by Bill Jackman
For the collector there is another advantage: the toys are small, take up very little space and don’t require any cleaning. They haven’t been tampered with (not yet).
Today one is able to buy a larger range of miniature silver items including motor cars, ships, aeroplanes, houses, bicycles and a huge assortment of animals, birds and fishes. There is a great demand for cats and dogs, and also owls are very popular.
Top dealers are always being asked what the next collectable will be. Why shouldn’t it be silver toys and miniatures? Perhaps everyone is waiting for someone to bring a boxfull along to BBC1’s Antiques Road Show. Many pieces have hallmarks on and many more don’t. The scarcity of the toy does affect its value, but the fact that the Victoria & Albert Museum has one just like it will no doubt increase its value. Copies of Dutch toys are starting to come on the market but they look so clumsy and amateurish that only a fool would not recognise them for what they are.
Although it is highly desirable to own a silver toy on which the collector can recognise the maker and when it was made, this should not be a barrier to owning it until something better comes along.
A collector is very unlikely to come across a toy from Holland made of any metal apart from silver, even though the toy may be as black as jet due to the dirt, and soot it has been exposed to without ever being cleaned.
A serious collector can find out the going rate for many toys if they concentrate on the sales at the major auction houses. Christie’s in London will oblige and help a collector. They may advise you where there is an auction with silver toys coming up for sale. The Victoria & Albert Museum even has its own book, detailing the story of Dutch and English toys.[6]
It would be a good idea to visit the London Silver Vaults[7] in Chancery Lane to see fine examples of silver toys that are very beautiful and not very expensive. The Silver Vaults is a row of underground shops which sell nothing but silver. It is most impressive and the silver dealers are very helpful.
13 Where to Find Silver Toys
Silver toys and miniatures are not hard to find. And just like hundreds of years ago, a collector can if they so desire buy a doll’s house and try and equip it with as many silver toys as they can find. Go to county antique fairs and flea markets. Look in the tabletop glass display cabinets, hidden away in a corner of small antique shop; it is quite likely that you will find a piece you are looking for – and they are certain to be under lock and key.
There are to the best of my knowledge no books available today (that are not out of print) covering the subject of silver toys and miniatures. Two well-known books which are very good and still available on the secondhand market and on eBay are:
Miniature Silver Toys by Victor Houart (prices vary from £25 to £175, depending on condition) – the information is excellent but it was published in 1981 in the United States and details are sketchy after the early twentieth century; also prices are not in euros.
Silver Toys and Miniatures by Miranda Poliakoff – again out of date, but it describes beautifully Dutch silver and doll’s houses that used to be on show at the V&A
As a result of a visit to the Silver Vaults another book of great interest to the collector of silver toys has been brought to my attention. Unfortunately it is written in Dutch, but there are many pictures in it of silver toys and makers’ marks. It is called Klien Zilver, 1650–1880.[8]
It is certainly worth travelling to the main English museums which display silver toys. This will help familiarise the collector of what to look out for, and the names and makers’ marks of great silversmiths of England and Holland. The reading will further enlighten the collector of museums of interest and places to visit in Holland which is only an airbus ride away.
Try eBay on the web (www.ebay.com) and search for Solid silver miniatures. Be patient. It may be a few days before something tasty comes on view but the excitement of winning a bid is like a tonic to the collector.
Go to the Victoria & Albert Museum in London and the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford; look at the tiny silver toys, and get to recognise them. Search out the doll’s houses at these museums and others mentioned in this book (see also Appendix I: Museums to visit (UK)). Remember, hundreds of silver toys and miniatures had no silver at all yet are perfectly authentic. Get to know the hallmarks of the top half a dozen Dutch silver makers. Their work demands four figures. Get to recognise the same of the early English silversmiths; their work too demands four figures. Read, learn and study the toy market. It’s fun and rewarding.
