What's it worth?

Following on from the comment left on my last post, (Help!What's a Dinkie Doo?), I'm always being asked, "What's it worth?". An item is only worth what someone is prepared to pay for it. I can make a guess based on my experience of selling similar items, but it is only a guess, and with eBay in particular, I'm not always right. I quite often list items on eBay that I would expect to sell for only £10-£15, only to see them sell for £150+; a couple of weeks before or after and the same item would struggle to reach my estimate. If two people want something badly enough and they have the money to spend, then the sky's the limit; the problem for me as an eBay seller is finding those two people at the same time!
This enamelled earrings and brooch set is by the illustrious arts and crafts designer/jeweller, Bernard Instone. I'm a great fan of Instone's enamelled jewellery, the enamelling isn't of the same high quality as that of the great Norwegian silversmiths like Marius Hammer or David Andersen, in fact in comparison, Instone's enamels look quite amateurish; I've yet to find an Instone with perfect enamelling, there always seems to be a tiny flaw somewhere, but that's probably what I love about his work. The brooch isn't a particularly rare Instone piece and I would expect to sell similar Instone brooches for £30-£50, with the matching earrings; which are rarer, I would expect to get £80-£100. This set actually sold for £103, which is close enough to my estimate; I may be biased, but I think they're worth more. On a recent visit to the antique jewellery counter in Liberty's of London, I saw the same Instone brooch, (just the brooch), marked up at £380; "Yeah I wish!".

Help! What's a "Dinkie Doo"?

"DINKIE DOO" MASCOT BROOCH/BADGE

Despite hours of research on the internet, I'm unable to determine exactly what a "Dinkie Doo" is, although I have found a silent Pathe Newsreel from 1919, (the same year of the Reg.no. on the reverse of this brooch), showing the famous British Music Hall Star, George Robey**, painting eyebrows on to a Dinkie Doo statue:

GEO. ROBEY'S MASCOT
The Famous Comedian and "gatherer of funds" for charity, puts finishing touches on his "Dinkie Doo" to be sold for benefit of Bart's Hospital.

click on link:
British Pathe - GEORGE ROBEY'S MASCOT

Was it just the statue that was sold for the benefit of St. Bart's Hospital, or was it part of a bigger campaign which included this badge? Perhaps Dinkie Doo was a character from one of his songs? If any one knows what a "Dinkie Doo" is, I'd love to hear from you.

**George Robey is probably best remembered for popularizing the WWI song, "If You Were The Only Girl (In The World)". A song which has since been covered by the likes of, Doris Day, Perry Como, and even Barbara Streisand.

Brooch measures approx. 38mm, (1.1/2"), and is secured with a hinged pin and simple period c clasp. Marked to the reverse with design registration number, 668886; which dates it to 1919. Brooch is of silver plated brass and is in excellent uncleaned vintage condition; there is a tiny bit of ware to the silver on his hands and nose.

Research. I love it when it comes together.

Concordia Crescimus- To Grow In Harmony.
I have in recent years sold three of these art nouveau brooches, two of silver and one in 9ct gold. They were all made by the jeweller's, William Hair Haseler, who are best known for producing Liberty's cymric range, which was designed, (amongst others), by Archibald Knox. Although this brooch is clearly art nouveau in design, it's actually hallmarked for 1933, so it's certainly not of the art nouveau period. My research in to the latin motto, led me to Polam Hall School, in Darlington, (once a private girl's school). The school colours are green and yellow, the school badge has a yellow flower, and the school magazine is called, "Buttercup News"; not being a horticulturalist myself, I didn't realize the flower on this brooch was a buttercup, until I linked it with the title of the school's magazine. From old blurry photos I've seen, I believe this brooch/badge was worn on the girl's hat bands; that's some school, where the pupils wear 9ct gold cap badges!
For me the joy in dealing in antique jewellery isn't just about profits, it's as much about finding out all I can about the history of a piece. As well as selling three of these brooches myself, I've also seen other dealers selling them, and it's quite clear that for most of them their research ended with the translation of the latin motto; some have gone a bit further, and suggested the brooch may have something to do with an 'unknown horticultural society', or the 'Ontario Medical Association', but as yet none have made the connection with Polam Hall School and their "Buttercup News".

Victorian or Not.

