12,000. Old King Cole designed by Harry Fenton had a yellow crown in 1938-1939 and a green handle and is vastly more valuable than the versions produced after until 1960, which had reddish-borwn crown and handle. Even more valuable are the versions which contain musical movement, produced in 1939. One of these sold at Phillips for £1,092. The Mad Hatter, from Alice in Wonederland woar a black hat in the original but ten years ago a red hatted Hatter came to the market and was sold for over £6,000. It appears that in the 1960’s a painter in the factory changed the colour of the hat and this was produced for a short period before it was discontinued. Another example are the colour variations in the buttons, hat coat and feather boa of Hary Fenton’s character jugs of the cockney pair ‘Arry […]
From the late 19th Century through to World War 1, the German factory, Wurttembergische Mettalwaren Fabrik (more commonly known as WMF) was one of the most prolific in producing stylish, evocative and elegant designs in commercial continental pewter and silver plate metal ware.
Well, if your reading this you must be a collector, whether it be comics, coins or fine antiques. I’m sure that at sometime during your search for what you collect you have come across PEZ dispensers. Maybe you have read an article about PEZ collecting, seen PEZ dispensers for sale, or just have seen it on television. By your reading this you must have that urge to learn more about PEZ, maybe even start a collection of PEZ dispensers. Let me first tell you that it is habit forming and if you read further you do so at your own risk. Let me start by telling you a little about myself. I’m a “baby boomer” that started collecting pretty much like you. I heard that people collected PEZ and thought that it would be something fun to do. But I never knew I would one day be involved in PEZ collecting as I am. I started to sell PEZ to help feed my habit. I know it sounds like I have an addiction. Well, I do. My wife thought I was crazy. My family thought I was crazy. Am I crazy? No, not really. Buying PEZ to resell? Who is going to buy PEZ? I found there was plenty other collectors of PEZ out there. That was a few years ago. Now, I am the editor of “PEZ Collector’s News” and still collect PEZ. We are almost in our second year of the newsletter and we thought we would be happy with 500 subscribers. Well, I found that there are more PEZ collectors than I ever imagined. We have almost 1,500 subscribers and more sign up everyday. Enough about that, now to tell you a little about what makes PEZ so fun to collect. At any given time there are between 60 and 75 different dispensers that you can buy for about $1.00 each. Not bad, something inexpensive that’s fun to collect. I’m sure that in the current PEZ line you can find some character that you like. The current line includes some of your favorites like the Flintstones, Peanuts, Looney Tunes, Garfield and friends, Super Heroes, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the Disney line, Trucks, Whistles, Dinosaurs, Muppets, Holiday dispensers and the new Star Wars line. Some people only collect the currents, some people only collect one line. One thing for sure, people do collect PEZ dispensers. Current dispenser can be bought in larger chain stores such as “Toys R Us”, K-Mart or a chain drug store. Once you get into collecting PEZ and buy all of the current dispensers the next question is “Where can I buy older PEZ?”. I only have one answer and that the best place to buy PEZ is from the dealers that advertise in the newsletter. Of course you can buy PEZ at flea markets. They are getting much harder to find at reasonable prices and in good condition. One thing, make sure you know what you are buying and what it is worth. Antique dealers seem to talk a good story, but for the most part they don’t know a great PEZ from a good PEZ. Some “antique dealers” go to their corner store, buy a PEZ dispenser, open the package and place a price tag. You, the consumer must know how much a dispenser is worth before you pay for it. Yes, even I paid up to $5 for dispensers that I could have bought in a store for $1. Who knew? Another question that is commonly asked is “Should I buy PEZ dispensers that are missing parts?”. Well, it is very hard to match parts and make your own perfect dispenser. I have a pile of broken PEZ, that someday they will be whole again. Oh, one big question is “Should I keep it in the package or open it up?”. My answer is to buy two dispensers. At $1 each they are cheap enough to buy two. Open one to display and keep one in the package to increase in value. If you do decide to collect PEZ, become an educated consumer. There are several books about PEZ collecting, buy one. Read it and become aware of what every dispenser looks like. Attend a convention. This year there will be 5 convention across the U.S. Attend one, look and see what all of the talk is about. Once you see some of the PEZ dispensers, bet you say “I had that one as a kid!”. Bringing back memories and having fun is what collecting is about. Right? Related PEZ Information
