Jackman - Investing in antique silver toys and miniatures

Investing in

Antique Silver Toys

and Miniatures

By the same author

Non-fiction

Masonic Memorabilia for Collectors (2002)

Fiction

The Freemasons Daughter (2009)

Playing Away (in preparation)

The Elusive Mr Hooper ((in preparation)

Investing in

Antique Silver Toys

and Miniatures

William G. Jackman

aesop Collectables

Oxford

AESOP Collectables

An imprint of AESOP Publications

Martin Noble Editorial / AESOP

28 Abberbury Road, Oxford OX4 4ES, UK

www.mne-aesop.com

First paperback edition published by AESOP Publications

Copyright (c) 2011 William G. Jackman

The right of William G. Jackman to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the copyright designs and Patents Act 1988.

A catalogue record of this book is

available from the British Library.

First paperback edition 2011

Condition of sale:

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, sold or hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

ISBN: 978-0-9569098-0-0

The author is grateful to all who have kindly made their photographs available for printing in this book. Wherever possible he has made known the source of the photographs in the captions

Printed and bound in Great Britain by

Lightning Source UK Ltd,

Chapter House, Pitfield, Kiln Farm,

Milton Keynes MK11 3LW

Contents

Preface ix

Acknowledgements xvi List of Illustrations xvii

A Short History of Silver 23

Hallmarks on Silver Toys 27

Dutch Dating Codes for Silver Items, 18151960 33

The Duty Mark 37

Silversmiths and Their Marks 39

A History of Silver Toys 43

How Silver Toys Were Made 51

Dutch Silver Toys 55

Dolls Houses 59

English Silver Toys 67

The Present and Future of Silver Toys 75

Buying Silver Toys as an Investment

Where to Find Silver Toys 79

Illustrations

Bibliography

Appendix I: Museums to Visit

Index

About the author

I dedicate this book

to my three granddaughters

Sophie, Chloe and Kate

Preface

T here is money to be made in investing in antique silver toys, and there is no reason at all that, unlike stocks and shares, they should ever drop in value. Furthermore, it is a hobby that very few people are aware exists, and little is known about the makers of the toys. As a result, there is plenty of scope for investigating the history of your hobby, and for still being able to find some choice silver toys dating back from the seventeenth century right up until the present day. The obvious snag is that the further back one goes the more expensive the toys become.

Interest in making tiny copies or miniatures of items in everyday use dates back thousands of years. It is conceivable that cavemen, not having silver at his disposal, whittled a wooden toy dinosaur for his child. Mankind always seems to have had a yearning and admiration for perfectly formed replicas of the larger full-sized original object, whether it be a picture, a piece of porcelain, glass or furniture, or as evidenced by the oos and aahs one gives when seeing a new baby. It is a built in delight we have of the Lilliputian-sized world we are so intrigued by and admire.

The purpose of giving a toy to a child was twofold: it not only amused the child, keeping it quiet and happy; but was also a learning aid a model for the child to copy, based on its application by the childs parents or the servants.

Nowadays we can add to this a third purpose: as a collectable and an investment

The craftsmen of the day liked to model items which were often made in their respective trades. Glassblowers would make tiny glasses; exact replicas of the originals, cabinetmakers would make tiny dolls-house furniture, of a standard equal to, if not better than, the full-size original. The making of tiny objects was indeed a craft of love. It was, and still is, a fairytale world, as exemplified by, for instance, Swifts Gullivers Travels , in which miniscule objects are a microcosm of the real thing.

It doesnt matter what type of materials were used in the construction of the tiny replicas. European adults, have, since at least the seventeenth century, taken an interest in tiny toy objects they could display in dolls houses or baby houses.

Although originally intended for children to use, these miniature toy replicas fascinated adults even more so much so that the child was only allowed to see the interior of the dolls house under the parents supervision, and with strict instructions that they could look but not touch.

It is the finished tiny copy that intrigues adults and makes them express admiration and childish delight when seeing a dolls house fitted out with tiny copies of what they have only known until then as the real item. One cant help admire the craftsmen that have gone to all that trouble to miniaturise a chest of drawers no bigger than a matchbox, or a fireplace with fire irons and fenders, all made of silver. It is not only children who are fascinated by tiny reproductions they can play with.

The parents sought new toys from the silversmiths, getting them to make something unique, especially for their collection. The gold and silversmiths, meanwhile, soon realised that there was a potential market in making tiny toys, especially in silver and gold, and many silversmiths, especially on the continent of Europe, began to specialise in this demanding craft of toymaking.

It was only the English who used the term silver toys to describe our tiny copies of the original-sized objects. They were made originally as playthings. In Germany they are called silberspielzeuge ; in Holland, the most prolific producer of silver toys, they are referred to as zilverspieelgoed.

This obsession with miniaturising everyday items has not diminished over the years, and even today there is a growing and demanding market, seeking even tinier and more accurate dolls- house toys in gold and silver.

A person who might pass by a silver item such as a teapot in an antique shop would stop and admire and become ecstatic over a miniaturised copy of the same item. It is difficult to say exactly why we are so taken by tiny toys; perhaps we marvel at the skill of the craftsman who has had the patience to fashion a miniature; or maybe the human race is simply besotted with tiny things like babies, puppies and kittens and baby toys have thus been accepted into the same category, just because theyre so cute.

From the history of toy miniatures it can be seen that Holland, Great Britain, France, Germany and the United States have shown a definite interest in tiny toys. However, other countries from time to time have produced the small silver toys, in particular China and Russia, but not in any profusion like the Dutch.

As well as using the term silver toys, which were primarily toys that could fit to scale in a dolls house, there was a second size of toy intended for a child to play with. These are referred to miniatures, or, as the Dutch say, miniaturesterm. Some of these miniatures are quite tall, reaching up to a third of the size of the original object they were copying.