Over the years I must have sold over 100 of these Scottish agate dirk brooches, and although essentially a Victorian design, (most date to between 1870-1920), their enduring popularity means they are still being produced to this very day. This particular one does seem to cause some confusion among sellers though. It's by Charles Horner, and is clearly hallmarked for 1961, (I've also sold one by Horner dated as late as 1964), I have yet to see an eBay seller correctly date this brooch. They assume that because it's Victorian in design, and it's by Charles Horner, a "Victorian silversmith", ( ignoring the fact that the Charles Horner company didn't go out of business until 1984), then it must be Victorian. A cursory glance at the hallmarks would seem to confirm this, but if they bothered to look more closely at the hallmarks they would see that not only is the date letter font slightly different for the two era's, but the shape of the cartouche surrounding the date letter is also clearly different.
Always check the date letter fonts carefully on any hallmarked piece, just because it looks Victorian doesn't mean it is; if you don't have a book of your own that lists the fonts used, and their corresponding dates, then look on websites that do;

http://freespace.virgin.net/a.data/frames

or

http://www.silvercollection.it/englishsilverhallmarksCHE.html

Charles Horner's Makers Marks

Although not required to by law, (because of the weight of such items), Charles Horner would pay for their pieces to be assayed, knowing their customers preferred the guarantee that comes with fully hallmarked pieces, even if it meant the item cost more.
The Charles Horner 'C.H' makers mark, was registered at only three assay offices, Chester, Birmingham, and Sheffield. Most of their assayed pieces carry the mark for Chester, but Birmingham was used occasionally up until 1962, when the Chester assay office closed, and Birmingham became their main assay office. Sheffield was only ever used occasionally in the 1950s and 1980s. If a piece is marked 'C.H', but assayed in London, (or in any other assay office not mentioned here), then it's not by Charles Horner; they weren't the only jewellers to use the 'C.H' mark.

Some early pieces, (circa 1905-1920), which may have been intended for export, were just marked 'C.H STERLING', and some later pieces, (circa 1935-1950), and clearly made for the home market, were also marked 'C.H STERLING', (or just 'STERLING').

Their range of costume jewellery produced after WWII were rarely marked at all.

The intertwined CH registered trademark, (see enamelled ring above), was first used by the company in 1915, so if a seller judges a piece, which is marked with the intertwined CH trademark, to date from the late Victorian/early Edwardian period, they're wrong, and the item will date to somewhere between 1915-1940. The enamelled white dots on this ring, which give the effect of tiny seed pearls, dates this ring to before 1920.

Another mistake I commonly see, is sellers attributing pieces by Cook, Holland & Co, to Charles Horner. Charles Horner Ltd were never '& Co', so their pieces were never marked 'C.H & Co'.

The Son's of Charles Horner.

When Charles Horner Snr. died in 1896, the company passed to his two sons, James Dobson Horner and Charles Henry Horner, (AKA Harry). Harry was the artistic one of the two, while his older brother James was the one with his father's business head on his shoulders. Together the two brothers transformed the company and took it into, (what is, for collectors of Charles Horner), their golden age.

A state on the art factory was built in 1905 to mass produce the fashionable jewellery designs of young Harry, which were heavily influenced at the time by Liberty's own art nouveau designer, Archibald Knox.

It does make me smile when I read other antique dealers extolling the skill and craftsmanship, and eye for detail of Charles Horner at this time, as if it was the man himself creating the items by hand in his tiny little workshop, instead of mass produced pieces by his two son's in a state of the art factory.

Unfortunately James Dobson Horner died in 1913 at the age of 46, and was a major loss to the new 'Limited' company, which never fully lived up to it's early promise. Despite two world wars and the economic depression of the 1920s, the company did somehow manage to survive until 1984, although Harry sold most of his shares in the business in 1932, ending there the Horner family control.

Charles Horner: The Begining.

Anyone with an interest in vintage and antique jewellery will have heard of Charles Horner; the Charles Horner company existed for over a 125 years, and were one of England's largest wholesale jewellery manufacturers.
Charles Horner began his career in 1850 as an apprentice jeweller/watchmaker, and by 1857 was in business for himself. His business was relatively successful, providing him with good steady income, but it wasn't until 1884 when he invented the "Dorcas" thimble, that things really took off for the Charles Horner Company.
At this time in Victorian Britain, being proficient with a sewing needle was a necessary skill for virtually all females; for the less well off, it was a necessity, and for those who were better off, it was practised for pleasure. So the simple thimble became a popular, and seemingly very practical 'love-token'. Jewellers produced them in their millions for home and export, and probably due to costs, silver thimbles were the most popular choice. Unfortunately silver is a relatively soft metal, and the new 'steel' needles of the time could easily puncture the thimble. Charles Horner's simple solution was to manufacture a plain steel thimble and encase it, inside and out, with a layer of silver, producing a thimble that retained all the beauty of solid silver, but with the added strength of steel.
The patented "Dorcas" thimble was sold with a lifetime guarantee, and quickly became the most popular thimble of choice.