ALADDINS FAIR TREASURES - March 2017

I decided to visit the Aladdins Antique & Collectables Fair at Windsor yesterday. It had been some time since I'd been to an Aladdins Fair, but as it was the last day of my holidays I thought I deserved a treat. Not only did I manage to pick up a few treasures but I also caught up with some of my collector friends, bumped into a cousin of mine and enjoyed a leisurely lunch with my sister-in-law and brother-in-law. Overall it was a very pleasant day and a great way to finish my holidays.

Below are some of the items I came home with.

Not a big haul but I think there are some unusual and interesting items among them

An enamel chamber pot and a ceramic 'The New Slipper Bed Pan'

Sandland Ware cream and sugar featuring 'Down Somerset Way' transfer print

Crown Lynn (New Zealand) child's 'Georgie Porgie" mug

Miniature sad iron - 9cm long

Set of four 'Dulcet Piano Peds'

Willow cookie press and carved wooden handled bread knife

'Philips Model of the Human Body (Female)'

I may keep some of these items for my own collection but many will be coming up for sale soon. Feel free to message me if something takes your fancy.

More Australian Mulga Wood

A few more pieces of Australian Mulga Wood have been added to my collection recently. One from the last Collectorama of 2012 and two from the first Aladdins Fair for 2013. These three pieces are all desk accessories. This seems to be one of the most popular uses of mulga wood.

In my last post about mulga wood, I made mention of a South Australian company using the politically incorrect brand name of "ABO BRAND" back in the 1930s. This first ink stand is actually from this very company. I bought this one from Collectorama.

"ABO BRAND" inks stand. The finish is a little dull and could do with a good polish.

This ink stand has it's original liner in the inkwell. These are often missing.

Nice "MULGA WOOD ABO BRAND" transfer on the underside.

The next inkstand looks as though it has never been used. Probably given as a gift and put away in a cupboard many years ago. It has two inkwells and some pen rests. I found this one, along with a mulga wood blotter, on a stall at Alladins about a month ago. I wasn't planning to buy anymore mulga wood items but the beautiful condition of this inkstand and blotter proved too tempting.

Mulga wood double ink stand and blotter.

Mulga wood double ink stand by "THE MANNA DESERT TREE"

Each ink well should have a liner to hold the ink. Unfortunately one liner is missing from this ink stand.

"THE MANNA DESERT TREE" transfer brand mark on the underside of the double inkstand.

Mulga wood blotter by "RYANS Australian Mulga"

"RYANS Australian Mulga" brand transfer on the underside of the blotter

The Australian War Memorial has a pair of RYAN Australian Mulga wood bookends in their collection. They can be seen here.

Will I buy any more mulga wood? Probably yes, if I come across something different and in great condition. We'll just have to wait and see.

Pates and Bakewell Brothers Potteries

Here are a few more pieces of Australian pottery. This time they come from the Sydney potteries of "Pates Potteries" and "Bakewell Brothers Pottery". They were all found at the last Aladdins Fair.

Two pieces of Pates pottery

Two pieces of Bakewell Brothers pottery

The first piece is a vase which I believe is from Pates Potteries. At least that is what I bought it as. 

Pates Potteries vase (18cm high)

Alfred Pates established Pates Potteries Pty Ltd in 1946. He learnt his potting skills while working for the Fowler Pottery Company in 1933. The company employed 95 staff at the height of production in the 1960s and continued operation right up until 1990.

Not sure how much I really like the colours on this vase. Not as pretty as some of the glazes used on Diana ware and some Bakewells pottery. This vase would probably date from the 1950s.

Impressed 'P' mark (Pates Potteries?)

This vase doesn't have the full Pates backstamp but does have an impressed letter 'P' on the base. The stall holder had the vase labeled as being from Pates pottery because of this mark. I haven't been able to confirm this yet so I will just accept that this is a Pates vase until someone shows me otherwise.  Another stall holder also had a piece of pottery for sale with the same mark but he didn't know who made it.

The next piece is a bowl, also from Pates Potteries. This one is fully marked.

Pates Potteries bowl (28 x 14cm)

I bought this bowl because of its lustreware glaze which is quite different to the glazes on the other pieces of Australian pottery in my collection. Lustreware is the name given to pottery that has a metallic glaze with an iridescent look to it. Similar to the rainbow effect you get when you put oil onto some water.

I believe this bowl is not as old as the vases in this post and probably dates from the 1960s or even the 1970s.

Pates Potteries backstamp

The backstamp on this bowl clearly states 'PATES POTTERIES SYDNEY AUSTRALIA'. There is also an impressed number '181' which would most likely be the mould number of the shape of the vase.

The following link sheds a little more light on the history of Pates Potteries.