Readers who were children during the 1950s may well have fond memories of a very rare type of doll – the Beauty Skin. Made by Pedigree, these lovely dolls were certainly not rare at the time. On the contrary they were very popular, especially with young children, because they were so soft and cuddly. Sadly, though, the dolls had a fault – they tended to disintegrate after a few years of play. Pedigree Beauty Skin dolls first appeared in the late 1940s, and were popular until the mid-1950s. They came in four sizes, but the smallest had a rubber head, unlike the hard plastic of the larger sizes. These rubber-headed dolls were 9” high, while the hard plastic headed versions were 14”, 16” and 20”. Although their heads were hard plastic, their bodies were made from a soft thin rubbery latex material and their limbs were of a similar substance, stuffed with kapok. They had pretty faces, often with flirty eyes, and most had moulded hair. Gradually, after lots of loving and cuddles, the latex would split or turn brittle, and the kapok would emerge, leaving a split and empty arm. Eventually, the dolls would be so damaged that they would be thrown away, which is why they are so rare today. Some people tried to stop the splits with sticking plaster, but this was a disastrous thing to do, because once stuck to the latex it could never be removed. It would turn grubby and unsightly. Sadly some owners of the dolls still resort to this method of stopping the kapok emerging, today, but it is not recommended. If you are lucky enough to own one of these dolls, but it has split, then the best thing to do is to place a soft garment on the doll – cardigan or leggings, depending on where the split is – and then handle it as little as possible. Just leave it alone, and hope that it doesn’t get worse. At the time, Pedigree recommended that talcum powder should be rubbed in to the latex, but I am wary of this treatment, unless the doll is actually sticky, as it could dry out the latex even more. Sun, warmth and the rigours of handling played havoc with that delicate skin, and modern central heating dries them out, too. (Most people in the fifties didn’t have to worry about central heating; they made do with a coal fire downstairs and cold bedrooms!) I called my first Beauty Skin baby Jeannie, and loved her very much, but eventually she was so damaged, I couldn’t play with her. So when I was asked what I would like for Christmas – I must have been about six – I asked for another soft doll, just like Jeannie. I found Isabelle on Christmas morning wearing a white satin dress, lying in a little blue-draped metal crib. I loved Isabelle dearly, and I had her for many years, even though her right arm slowly, but completely, disintegrated. I used to take her on holiday with me, and she rode in my doll’s pram. Eventually the day came when my mother decided I was ‘too big’ for dolls, and so most of my babies had to go. Isabelle had to be put into the dustbin – no-one would want a doll with a perished arm – though Mum kindly offered to do it for me, knowing how much I loved that doll. When I started collecting dolls, I searched everywhere for a Beauty Skin, and kept a lookout at all the doll fairs, but no luck. Then one day, about six years ago, my daughter and I visited our local Collectors’ Centre. Suddenly I saw her pick up a doll from a table, and turn to me in triumph. She had found me a Pedigree Beauty Skin! Apart from one tiny crack in the rubber skin on the palm of one hand, she was perfect, and was the first one I had seen since my beloved Isabelle was thrown in the dustbin all those years ago. She is slightly larger than my original Isabelle, and her face is a little different, but her fingers, her toes, the way her moulded hair is shaped into little curls around her forehead, are just as I remembered. My Beauty Skin wears her original white satin-edged cotton romper suit, and takes pride of place in my doll cabinet. Now, though, she normally has a light cotton dress and jacket placed over the top of her romper, just to ensure that when she is handled no damage can get to her skin. A couple of years later, my daughter came hurrying over to me at a doll fair, to say she had found another, smaller, Beauty Skin! This one was just 9” high, and was immaculate, with a soft head, rather than the hard plastic head of the larger-sized Beauty Skin babies. Still boxed and wearing her blue dress, bonnet and socks, she must have been ex-shop stock. Then, recently, I came across yet another large Beauty Skin. This one, although not in such perfect condition as our other doll, is, I believe, unplayed with, but poor storage has caused her to disintegrate on one thigh. However the facial colouring is wonderful, with cheeks as pink as the day they were painted. She is 16” tall, wears her original lilac and pink romper suit and lacy net socks, and comes with her box and even the delightful letter which Pedigree gave to all the new young ‘mothers’ of Beauty Skin babies. This delightful ‘hand-written’ letter reads: ‘My Dearest Mummy, I love you, I hope that you will love me too. Be careful not to let me fall, I am a Baby – after all! To keep me always fresh and sweet, Just sponge me over, top to feet, Then gently dry and powder me, And I’ll be clean as clean can be,. I’m ready Mummy Dear for fun, And go to sleep […]
