2019-08-01_Homes_&_Antiques 2

HOMES Collectors’ Coage

August 2019 Homes & Antiques 91

Howdidyourcollectionbegin?

I’vebeencollectingstonewareitems

sincetheageof12,diggingthemupon

a long-forgoenVictorianrefusetipin

Carlisle.I wasinterestedinhistory

andarchaeologyandgathered

everythingfromstampstorocks

andfossils.WhenI movedupto

Musselburghin1986,I soldomy

Carlislecollectioninordertospecialise

in items from East Lothian.

Whicharethemostvaluablepieces?

Stonewareisrareandit’stakenyears

toassemblewhatI currentlyhave.My

bolesdatefrom 1880 to1940.The

colouredtoppeditemsfrom

Musselburgharesoughtaerby

collectorswhospecialiseincoloured

glazes,aswellasthosewhofocuson

‘splitsize’or1/3pintboles,whichis

whattheseare.Theseparticular

bolesandjugsareexceedinglyrare.I

amnotawareofanotherlightblueone.

A dark blue one and green one sold a

numberofyearsagoforseveral

hundredpoundseach.Thereisa pink

toppedonethatI haven’t managed to

obtain... but I will.

Tellusaboutyourfavouritend

I onceputanadontheinternetasking

forTelfer’sbolesandI wascontacted

bya chapwho’dhelpedtoclearoutthe

Telfer’swarehouseinthelateSixties.

Itwasa strokeofgoodluckformeand

verygenerousofhimtooerthem

tome.So,whilenotexactlydug

up,theyaremyfavourite nd

aermanyyearsof

searching.MyMells

stonewarecomesa close

second though.

Whatshouldcollectors

beawareo?

Asalways,conditionis

key:chipsandcracks

aectvalue,butifit’s

cheap and appealing to

theeyethenbuythem.I’llbuy

anythingrelatedtomyeld.I once

purchaseda Victorianplatefromthe

MusselburghArmsHotelforaround

£10.Itwasoncetheoldesthostelryin

Musselburgh, but is now no more.

Whathasbeenyourmost

interestingdiscovery?

I recentlylearned

thatmygreat-

grandfather’s

brotherandanuncle

rana mineralwater

worksfromthe1880s

to1915.Havingcollected

bolessincethe70s,to

ndstonewareboles

bearingmyfamilyname

was a real surprise!

StephenMellstalkstoCharloe

Packer about his unusual collection

Focus on

STONEWARE

BOTTLES

ABOVELEFT& RIGHTThedresser

is hometo assortedstonewarepots

anda paintedcabinetcontains

Stephen’spreciousTelfer’sbottleswith

theircolouredtops.BELOWPart

of Stephen’scollectionof stoneware

bearing the Mells family name.