It is also interesting for children; they can associate with them and even at a young age take an interest in toys that were produced hundreds of years ago. It is quite reasonable to imagine that one needs a lot of money to build up a silver collection, yet this is not necessarily the case. However, there are so many pitfalls that an unsuspecting collector can fall into when buying items of silver that for the majority of everyday collectors for whom this book has been written they will be well advised to:
buy from a reliable dealer;
purchase small interesting pieces they can afford;
get a signed receipt;
search the Internet.
Today there are nowhere near the variety of pieces that there were hundreds of years ago, which is a pity, because according to eBay, where most of it comes from, there is a good demand for these tiny silver toys. Unfortunately, most of the eighteenth-century toys made by famous silversmiths of the day are now in either private collections or museums. In fact Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has a remarkable collection of miniature silver toys.
An online visit to Daniel Bexfield Antiques (http://www.bexfield.co.uk) will assist all collectors of silver toys and enlighten them on their value and give you a good idea of current prices.
The object of this book has been to enlighten the collector as to what is available today, yet show them what is still available if one is prepared to look around and pay the price of Georgian miniature toys and collectables. Good luck with your collecting.
Figure 8 Small tea set and tray belonging to the author; purchased September 2010 for £236; made in Birmingham, 1905, by Saunders & Sheperd;[9] width: 103 mm (4.3") inc. handles; overall height 40 mm (1.5"); the teapot is 1.3" high.
Illustrations
Bibliography
Antique Collector (1975) Silver Toys and Miniatures, February 1975.
Delieb, Eric (1970) Investing in Silver. London: Corgi.
Greene, Vivien (1995) English Doll’s Houses of the 18th and 19th Century. Overlook.
Heal, Sir Ambrose (1972) The London Goldsmiths, 1200–1800; The London Goldsmiths, 1200-1800; a Record of the Names and Addresses of the Craftsmen, Their Shop Signs and Trade-Cards. Published Under the Patronage of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths of London. Newton Abbot: David & Charles.
Houart, Victor (1984) Miniature Silver Toys (translated by David Smith). London: Random House Value Pub (original French edition, L’Argenterie miniature, published 1981).
Hughes, Bernard and Hughes, Therle (1973) Collecting Miniature Antiques. London: Wm Heinemann Ltd.
Jackson, Sir Charles James (1921) English Goldsmiths and their Marks. London: Macmillan & Co. Ltd.
Poliakoff, Miranda (1980) Silver Toys and Miniatures. London: Victoria & Albert Museum.
Wttewaall, B.W.G. (1987) Klien Zilver 1650–1880, Amsterdam: A. de Lange.
Appendix I Museums to Visit
United Kingdom
Ashmolean Museum
Beaumont Street
Oxford OX1 2PH
tel: 01865 278002
www.ashmolean.org
Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood
Cambridge Heath Road
London, E2 9PA
tel: 020 8983 5200
www.alondonguide.com/bethnalgreenmuseumofchildhood.html
Manchester City Museum
The Manchester Museum
The University of Manchester
Oxford Road
Manchester M13 9PL
tel: 0161 275 2634
www.museum.manchester.ac.uk
Museum of Childhood
42 High Street
Edinburgh EH1 1TG
tel: 0131 529 4142
www.edinburghmuseums.org.uk/Venues/Museum-of-Childhood.aspx
Museum of London
150 London Wall
London EC2Y 5HN
tel: 020 7001 9844 0
www.museumoflondon.org.uk
Victoria and Albert Museum
Cromwell Rd
London SW7 2RL
tel: 020 7942 2000
www.vam.ac.uk
Windsor Castle (Queen Mary’s Doll’s House)
Windsor
Berkshire SL4 1NJ
tel: 020 7766 7304
www.windsor.gov.uk
Holland
Rijksmuseum
Jan Luijkenstraat 1
1071 CJ Amsterdam
Netherlands
tel: 020 6747000
www.rijksmuseum.nl/
Frans Hals Museum
Groot Heiligland 62
2011 ES Haarlem, Netherlands
tel: 023 5115775
www.franshalsmuseum.nl/
United States
Philadelphia Museum of Fine Arts
P.O. Box 7646
Philadelphia, PA 19101-7646
tel: (215) 763-8100
http://www.philamuseum.org
Yale University Art Gallery
P.O. Box 208271
New Haven, CT 06520-8271
tel: 203 432 0600
http://artgallery.yale.edu
The Art Institute of Chicago
111 South Michigan Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60603-6404
tel: (312) 443-3600
http://www.artic.edu
Index
Note: page numbers in italics refer to illustrations.