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 Charles II Silver-Mounted Leather Blackjack Jug Unmarked, Circa 1682. The silver rim with hatched lappets, the front with oval silver plaque pinned on below the spout which is inscribed The Gift of George Barteram to Abigail 1682 11 in. (28 cm.) high. Sold for £2,750 at Christies, London, March 2009. Image Copyright Christies. In the fifteenth century they were called ” jacks ” ; New College, Oxford, in 1414 pur-chased ” four leather jacks two holding a gallon each and two a pottle each, the four costing four shillings and eightpence.” The vessels were not known as black jacks till the sixteenth century, being occasionally described before then as ” Jacke of leather to drinke in.” The word jack was used for various articles—there were ” kitchen jacks” to turn the roasting spits, and leather coats were ” jacks of defence.” This defensive coat was known in England for several centuries as “the jack,” and when adopted by the French archers was called ” jaque d’Anglois ” ; the prefix ” black ” was no doubt added to the drinking jack to distinguish it from this leather jerkin, which would generally be made of buff leather and as a rule of lighter colour ; the vessels were not known as “black jacks” jacks till the sixteenth century, the full title was used in 1567 when Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, purchased a black jack for one shilling. Pictured left: A William And Mary Leather And Silver-Mounted Black Jack, Circa 1690 Of tapering form 7½ in. (18.5 cm.) high. Sold for £1,375 ($1,907) at Christies, London, January 2009. Image Copyright Christies. The black jack was a feature of the cellars, butteries, and dining halls of our ancient hospitals, colleges and grammar schools till modern times. The chief reason for its survival in such places is that the jack was essentially a vessel for the refec-tory or the baronial hail; it held a high place while the ancient mode of living prevailed, and every man of substance took his meals in his hall with his family and servants. When more luxurious fashions came in and the lord took his meals privately in parlour or dining room, the leathern pot re-mained in the servants’ hall with the excep-tion of those that were silver mounted. These latter were small as a rule and more richly treated; they were edged with silver and often lined with that metal or with pewter in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and were highly prized. There exist to-day (mostly in private collections) quite a number of these silver mounted jacks; they were more numerous than the plain ones. They no doubt owe their preserva-tion to the fact of their greater value and the ornamental treat-ment and extra beauty of work-manship bestowed upon them. Jacks were not rimmed or lined with silver from a fastidious dislike to drinking from leather, for jugs and cups of various materials, earthenware, wood, coconut vessels and even china were habitually so mounted. Pictured right: Doulton Lambeth Black Jack Leather Silver Rim Beer Pitcher Motto Jug 1880s. Sold For Us $425.00 Approximately £271.05 on ebay, April 2012. The black jack did not require a lid and was seldom made with one, but occasionally lidded ones are mentioned in old inventories. At the Guildhall Museum there is an interesting jack which has a curious lid of leather, but it is obviously an addition that was made at a remote period in the jack’s history. The lid not only covers the top but reaches nearly an inch down the sides ; it was a hinge of iron which has a long strap over the lid itself in which is a thumb-piece to enable the person holding the ack to raise the lid with the same hand. Sometimes a wooden lid was used attached to the handle by a leather strap by means of which it could be fastened down to a buckle on the spout. It is probable that ]acks with lids were used when it was necessary to fetch drink from a distance, not every village having an alehouse. Besides the wooden cups, which were so numerous in past times, cups of horn, pots of pewter and other metals, would all compete with leathern mugs, and help to render them unnecessary. By the middle of the seventeenth century many of these were in general use and the necessity for leather pots of small size would not be great ; records of them are scarce. Pictured left: Doulton Lambeth Blackjack jug “The Landlords Caution”. Made from stoneware that’s impressed with leather when still wet and then fired. It gives a very convincing leather effect that’s complete with stitching detail and grain. 