Collectables Trader 97

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s AUST $9.95 NZ $13.95 online@ worldaa.com Australasia’s leading antiques and collectables magazine collectables trader 97TH EDITION MARCH – APRIL 2011 AUSTRALIANA Australia’ s racing history in silver Grace Seccombe’s ceramics What makes ARABIA PORCELAIN so collectable? Identifying makers & marks Investment plus: collecting NUMISMATICS Follow the auction trail Pop culture: COMIC COLLECTABLES the iconic Batman: a gothic superhero

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antiques, art deco, art nouveau, art, bronzes, ceramics, collectables, furniture, textiles, works of art

Transcript of Collectables Trader 97

Page 1: Collectables Trader 97

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A u s t r a l a s i a ’ s l e a d i n g a n t i q u e s a n d c o l l e c t a b l e s m a g a z i n e

collectablestrader

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AUSTRALIANAAustralia’s racing history in silverGrace Seccombe’s ceramics

What makes

ARABIA PORCELAINso collectable?Identifying makers & marks

Investment plus: collecting

NUMISMATICSFollow the auction trail

Pop culture:COMIC COLLECTABLESthe iconic Batman: a gothic superhero

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FEATURE ARTICLES6 Batman: a Gothic Superhero

John Harrison

12 From Finland: Arabia porcelain in AustraliaHans Werker

24 World War I medals of James WoolwrightPeter Lane

38 Postcards offer limitless collecting possibilitiesRob Ditessa

48 The art of furniture restorationPatrick O’Leary

52 Collecting early typewritersMartin Howard

66 Precious Amber Melody Amsel-Arieli

70 A hot collectable: children’s lunch boxesSuzy Bender

SPECIAL FEATURE: THREEAUSTRALIAN ARTISANS16 Appreciating Grace Seccombe’s

ceramics Mavin Hurnall & Megan Martin

22 Australia’s early racing history recordedin silver: The Junius cupRathicca Chandra

30 William Howitt: woodcarver of distinctionDr Dorothy Erickson

INVESTMENT AND COLLECTING:AUSTRALIAN NUMISMATICS55 The history of square coins62 A numismatic auction reviewed

Peter Lane

TRAVEL FEATURE 58 Exploring Singapore’s heritage

Dr Margaret D McNiven

69 OUT & ABOUT

REGULAR FEATURES42 Online magazines

43 Conundrum

45 Collectables fairs

76 Recent books for collectors

79 Collectables subscription

80 Bulletin board

82 Marketplace: buy and sell

87 Advertising rates

88 Advertisers’ Index

WINconundrumenter our prize draw

See page 43

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COLLECTABLES Trader 3

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JOHN HARRISON

CREATED IN 1939 BYARTIST Bob Kane (withsome help from writer BillFinger), Batman first

appeared in the pages of DetectiveComics #27 and was influencedmore by film noir crime movies andclassic pulp magazines like TheShadow and The Spider than theusual fantasy/science-fiction basedcomic books that were beginning to flood the stands around this time.

THE STORYLINE

Its hero is a brooding millionaire

playboy who disguises himself as abat in order to strike fear into thecriminals he swears to fight afterwitnessing the murder of his parentsas a young boy. This dark tone of the Batman comics is lightened up somewhat by thearrival of his teenaged partnerRobin, the Boy Wonder in April 1940.

Ensuring that the stories remainedvibrant and entertaining was theincreasing roster of unique, colourfulvillains who were being dreamed upto combat our heroes. The colourfulrole call included such iconiccharacters as The Joker,Catwoman, The Penguin, MisterFreeze and The Riddler.

While he may not have been the first American superhero,

Batman is still arguably the most popular, complex and

interesting of the many icons of comic books’ pop culture

landscape, as well as one of its most collected

A GOTHICSUPERHERO

Batmania: Collecting the Dark Knight

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The uncluttered, clean and practical lines of Scandinavian

designs appeal to Australians

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ARABIAPORCELAIN

From Finland to Australia

1 Fennia, produced 1900-1923.Designer unknown. The patternsfollow Finno-Ugric themes. Limitedproduction of these vases makesthem very rare and very expensive

HANS WERKER

IS NOT UNUSUAL TO FINDthat Australian homes have atleast one piece of bone chinaor stoneware made by the

Finnish pottery factory Arabia.These pieces are oftenunrecognised as collectable and of value.

To help readers understand why the company’s early table and kitchen ware designs are held in high esteem internationally I am going to look at the earlyyears of the company. Knowledgeof the origin of these ceramics is often lost, particularly if itemshave been handed down byparents or perhaps grandparents.

HISTORY OF ARABIA In 1874 the Swedish ceramiccompany Rörstrand Pottery (est.1772) founded the Arabia Finlandceramic company to penetrate theRussian market with their high qualityceramic products. They founded thecompany in Helsinki because at thattime, Finland was a duchy of Russia(1809-1917). Strategically, it waseasier to sell ceramics from Russia toRussia than from Sweden to Russia.

The company prospered until therewas a downturn in trade in 1905 dueto a revolution precipitated byRussia’s defeat in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-5). By the 1917 Russian Revolution, there was no longer a viable Russian market.