The last pieces are two small vases from Bakewell Brothers Pottery.

Bakewell Pottery vases (9 and 9.5cm high)

I was first drawn to these sweet little vases by the glaze colours which are very much like that used on Diana ware. It intrigued me to see how the glaze colours were reversed on each vase. These vases are almost exactly the same except for this colour variation and a slight size and weight difference. One vase seems to be more finely potted than the other. Possibly two different potters working to the same design?

The firm Bakewell Brothers was actually founded in 1884 and began by making bricks, pipes and basic kitchen ware. Like many other Australian potteries, they produced a lot of art ware during the interwar years. Bakewells closed its doors in 1955.

Bakewell Pottery backstamp

The backstamps on these vases is for the "NEWTONE" ART WARE range from BAKEWELLS SYDNEY. This Newtone range was introduced in the early 1930s and continued into the late 1940s. These vases would date from this period.


Hopefully, the following link will shed a little more light on the history of Bakewell Brothers Pottery.

Group photo of Pates, Bakewells and Diana pottery
 (They sort of look OK together, don't you think)

If anyone has any further information about any of these pieces of pottery, please feel free to leave a comment. I would especially like to hear from anyone who knows something about the impressed 'P' mark.

More Diana Ware Pottery

My collection of Diana ware pottery has grown from one piece to five over the past month. I just love the colours in the glazes they used. Looks like another collection looming.

Two Diana wall pocket vases

Diana posy ring vase and bowl

The two wall pockets were obtained from the last Collectorama fair. I bought these both from the same seller. Apparently she'd had them for quite some time and these vases had travelled to England and back with her when she had lived there for awhile.

Diana wall pocket vase impressed '31' on back - about 20cm tall

 

Diana wall pocket vase impressed '30' on back - about 20cm tall

This type of vase was made to hang on a nail or hook on the wall, hence the name wall pockets. I wonder how many fell of the wall over the years. In truth, they are probably safer hanging on the wall than other vases were standing on a shelf or table. Both these vases share the same glaze.



The oval posy ring vase was bought from the latest Alladins Fair. I love this sweet little vase.

Diana oval posy ring vase - about 21cm x 15cm

I nearly didn't buy this vase as it has no identifying marks on it and this area of collecting was very new to me. I was fairly sure it was Diana when I was looking at it as the colours were very typical of Diana pottery glazes. So I took the chance and bought it. I have since seen the exact same vase identified a number of times as Diana pottery. Glad I went with my gut feeling.



The last piece of Diana pottery is an oval bowl, maybe a fruit bowl also found at the same Alladins fair.

Diana oval bowl - about 23cm x 16cm

This piece has the same glaze as the posy vase, only the colours have been reversed this time. I have seen a lot of Diana ware that has the same glazes in a variety of combinations. They all differ a little as they were hand done.

Rather indistinct Diana mark except for the impressed 'G2' mark

All these vases would date from the post World War II period, probably the 1950s. These pieces of pottery look good displayed together as the consistent colours and glazes compliment each other. Sometime I will have to set them all up somewhere and take some photos for a future post.

More Australian Pokerwork

My collection of Australian pokerwork items grew last weekend with the addition of two more vases.

The two vases in the centre of the photo above were found at last Sunday's Aladdin's Fair.

My two latest pieces of pokerwork

It was the large vase that caught my eye first rather than the small one. I ended up taking them both as it really made very little difference to the overall price whether I only bought one or both of them. I figured that I could always try to resell the small vase if I wanted to or I could use it as an experimental restoration candidate sometime. Always better to try things out first on the minor pieces in your collection just incase things end in disaster. The small vase does however still have some naive charm about it. It is simply decorated with some gum nuts and gum leaves.

Detail of the gum blossom decoration on the large vase (flash was used to help bring out the rich colours)

The large vase is decorated with gum blossoms and gum leaves. It's the depth and richness of the decoration on this vase that I love. This type of decoration utilises tinting and shading rather than the deep burnt lines used on the small vase.

There is however some deterioration to the varnish finish on this vase, especially around the top. Not sure if this can be successfully corrected without damaging the original decoration. I will have to pick the brain of a friend of mine who collects and restores pokerwork to see what can be done. Until then I will refer to this deterioration as being the vases "patina" or "acceptable age related character".

And so my Australiana collection continues to grow. Seems to be my main focus at the moment. What will be next?

My Vintage Jelly Mould Collection

Up until earlier this year, the only jelly moulds that I had in my collection of kitchenalia were two clear glass moulds that I found at the Dayboro Day Antiques and Collectables Fair two years ago.

Then I recently managed to pick up four more moulds for my collection from an Aladdins Collectables Fair. This time they were all white pottery rather than glass. I had always wanted some white pottery moulds and had often looked at them in antique shops but they were always to dear for me.

