APRIL 15th NEWSLETTER

We hope you enjoyed the Easter break. Here in the UK, we had super weather which has been very welcomed. For many, a much stranger Easter; most of us are unable to travel, be with friends, family and loved ones due to the lockdown and the current crisis we are all experiencing. To top it off, I had a fall whilst trying to send out as many parcels as I could, prior to the Easter Holidays. My lovely doggy Roxy always loves to get to the courier and the door before I do!

Whilst rushing down the stairs trying to avoid running into my dog, I ended up missing the last two steps which led to me gravely landing at the bottom (resulting in a few choice words and hopping around thinking I’d broken it…)! Putting a strain on our NHS heroes was the last thing I wanted, so I decided to take matters into my own hands by keeping my foot raised and keeping a cold compress on it for the day. The following morning it was not a pretty sight (that said, my feet have been compared to Bilbo Baggins’ feet from Lord of the Rings), so I made the decision to call the Doctor, my foot was assessed by remote viewing – a first for me! He then advised an X-Ray would be substantial, but with the current circumstances, he left it to me to decide. I am pleased to say I did not end up consuming any more of the precious NHS’ time. Thanks to some tender loving care, my foot is on the mend!.  
       
The week before last passed us by, and would have been “Antiques for Everyone” our third fair of the year. Sadly this fair has been cancelled along with our Summer Olympia fair in June, and I suspect there will be more to follow. Exhibitions for us, are our temporary shop window where we get to meet new people and reconnect with you, our customers.

In light of the situation we all find ourselves in, our aim is to start sending out two newsletters a month. Keeping it exciting and fresh is what we hope to achieve. We will also be introducing a lot more content, facts, and special offers. As always you, our subscribers will be the first to hear about it. We would also like to invite you to ask us questions of which we will answer and add to the following newsletter. Please feel free to pass on and share our newsletters with friends and family and from this we hope they subscribe. Passing on our details resulting in a sale by recommendations you will be rewarded. 

We hope you are all in good health and staying safe in these trying times.
Closely following government guidelines we are no longer taking appointments at our showroom. Our online services are still operating but there are certain postal restrictions in place due to the coronavirus. Prior to purchasing if you are uncertain of any postal restrictions where you live please get in contact and we will look into it.        

Tel +44 (0) 1604 863 979
Mob. +44 (0) 7779 654 879
sales@markgoodger.co.uk

We will keep you updated as best we can via these newsletters but if you have the means to follow our social media accounts please do.

As you all know, we are unable to exhibit due to COVID-19 and lockdowns, so now we are introducing our first ever flash sale! We are giving you the chance to purchase items from our website up to 50% OFF of their original price.

Every two days, we will be listing two heavily discounted items on the website for a limited amount of time. We are giving you 48 hours from 17:00GMT after the first newsletter release to snap these items up!  After this 48 hours, these items will go back up to their original listed prices.

Please be aware, once the items are listed, they will be available to everyone via my website. However I am giving you, our subscribers a first-look at these items.

Don’t miss out on your chance to purchase some specially handpicked items lower than trade prices!

By Kate Richenburg

To some people, tea caddies are just dinky little boxes that were used for storing tea. But they are so much more than that. In the eighteenth century, many were regarded as serious pieces of furniture. Hence, Thomas Chippendale in his celebrated pattern book The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Director, first published in 1754, devoted two pages to their designs; likewise George Hepplewhite, over thirty years later, in his posthumous publication The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer’s Guide also featured them. In their time, caddies were often relatively expensive. For example, in November 1781 the fashionable London cabinetmaker, George Seddon, issued an invoice to Charles Wren, an attorney in Newcastle-uponTyne, charging £1–14–0 for ‘2 oval caddies’, only two shillings less than the amount for a pair of elbow chairs on the same bill. Several similar documents confirm the comparatively high prices of some caddies while the majority of tea caddies are finished in polished wood, many represent an array of other decorative finishes.

Then there are caddies covered with intricate and, often, lustrous patterns in split straw – namely, straw work – which is particularly, but not exclusively, associated with Napoleonic prisoners-of-war. By contrast, some caddies are wholly constructed in materials other than wood, including silver, pewter, tinplate, papier mâché and, even, glass. So tea caddies provide insights into a great variety of decorative techniques and materials, and also, significantly, into social history.

As rarer tea caddies have gained in value in recent years, fakers have moved in, often cannibalising low-end pieces to convert them into lucrative sought-after so-called rarities. Mark, as an expert on antique boxes, has been tireless (and courageous) in exposing fake caddies; he is also writing a chapter on ‘Fakes’ for a forthcoming major book on tea caddies. Overall, Mark has contributed a lot to the small fascinating world of the tea caddy – a world well worth exploring, not just for its aesthetic delights but for the much broader insights it offers. (Kate is currently working, with others, to complete a comprehensive book on tea caddies, begun by the late Anne Stevens, who was a pioneer in the study of caddies.) More on fakes in our next newsletter.

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SEARCH & SOURCE SERVICE
Send us an email with as much information as possible and we’ll get straight on the case for you. We may even have that coveted piece in our ‘special reserve’! Click the link to get in touch: sales@markgoodger.co.uk

And finally…. thank you for taking the time to read our newsletter. Please forward it on to friends & colleagues who may be interested.

Mark Goodger
& all the team.