Chats on Household Curios

CHAPTER XVII

MISCELLANEOUS 337

Dower chests--Medicine chests--Old lacquer--The tool chest--Egyptian curios--Ancient spectacles--Curious chinaware--Garden curios--The mounting of curios--Obsolete household names.

INDEX 357

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

FIG.

1. OLD FIREPLACE, SHOWING SUSSEX BACK, ANDIRONS, AND TRIVET Frontispiece

PAGE

2. ANDIRONS WITH RATCHETS 27

3. ORNAMENTED CRESSET DOGS 27

4. TELESCOPIC RUSH AND CANDLE HOLDER 27

5. RATCHET RUSH AND CANDLE HOLDER 27

6. ANCIENT ROMAN FIRE-DOG 37

7. SUSSEX GRATE BACK, DATED 1588 37

8. THREE SINGLE DOGS OR ANDIRONS 45

9. PAIR OF DATED SUSSEX ANDIRONS (1625) 45

10. PAIR OF SUSSEX ANDIRONS 45

11. SUSSEX BACK WITH ROYAL EMBLEMS 51

12. SUSSEX BACK WITH ARMS AND ROYAL INITIALS 51

13. FINE CARVED WALNUT WOOD BELLOWS 55

14. THREE RUSHLIGHT HOLDERS 63

15. THREE VARIETIES OF OLD OIL LAMPS 63

16. TWO WALNUT WOOD FLOOR-CANDLESTICKS 69

17. FINE PAIR OF ANCIENT SNUFFERS 73

18. HANDSOMELY DECORATED KNIFE CASE AND CONTENTS 81

19. KNIFE, FORK, AND SPOON 87

20. PAIR OF DECORATED SPOONS 93

21. TWO WOODEN CUPS 101

22. WOODEN FLAGON, WITH COPPER BANDS 101

23. A COCOANUT CUP (SILVER-MOUNTED) 101

24. A COCOANUT CUP (SILVER-MOUNTED) 101

25. COCOANUT FLAGON 101

26. EARLY ENGLISH BRONZE EWER 109

27. INSCRIBED SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY WOOD DRINKING CUP 115

28-30. EARLY CARVED WOOD NUTCRACKERS 115

31-34. MEDIAEVAL WOOD NUTCRACKERS 119

35-39. EARLY STEEL AND BRASS NUTCRACKERS 119

40. TWO ANTIQUE WARMING PANS 124

41. WELSH KITCHEN FIREPLACE 124

42. MECHANICAL ROASTING JACKS 127

43-46. GRIDIRONS SHOWING FOREIGN INFLUENCE IN DESIGN 131

47 AND 48. TWO WOODEN FOOD BOXES 135

49. A COLLECTION OF IRON FAT BOATS AND GREASE PANS 135

50. WOODEN COFFEE CRUSHERS AND PESTLES AND MORTAR 139

51. APPLE SCOOPS OF BONE 139

52. WOODEN PIGGINS AND PORRIDGE BOWL 143

53. WOODEN PLATTER, BOWL, AND SPOONS 143

54. BRASS CHIMNEY ORNAMENT (ONE OF A PAIR) 151

55. BLACK AND GOLD DERBYSHIRE MARBLE VASE 155

56. TEMPLE GUARDIAN, CARVED FROM THE GNARLED ROOT OF A TREE 159

57. CARVED PLAQUE STAND 163

58 AND 59. MINIATURE COPPER AND SILVER KETTLES 167

60. MINIATURE IVORY COFFEE BOILER 167

61. TWO OLD-GILT JEWELLED ORNAMENTS 167

62. THREE FINE OLD IVORIES 171

63. BATTERSEA ENAMELS 179

64. ANTIQUE DRESSING OR TOILET GLASS 202

65. THREE OLD SCRATCHBACKS 209

66. SILVER CHATELAINE TOILET INSTRUMENTS 209

67. ANOTHER CHATELAINE SET 209

68. FINE ORIENTAL LACQUERED BOX 217

69. SMALL LACQUER CABINET 217

70. A PAGODA-SHAPED CASKET 217

71. DECORATED JEWEL CASE 217

72. OLD SPINNING WHEEL 227

73. SPINNING WHEEL 233

74. OLD LACE BOBBINS 233

75. OLD PIN POPPETS AND ANCIENT PINS 237

76. THREE OLD WORKBOXES 243

77. OLD WORKBOX FITTINGS 247

78. ANCIENT CLOG ALMANAC 257

79. OLD COIN TESTER 265

80. MINIATURE SOUVENIR ALMANAC 265

81. ANCIENT WRITING SET 265

82. THREE CURIOUS PIPE-STOPPERS 275

83. BRASS TOBACCO BOX 275

84. COLLECTION OF HARNESS AMULETS AND TEAM BELLS 285

85. OLD WELSH LOVE SPOONS 291

86. FINE GOTHIC FRENCH CLOCK 299

87. SPECIMENS OF OLD WATCH KEYS 303

88. TWO ANTIQUE WATCH CASES 303

89. OLD SPINET 315

90. CURIOUS TYPES OF WHISTLES 323

91. QUAINT OLD TOY 323

92. A POWDER TESTER 335

93. A PRIMING FLASK 335

94. OLD POWDER FLASKS 343

THE LOVE OF THE ANTIQUE

CHAPTER I. The Love of the Antique

THE LOVE OF THE ANTIQUE

No place like home--Curios in the making--The influence of prevailing styles--A cultivated taste.