And even more recently I have acquired three more, bringing my current total to nine. Two of these latest ones are white pottery bought from the Sunshine Coast Antique and Collectables Show last month and one is brown salt glaze stoneware bought from Collectorama in Nambour a week ago.

Some of my jelly moulds

The age of these moulds vary quite considerably. I can only estimate most of their ages, however the two T. G. Green moulds are a little easier to date more precisely.

Beginning with what I believe to be the oldest jelly mould is this small Victorian one. It is impressed on the base with No. 25, 5 and a small star or flower mark. I suppose these are the pattern number and size of the mould. It does however have a few chips and a hairline crack.

Small Victorian jelly mould (13cm long approx.)

Next is another very small, early mould but this time from the Wedgwood factory, probably also from the Victorian era. It is impressed on the side with "WEDGWOOD", 24, 31 and the letter H. Again I assume that the numbers represent the pattern and size. Unfortunately this mould has a rather nasty chip and crack. I only bought it because I had never seen a small Wedgwood mould like this and the price was reasonable considering its poor condition.

Small "WEDGWOOD" jelly mould (just 8cm long approx.)

I believe that the next two moulds could be late Victorian or Edwardian.  The first one is quite a large mould that stands about 14cm high. This would make one impressive jelly. This mould doesn't have any identifying makers marks but at least it is in good condition with just a bit of crazing.

Large Victorian jelly mould (20cm long approx.)

Next is another large mould that is over 23cm in diameter but only 7cm deep internally. It is nicely decorated inside with a pattern of grapes, leaves and other fruit. Again, a jelly or what ever else that would come out of this mould would be most impressive. This mould is clearly marked in green on the base by a circle surrounding the letters V&B over an M. It also has a rather indistinct impressed mark of what I think is "No 249", the letters JH over the number 37 and possibly the number 1 on the side. There are also two holes in the foot rim of this mould enabling it to be hung on the wall for either storage or display. This mould is in very good condition with only a small chip on the rim.

Large V&B M jelly mould (almost 24cm across)

My most recently acquired jelly mould is a lovely, glossy, brown, salt glaze stoneware mould.  It has no markings identifying where it was made but looks very similar to the Bendigo Pottery products (although it could have been made almost anywhere). Dating this mould is rather difficult as it could have been made as early as the mid Victorian era or right up to the early 20th century. Its condition is very good with it only having a few small chips.

Salt glaze stoneware jelly mould (17.5cm long approx.)

The two glass jelly moulds would be more recent than the previous five moulds, probably early to mid 20th century. They are both unmarked and in good condition except for a chip and fracture mark in the first more decorative one. I knew it had a chip but didn't even notice the fracture when I bought it. I was a bit disappointed to find it when I got home. It goes to show that no matter how hard you exam an item before buying, you can still make mistakes. The lighting is not the best around some of the stalls at Aladdins Fair where I bought it from. If you are paying big money for an item, it really should be examined in bright, natural sunlight. Thankfully the stall holder had this mould very reasonably priced which I now understand was due to its condition. When I think back, this mould may have even been marked A/F which usually means "as found". It is a sellers way of letting you know that this is the condition that they got it in. Always examine any item marked A/F very carefully before buying.

Both these moulds probably came from the Crown Crystal Glass Company. This Sydney based company was formed in 1926 and produced glass wares up until the late 60s. It eventually merged with the American company Corning in 1972 to become Crown Corning. 

1st glass jelly mould (17cm long approx.)

2nd glass jelly mould (17cm long approx.)

The last two jelly moulds are both from the company famous for its blue and white Cornishware range, T.G. Green & Co. The first smaller jelly mould is fairly plain and has an early GREEN & Co LTD, GRESLEY, ENGLAND with church mark on the base. I believe this jelly mould would date from the 1930s.

Small GREEN & Co LTD jelly mould (15cm across approx.)

The following jelly mould is the last in my collection and most definitely the youngest in age. It is quite a decorative and good sized mould. It's from the T. G. GREEN LTD "SPECTRUM" series of wares and would date from the 1970s to 80s. Not really very old. I wouldn't normally include an item as late as this in any of my collections except for it being from a well know maker.

T. G. GREEN "SPECTRUM" jelly mould (21cm long approx.)

Well that's my jelly mould collection. I suppose it is now time for me to go and use some of them to make some jellies and see how they actually turn out. Who knows, I may just feature the results in a future post. So fellow collectors, stay tuned for part 2 of "My Vintage Jelly Mould Collection".

Also, as usual, I would appreciate any helpful comments about the items that I post, especially about their age and company of manufacture. Hopefully I will be able to learn a little more about them.