2 Kilta (later calledTeema), inproduction since1953. Designer: KayFranck. The secondmost popularearthenware set.Renamed Teemain1980 with smallchanges in coloursand models

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DOROTHY ERICKSON

WOODCARVEREXTRAORDINAIREWilliam Howitt wasborn 7 July 1846 at

Winton near Manchester in theUnited Kingdom to William Howitt,mechanic and his Spanish wifeBetsy Brahma. The young Howittstudied art in Nottingham, Liverpooland London in the early1860s.

By 1866 he was employed on therestoration of ecclesiasticalinteriors and carving decorativeelements for ships interiors. In 1886his exhibits in the Indian andColonial Exhibition in Londonearned him a bronze medal.

It is conjecture whether he metmembers of the Australiancontingent exhibiting at the show,which might have prompted him toleave England. Whatever themotivation, together with his wifeIsabella and young family of fourchildren, they migrated toMelbourne aboard the Lusitaniaarriving in August 1888. Here hereadily found work.

COMMISSIONS

For five years Howitt had a projectof commissioned furniture for StPaul’s Anglican Cathedral where hemade the reading desk and pew

ends. Particularly striking are thebishop’s throne and the pulpitdesigned in the Gothic style byJoseph Reed. The pieces tookseven months to carve in situ fromTasmanian blackwood. He carvedthe models from which were castthe bronze coats of arms onPrinces Bridge.

Other ecclesiastical fixtures werea pulpit for the Roman CatholicCathedral of St Peter and St Paul.In 1893 he carved a reredos andaltar for the church of Holy Trinity inKew. The latter featured carvedpanels of the Last Supper andChrist washing the disciples’ feet.

Doors carved by Howitt weredisplayed to architects by theVictorian Conservator of Forests, G S Perrin who also wrote anarticle for the first issue of Arts &Crafts: an Illustrated AustralasianMagazine of Arts, Handicrafts andSanitation (October 1895). Titled‘Australian Timbers for Use in theHigher Decorative Artistic Work,Cabinet Making, Fittings, Dadoesetc., with a List of the General &Species Suitable for Railway,Building, Engineering and HarbourConstruction works’ Perrin paystribute to Howitt’s skill and alsoillustrated is an elaborately carvedlong case clock made from bluegum for S J Browne’s home, Kyelah.

(1846-1928)A woodcarver of distinction

Held in the highest esteem

by his fellow artists,

Howitt had an insatiable

urge to carve and was one

of the finest wood carvers

in Australia

WILLIAMHOWITT

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ROB DITESSA

LIKE MANY OF OURREADERS, Eric Panther hasbeen a collector all his life,starting as a schoolchild

amassing cards from cereal boxes,and later collecting trading cards inthe 1940s. The catalyst forconcentrating on postcards camefrom a box of miscellaneous itemsthat his wife Joyce, also an avidcollector, bought at a church fete inthe late 1970s, filled with numerousfascinating postcards. Ericestimates their collection nowholds between four and fivethousand cards.

Keen to share his knowledgeand enthusiasm, Eric has held theoffice of President of the AustralianCartophilic Society on and off for22 years since joining in 1980. The

word ‘cartophilic,’ he explains toCollectables was coined in the1920s from a combination of Greekand Latin meaning ‘lover of cards.’

Unfranked or unused cards aregenerally in better condition. Asthere are no rules about collecting,one collector might favour apostcard with a corner missing,whereas another will only collectthose in pristine condition.

PUTTING THE PAST INTOPERSPECTIVEPostcards were a revolution,allowing short messages to be sentefficiently, costing less than a letterand sparing the cost of anenvelope. On the first day of issuein Britain in 1870, half a millionpostcards passed through theLondon postal centre.

Coming under the banner of cartophilia, this is an area of

collecting that is limited only by imagination

PASSION FORPOSTCARDS

A Joyous Christmasgreeting postcard, c. 1906

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ACOLLECTORSHARES HIS

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A u s t r a l a s i a ’ s l e a d i n g a n t i q u e s a n d c o l l e c t a b l e s m a g a z i n ecollectablestrader

97TH ED

ITION

MA

RC

H –

AP

RIL

20

11

AUSTRALIANA

Australia’s racing

history in silver

Grace Seccombe’s ceramicsWhat makes

ARABIA PORCELAIN

so collectable?

Identifying makers & marksInvestment plus: collecting

NUMISMATICS

Follow the auction trailPop culture:

COMIC COLLECTABLES

the iconic Batman:

a gothic superhero

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A u s t r a l a s i a ’ s l e a d i n g a n t i q u e s a n d c o l l e c t a b l e s m a g a z i n ecollectablestrader97TH E

DITIO

N

MA

RC

H –

AP

RIL

20

11

AUSTRALIANAAustralia’s racing

history in silver

Grace Seccombe’s ceramics

What makes

ARABIA PORCELAINso collectable?

Identifying makers & marks

Investment plus: collecting

NUMISMATICS

Follow the auction trail

Pop culture:

COMIC COLLECTABLESthe iconic Batman:

a gothic superhero

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NOW

CLICKHERE

WELCOME TO THE INTRUIGINGWORLD OF COLLECTINGCollectables is

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with each edition bringing

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REMARKABLE LEGACIES What makes for extraordinary

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TIPS, TRENDS AND SHORTCUTSWords of wisdom from collectors who

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IDENTIFYING 20THCENTURY CERAMICSLearn why Finnish pottery is so highly valued by experts

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