7 1/2″ tall and 7″ spout to handle. The jug has the words from the poem “The Landlords Caution” “THE MALTSTER HAS SENT HIS CLERK – AND YOU MUST PAY THE SCORE – FOR IF I TRUST MY BEER – WHAT SHALL I DO FOR MORE” written about it in an unordered way. I believe the idea is that as long as the landlord hasn’t drunk too much of his own product he should be able to work out the order (as a former Landlord I can relate!). This particular jug was stamped as made for Sidney W Allen of 39 White Rock, Hastings. It also has a Doulton Lambeth stamp as well as Doulton and Slaters patent stamp. Sold for £65 on ebay, April 2012. The warden of Win-chester College in 1897 remembered that when he was a boy at school the black jacks were in daily use, the beer being brought into Hall in them and transferred to pew-ter mugs. Thomas Tusser, the author of” Five Hundred […]
The City of Dublin is often referred to as the heart and soul of Ireland, and within the heart of the City itself is Ireland’s number one visitor attraction – The Guinness Storehouse. Opened in November 2000, it has to date, attracted over 3 million visitors including myself on a recent trip to the emerald isle. The huge structure is breath taking and the in-depth knowledge that I gained from just one day at the Storehouse is second to none, so I highly recommend a visit, especially if you are an avid collector of Guinness memorabilia or if not, purely to soak up the history of a brewery which began more than 250 years ago. Born in 1725, Arthur Guinness was familiar with the duties of running a brewery as he often helped the workers on this family estate brew the beer, so when on 31st December 1759 Arthur signed a 9,000 year lease at an annual rent of £45 for a disused brewery in Dublin, he was well aware of the business ahead of him. Determined to make the brewery work he began by brewing a strong black beer made from roast barley called “porter,” worldwide, today, this drink is known as “Guinness.” The first shipment was exported to England on a sailing vessel and proved a success but by 1775 the Dublin Corporation Sheriff tried to cut off the water supply where the Brewery drew its free water. Defending his right, Arthur threatened the authorities with a pickaxe and they left well alone. Arthur died in 1803, aged 78 leaving behind a large personal fortune of £23,000 and a flourishing business, which was then taken over by his son, Arthur Guinness II. From 1833 Guinness has been the largest brewery in Ireland, and now in 2006, 5 million glasses of the black stuff is enjoyed in over 150 countries around the globe each day. This is largely due to the successful growth of the Brewery’s business, which from the end of the 19th Century through to the 20th Century employed between 3,500 and 4,500 people at any one time. Throughout history the brewery had family members directly involved and the influence that the Guinness family had on Dublin is evident throughout. Benjamin Lee Guinness took over from Arthur Guinness II after his death and later became Lord Mayor of Dublin along with being elected for the Parliament of Dublin City in 1865. After Benjamin’s death in 1868, Edward Cecil Guinness took the reins and was to be the first Lord Iveagh. He was also responsible for establishing the Guinness Trust, which later became known as the Iveagh Trust and provided homes for the poor in both Dublin and London. After Benjamin’s death in 1927 Arthur Edward Guinness took over and was then followed by Rupert Edward Guinness who was the 2nd Lord Iveagh. It was under Rupert that the first official advertising campaign for Guinness was launched. The final family member to be directly involved with the running of the Brewery was Benjamin Guinness who passed away in 1992. Today, the brewery is owned by Diageo, the world’s leading premium drinks company who also boast Baileys, Smirnoff and Johnnie Walker Whisky amongst others in their drinks portfolio. With such an impressive history it made sense to open a visitors centre that paid homage to the Guinness Dynasty. So in November 2000 The Guinness Storehouse was officially opened on the site of the original brewery. This impressive seven storey high building was the first steel framed building created in the Chicago Style in the British Isles. A H Hignett carried out the architecture and the steelwork was supplied by Sir William Arroll. Taking over 3 years to complete this £30million visitor experience has been designed so that people can take a journey through the past, present and future of the world’s most famous beer. Aside from the fact that you can spend the day discovering the ingredients, process, craft, time and passion that goes into making each individual pint, you can also relax in the lavish Gravity Bar with your free pint, which is situated above the roof and from the outside is seen as the head of a pint of Guinness. This is the highest bar in Ireland and has 360 degrees panoramic views across Dublin – an experience not to be missed. There is also an impressive array of