_______________________________________________________________
A
AC Silver Antiques 92
acid 40
aeroplanes, silver miniature 76, 77
Albrecht V of Bavaria 59
Albret, Jeanne d’, Queen of Navarre 44
Alexandra, Queen
alphabetical hallmarks 34, 34–6
Amsterdam, Holland 33, 39, 47, 55, 57, 63, 71, 83, 84, 87, 99, 101, 102, 106
mark 55
anchor 37
animals, silver miniature 77
Anne, Queen 66
antique fairs 72, 79
antique shops 79
Antiques Road Show (BBC) 77
Antwerp xii
Art Institute of Chicago xiii, 110
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, UK 45, 57, 74, 80, 106, 109
assay marks 29, 37, 75
Atkin & Oxley 106
auctions 47, 71
Augsburg, Holland 63
axe mark 35
B
babies xi
embossed 71–2, 103
silver miniature 49
baby houses x, 52, 59, 60, 62, 63, 65, 66
Barnard I, Edward 92
basket, silver miniature 97
Bath 53, 70
Bavaria
Albrecht V of 59
Duchess of 43
bedchamber sticks, silver miniature 91
beds, silver miniature 51, 64, 66
bedstead, silver miniature 48
beggars, silver miniature 49
bench, silver miniature 83
Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood, London xiii, 45, 59, 109
Bethune, Maximilien de (Duc de Sully, M. de Rosney) 44
bicycles, silver miniature 76, 77
Biermann, Peter 65
bird cages, silver miniature 49
birds, silver miniature 77
Birmingham 30, 72, 82, 83, 84, 87, 88, 89, 91, 94, 95, 97, 98, 105
Assay Office 30, 37
blackened silver 40, 84
Bonket, Jan 101
Boston Museum of Fine Arts xiii
Bouillon, Duc de 43
Boulton, Mathew 30
Bourbon family 44
bowls, silver miniature 48, 88
two-handled 96
Bowman, Sarah 74
brass 47, 60, 66
brazier, silver miniature 95
bridal dowry 60
brides and doll’s houses 66
Bristol 31
Britannia silver 29, 30, 31, 38
Brobdignag (in Gulliver’s Travels, Swift) 65
bucket, silver miniature 97
buckles, silver 70
buffet pots, silver miniature 48
butlers, silver miniature 49
buttons, silver 70
C
cabinet doll’s houses 60 , 63
cabinet on stand, silver miniature 105
cages, silver miniature 49
Canada 76, 88
candelabras, silver miniature 99
candlesticks, silver miniature 48, 51, 106
cannons, silver miniature 44
Canterbury, Archbishop of (1306) 25
cats, silver miniature 48, 49, 77
Cayenne pepper bottle, cut-glass in silver frame 98
ceramics 70
chairs, silver miniature 48, 51, 52, 66, 93, 98, 102
chambersticks, silver miniature 92
Charles II 27, 48, 51, 67, 77
Charles VII of France 43
Cheltenham 53
cherubs, embossed 71–2, 96, 103
Chester 31, 91, 94, 96, 98
Chevinex, Paul Daniel 54
children x, xi, xii, xiv, 46, 47, 49, 57, 60, 68, 75, 77, 80
as consumers 70, 71
royal 41, 43, 44, 48
silver miniature 49
Children’s Party, A (Hogarth) xi, xii
child’s compact 84
China xi
china 47
Christie’s, London 47, 71, 78, 101, 102, 103
circus tableau, silver miniature 85
Clapham, Lord, sword and scabbard of 91
