Antiques – either appreciated (normally by the older generation) or ignored (by the younger)! The group was privileged to have Alan Stone from Squirrel Antiques, who came with two of his team to head up the group’s monthly meeting with their lively and fascinating presentation.
Alan started by giving a bit of background and history to the family business, recalling the early days when, as a youngster, the family converted the old public toilets into the present shop, and his gleeful abandon in the task of knocking the old tiles off the wall. The business has now expanded to three shops, two in Basingstoke and one in Salisbury, with the original being the longest living shop in the town. He highlighted that they have an increasing role as the town’s archivists, with a collection exceeding that of the Willis museum. They typically create their own exhibition a couple of times a year. He added that many of the local charity shops also benefit from the gifting of items that Squirrel has no market for.
With the introductions out of the way, Alan introduced his colleague Andrew Wilkinson, who has even appeared on the BBC as an expert on old gramophones. Now came the fun – a ‘Fiona Bruce’ type challenge from the Antiques Road Show game. He presented three gramophones and, after a brief introduction to each, challenged group members to guess the value, before disclosing their approximate values ranging from about £120 right up to somewhere around £5000. He explained that the winner was unique, as not only were a limited number of that model ever made, but it had been signed by the crews of both the Oxford and Cambridge boats, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the event’s founding. Andrew went on to highlight that with items such as this, the appeal would have been less to a gramophone collector but would be significantly prized by someone collecting rowing memorabilia. Thus, for an antique dealer, the skill is understanding the wider appeal. The exercise was repeated with Alan passing round three of his own very ugly pottery items, which he explained were of greater appeal to men – they don’t do the dusting – this enabled him to highlight how the history of the makers can have a significant bearing on valuations.
With Alan having in advance indicated a willingness to give guide prices for members’ items, a wide range was produced, with Alan using this to explain how fashion has a real bearing on prices, and how items such as an Art Nouveau vase, carriage clocks, and a lovely brass microscope have all fallen in value. However, a limited edition in pristine condition of ‘Wind in the Willows’ signed by the illustrator was of significant value. However, he warned of the costs of selling via auctions, where there is typically a 20% charge to the seller and a 30% charge to the buyer! What Alan found of real interest was a range of pottery figurine gin bottles, highlighting social history. In addition, an item of silver caught his eye, bearing a Canadian hallmark, but also an incorrect English hallmark – only UK hallmarked items are permitted for sale in the UK.
Whilst the talk was longer than normal, the Group really appreciated the time spent by Alan and his team, especially as it had involved him closing the shop for the afternoon.