advertising collectables on show in the Storehouse, covering everything from vintage bottles and mugs to the more modern Carlton Ware figurines. Amongst the display is the original Harp, which today is the registered trademark of Guinness. Made in 1702 by Cormac O’Kelly of Ballynascreen it was adopted by Guinness in 1862 and is their signature piece appearing on everything from the bottle labels to merchandise. During my visit I was lucky enough to meet with Claire Hackett, an archivist at the Storehouse whose job involves documenting all the Official Guinness merchandise that has been produced from 1930 onwards in Ireland (the UK and overseas marked is archived in Scotland). Although the earlier items were more point of sale pieces such as showcards, the range did expand and by the 1950s items were made to target wholesalers and licensed trade. It wasn’t until the 1980s when Guinness started to produce merchandise for customers as well. Claire explained to me that the Storehouse is used as a vehicle to show the home of Guinness and has many of the earlier collectables available on show. She also told me that the archive system is readily available to the public, so if you come across a piece of Guinness memorabilia and are not sure where it dates to, the archivists can help you find it, date it and recommend organisations such as the Guinness Collectors Club for valuations. “It is normally figurines, key rings and cufflinks that turn up and are very popular but the most unusual item I have ever come across is a hair brush that is shaped like […]
Antique and vintage glass rolling pins vary from simple clear examples, to the famous Bristol Blue colours, to elaborate multi-coloured Nailsea examples and to examples with motifs and words. Glass rolling pins although functional developed into quite an art form and also became known as love tokens as they were often given by departing sailors to there loved ones with words on such as ‘be true to me’, ‘remember me’, ‘forget me not’ etc. They were often hung upon parlour walls and prized as emblems of good luck, only to be taken down when pastry was ceremoniously prepared for a wedding feast. Such pastry was believed to bring good fortune to all who ate it. Nautical themes were also common on rolling pins with sea-faring motifs, ships, mottos and inscriptions. These would be applied as painting, gilding and printing. Some of the designs are quite intricate and attractive original Victorian are much sought after. Rarer examples include anti-slavery messages, and those marking special events such as coronations. They were hollow in form and often served as dual purpose for holding salt. They would have had a cord and would have been hung in the kitchen or by a fire to keep the salt dry. During the 17th to 19th centuries salt was taxed heavily and was considered a luxury item. Later, in a clearer bottle glass, they were used also as containers of tea and the standard rolling pin measuring 15 inches in length and 2 inches in diameter will hold exactly one pound of tea. They were also sold as fairings with sweets and treats inside. The rolling pin used to hold salt or tea or comfits was fitted at one end with a ground-in ballheaded stopper of glass: when the purely ornamental rolling pin came into fashion both ends consisted of matching solid knobs. The production of a Nailsea glass rolling pin The Nailsea examples were not only made at the Nailsea works in Somerset but also Bristol, Newcastle, Sunderland, Wrockwardine Wood in Shropshire, Alloa in Scotland and elsewhere. Nailsea has become the generic term for the type of glass produced in these areas. These rolling pins were created from hot molten glass and rolled in coloured and/or white enamel chips which were sprinkled on the marver plate. The glass is then reheated and blown into shape with the glass rolling pin incorporating the selected colour such a purple, blue, mottled and striped. Antique and Vintage Glass Rolling Pins price guide Related A Look at Nailsea Glass Fairings – Fun at the Victorian Fair
We recently featured the Clarice Cliff Teddy Bear Bookends and have been asked about the Clarice Cliff Cottage Bookends. These were created by Clarice Cliff when she was at the A. J. Wilkinson Ltd (one of the Shorter owned factories in Stoke-on-Trent). The bookends are brightly coloured, often with a bright red roof, and show the back and front of a house. They measure about 14cm high. The example Cottage pictured shows the cottage having a bright red roof and blue coloured windows at the front and yellow at the back. The simple use of colours makes a very effective piece. The side of the book present the cottage against a blue sky with clouds to top right and left. The picture below shows the two side views. Below is another example of the Clarice Cliff Cottage Bookends showing the variety of ways the piece can be painted. Clarice Cliff related A look at Clarice Cliff Clarice Cliff Teddy Bear Bookends Clarice Cliff Bizarre Grotesque Masks by Ron Birks