Claude of France, Princess 43
Clayton, David xiii, 39, 53, 68, 92, 96, 104, 105
Clayton, John 69
cleaning silver 40, 77
Clifton, John 52
commodes, silver miniature 48
coffee pot, silver miniature 45, 83, 102, 103, 104, 106
Collecting Miniature Antiques (Hughes and Hughes) 107
Common Control mark, UK 38
Comyns, William 92
condiment set, silver miniature 105
cooks, silver miniature 49
copies 73, 78
copper 47, 66
corner chair, silver miniature 104
Courtauld, Augustus 52
cream bowl, silver miniature 88
cream jug, silver miniature 106
crockards 24
Cromwell, Oliver 45, 67
crossbow, silver miniature 102
crown 37
Crown and Anchor pub, London 37
cruet set, Dutch silver miniature 47, 103
Cummings, Thomas 102
cups, silver miniature 88, 95
two-handled 94
D
Daniel Bexfield Antiques 81
date stamp 32, 35, 85
system, Dutch, 1815–1960 33, 33, 56
Dauphin (later Louis XIII of France) xii, 43, 44
David Hollander & Son 87
Deards 53, 70
Deards, John 52, 54
Delieb, Eric 107
Devenport, William 95
diamonds 44, 48
Dijik, J. van 100
dissected puzzles 71
dogs, silver miniature 48, 49, 77, 83, 93
dolls xi, 44, 48, 59
doll’s houses ix–xiii, 43, 45, 47, 48, 54, 55, 57, 59–66, 68, 69, 70, 71, 73, 74, 76, 79, 80,
early Dutch, c. 1800 61
furniture, silver miniature 47, 48, 60, 66
John Evelyn’s, Geffrye Museum 60, 62
doll’s prams, silver miniature 48
> dolphin mark 36, 57
Dordrecht, Holland 85
Dover Castle 25
dram cups, silver 69
Dutch hallmarks 55, 56–7
Dutch silver miniatures 40
duty mark 35, 37–8
see also tax mark
E
Easterlings 23
eBay 40, 77, 79, 80, 81, 84, 100
educational role of doll’s houses 62
Edward I 24–5
Edwardian era 72
Effemans, Abraham 101
Eiffel Tower, silver miniature 40
elf with barrel, silver miniature 84
Elizabeth II, Queen 81
Emes, Rebecca 92
England x, xiii, xiv, 23–5, 27, 39, 40, 41, 45, 46, 48, 51, 55, 59, 60, 62–5, 76–80
silver toys in 67–74
English Civil War 27, 28
English Doll’s Houses of the 18th and 19th Century (Greene) 107
English Goldsmiths and their Marks (Jackson) 107
English hallmarks 55
e’tage’re zilver xiii
Evelyn, John 60, 62
Evesdon, Thomas 52
Exeter 31
F
fakes 73
Far East xiv
fender, silver miniature 52
Fiedlander, Montague 94
fireback, silver miniature 52
firedogs, silver miniature 52
fire grates, silver miniature 48, 52
fire irons, silver miniature 66
fireplaces, silver miniature 64, 66
fireplace sets, silver miniature 52, 66
fish, silver miniature 48, 77
Flanders 24
flea markets 79
flower vases, silver 70
foot-operated lathe turning 51
forks, silver miniature 106
three-pronged 74
Fothergill, John 30
France xi, xii, 43, 44, 48, 55, 63
Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem, Holland 110
fraud 52
Frisian towns, Holland 57
frying pans
iron 46
silver miniature 48, 104
G
gardiens 24
gate leg tables, silver miniature 51