Hello Everyone,
It has been very exciting getting the website up and running!
Lots of work, but well worth the effort as you can now access the newsletter via email. I hope you enjoy reading what is happening at Eaglemont Antiques. Congratulations to Martin Harrington, from Eaze Internet Services who has been the energy and inspiration behind the website design and our up-to-the-minute image.
Take a look at Martin’s website, www.eaze.com.au or phone him on 1300 796 530 for all things Internet.
Speaking of new images, I would have to say that ‘taking a new look at antiques” was most probably an understatement when recently, I travelled to Sydney to exhibit at the Australian Antique and Art Dealers Association Fair. This year, the usual venue was not available so it was decided to adopt the innovative approach of holding the seventh annual AAADA fair in a Pavilion at the Entertainment Quarter in Sydney. Although this concept is used overseas, it was a first for antiques here in Australia, and the visual impact with two large pavilions standing side by side, with a silk lined roof, reminiscent of Arabian nights, was quite breathtaking.
 With an eye on the threatening grey and wet sky, the Showring at the Entertainment Quarter in Moore Park was totally transformed. The construction of two pavilions, with a covered entrance, linked with floored walkways, was undertaken. Carpets were laid, partitions were erected, and lighting was installed. Display cabinets were wheeled into place and Shaun Rodwell, my carrier started ferrying in the many items of furniture, along with chandeliers, paintings and boxes and boxes of glass, porcelain, bronzes etc., etc., that magically transformed an empty shell into an Aladdin’s Cave. But still the rain kept coming! My resolve, like that of several other dealers, was wearing thin, when water started to slowly drip down the outer walls and seep through the carpet. It felt more like a bad camping holiday, than preparation for the gala opening night! With garbled mutterings and silent offers to the rain gods, the rain slightly abated, enough for the excited crowds to flock through into the pavilions for the gala opening event and for “first bite of the cherry.” A whole lot of champagne bubbles and a few sales went a long way to appease my water logged concerns.
Fortunately, as the week end approached, the rain, which had severely challenged my mental state, abated and Sydney’s usual fine weather prevailed; ensuring good crowds and a buoyant finale to a spectacular event. There are many antiques fairs held around the country throughout the year but, this one was certainly, amongst the fairest of them all.
Local business is the lifeblood of all communities. It provides jobs, vital products and services and its diversity brings energy to the local community. Without the efforts of hard working local business owners and employees, our cities would be very different places. Rarely are the dedicated operators of small business, publicly acknowledged for their outstanding efforts. Working in conjunction with the Victorian Employers' Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VECCI), The Leader Community Newspaper Group, for whom I write articles, has a program that offers a rigorous, credible and professional approach to judging local business.
Now in its twelfth year, the Leader Community Newspapers celebrates the achievements of local business through award recognition. Qualifying criteria and rigorous judging processes ensure that those who win are the best in their specialised category. The program unites the local community, and recognises the success and potential of local businesses, encourages community growth and development.
 Eaglemont Antiques was runner up this year, in the category of Specialty Retailing, having won the award last year. Congratulations to this year’s winner in the category of Trades & Services, Petar Ruscuklic from Calmar Restorations. Petar, known to many of the clients of Eaglemont Antiques, is an AAADA approved service provider endorsed by the antiques trade, and the Australian Antique and Art Dealers Association for his high standard of work. He can be contacted on 0412335086 or his website
www.calmarrestorations.com.au.
As dealers and collectors, we appreciate that each antique is ingrained with a history reflecting the lives and lifestyle of people during a certain period of the world’s history – a fascinating story that simply can’t be manufactured in to-day’s products. For as beautiful as the exterior of these antiques may be, the true beauty of many of the items and probably the most important aspect of any antique, yet not visible to the naked eye is the history.
Items that have recently come into Eaglemont Antiques are:
 A large Regency mahogany tea caddy, the panelled domed top opening to reveal three sections.
An absolutely extraordinary early Victorian burr walnut humidor or cigar box. Reminiscent of a time when smoking was a suitable pastime, the oval top with a brass plaque opens to reveal small glass tubes that hold the cigars and kept them fresh.
A late Victorian silver gilt necessaire – London 1895. A silver mounted case with a removable glass lid is fitted to hold two pairs of cased scissors, a nail file, pencil pocket knife, thimble, boot hook and a pen holder.
A Victorian ruby glass double ended sterling silver mounted scent bottle. The bevelled crystal bottle in two sections is in a Moroccan leather box and one end of the bottle, opens to reveal a fine hand painted miniature of a Georgian gentleman painted on ivory.
A 19th century ivory walking stick mount in the form of a figure head.
Along with all the joys that the advent of spring brings, beautiful flowers, warmer days, longer walks, more time outdoors, this year, spring allergies have caught up with me and as those who have popped into Eaglemont Antiques recently, would know, I have been a little below par!
 Not all bad news though, for this luxury-loving poodle, it has given me time to take things a bit easy, curl up on the my favorite French chair and study some of my favorite books.
Well! It’s something we all dream of isn’t it – the old “pewter” beer mug that “she who must be obeyed” inherited from her great-uncle Claude turns out to be Georgian silver, worth a four-figure sum or more! Paris here we come!
But how does a “book-reading” clever little poodle tell whether metal ornaments, jewellery, cutlery and plate are valuable?
Easy-peasy! Check for hallmarks – the tiny, match-head-sized symbols tamped in rows of four or so on the base or sides of articles made of precious metal. They indicate the age, origins and maker of the object, as well as its proportions of gold or silver to alloy.
Great Britain is the country with the most comprehensive and longest-established system of hallmarks (the word actually derives from Goldsmith’s Hall, in London, where precious objects were sent to be assayed), one reason why British silver is so highly prized by collectors. Its tradition has been unbroken since 1300AD when, to guard against counterfeiters, King Edward 1 decreed that precious items could no be sold until inspected by the London-based Goldsmith’s Guild and stamped with his symbol, a leopard’s head, to prove that they contained the legally required amount of silver (925 parts to 75 parts of alloy – copper, zinc, tin).
In time this mark was replaced as a standard by the symbol of a lion rampant (standing), later passant (walking) – voila! the sterling silver mark; the origin of the word “sterling” is uncertain, but may be derived from Easterlings, the German coin makers imported by Henry 11 in the 12th century to improve the debased British coinage.
The leopard’s head symbol came to be used as a town mark meaning that the object originated from London. Other town marks include an anchor for Birmingham, a castle for Edinburgh, a crown for Sheffield and so on – each town had its own symbol which changed from time to time.
 From 1363 onwards, it was decreed that the maker’s mark would be added to the sterling and town marks – usually initials and/or a device. Next came the date mark a letter of the alphabet enclosed in a shield. Each letter symbolised a different year and, when the assayers reached the end of the alphabet, they just started again with characters and shields shaped differently to distinguish from previous years.
These four marks are the ones you are most likely to see on British silver. Others include
• the figure of Britannia
• the sovereign’s head, in use from 1784 to 1890 to indicate that duty had been paid on the object
What if it is not stamped!
The fact that something hasn’t been marked, whatever its origin, doesn’t necessarily mean it is not valuable – plenty of beautiful pieces were made, even in England, which their makers never bothered to have stamped. How to tell? Well, there is the acid test, to detect pure from base metal (scratch the base of the object and apply a little hydrochloric acid; silver objects turn grey; base metal turns green, gold won’t react at all. If that sounds too technical, you can always fall back on the “eye” test – the better it looks, and the more work in it, the more likely it is to have been made from a precious metal.
Keep smelling the spring roses; they are beautiful at this time of the year. See you in the shop soon…..
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