There is an inborn love of the antique in most men, although some are fond of asserting that their interests are bound up in the modern, and that they have no time to devote to the study of the antiquities of past ages or the things that were fashionable in times long past. Yet most people, when their secret longings are analysed, are found to have an admiration for the old; if not a superstitious veneration, at any rate a desire to perpetuate the memory of their ancestors and to keep in mind the things with which they were familiar. The wealthy man of to-day, who may have sprung from the people, secretly, if not openly, endeavours to surround himself with household gods which tell of a longer past and a closer relationship with the well-to-do than he can legitimately claim. In the pursuit of such things many a man has found his hobby; and there are few men who do not find recreation and delight in a hobby of some kind. Such interests outside their regular occupations broaden their outlook and widen their knowledge. Some hobbies tend to lead to specialization, and the specialist is apt to become warped and narrowed; not so, however, the collector of household curios.

No Place Like Home.

It would be difficult to find greater delight than that which centres in those things that concern the home and home life. The love of the old homestead and the goods and chattels it contains is ingrained in the breast of every Britisher; and although families become scattered and some of their members find homes of their own beyond the seas, they find the greatest delight in the objects with which they were familiar in years gone by, and venerate the relics of former generations--the household gods which have been handed on from father to son.

It is not the intrinsic value of the household curio that is its chief charm; it is rather the knowledge that its long association with those who have claimed its ownership from the time when it was "new" has made it truly a family relic. These thoughts, being so deeply rooted in the minds of most men and women, foster the love of household curios and intensify the interest shown in their possession.

To all it is not given to own family relics; neither would they serve to satiate the ambition of the true collector, although they might form the nucleus of his collection. He seeks other treasures in the town and in the country and wherever such things are offered for sale.

Curios in the Making.

The domestic habits of the people of this and other civilized countries have been the outcome of a slow process of upbuilding. There has been no sudden change; in all grades and under every different social condition, at every period, the improvement of the furnishings of the home has been one of gradual and, for the most part, steady progress.

There was a time when, beyond the bare furniture, tapestry hangings, tools of the craftsmen, and weapons of the warrior, there were few household goods of a portable nature. In mediaeval England the oak chest was sufficient to contain the valuables of a large household; and very often beyond a cabinet or sideboard or corner cupboard there were few receptacles where anything of value could be safeguarded. The dower chest, in which the bride brought to her husband household linen and her stock of clothing, and in the wooden compartment in one corner of the chest her jewels and coin of the realm--if she possessed any--was then a prominent piece of furniture. The oak chest, rendered formidable with its massive lock and bolts, opened with a ponderous key, was the chosen receptacle in after-years as a treasure chest, and regarded as the safest place in which to keep valuable documents and other property. In the Public Record Office may be seen the old iron box in which the Domesday Book was kept for many centuries. The old City Companies have their treasure chests still; and boxes studded over with iron nails and fitted with large hasps and locks are pointed out in many old houses as passports to family standing.

The household curios which a collector seeks include objects of utility and ornament. Many of them are associated with household work, and quite a number of one-time kitchen and culinary utensils, as well as those which were once cherished in the best parlour or withdrawing-room, are found places among such curios. During the last few years domestic architecture has passed through several stages of advancement. The stiff and formal Georgian houses, the painful Victorian villas, and some of the earlier attempts at architectural improvement have been swept away to make room for modern replicas of still older styles which have been revived or incorporated in the nouvre art, which touches the home in its architecture and internal decoration, as well as in its furnishings. In modern dwellings the Elizabethan style has often been followed, although modern conveniences have been incorporated. When furnishing such houses with suitable replicas of the antique the householders of the last quarter of a century have been unconsciously, perhaps, fostering the love of household antiques and providing fitting homes for their family curios.

The Day of the Curio Hunter.

This is admittedly the day of curio hunting, and those who specialize on household curios have exceptional opportunities of displaying them to better advantage than those who cared for such things in the past. Perhaps it is because there were so few opportunities of arranging and displaying household antiques during the last three-quarters of the nineteenth century that many objects now treasured have been preserved so fresh and kept in such excellent condition. The housewives of the past generation were undoubtedly conservative in their retention of old household goods, and it is to their careful preservation that so many objects of interest, although perhaps fully a century old, come to the collector in such perfect condition.

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