Dear Friends,
Welcome to our most recent newsletter and as always, a special thanks to those of you that purchased from us and continue to read our newsletter.
Despite how its looked out the window for most of this week we’re supposed to be heading into another heatwave here in the UK! Which will hopefully be perfectly timed for many of us at Mark Goodger HQ as we head into our holiday period. However, as always we will endeavour to keep up with our high standard of communication and shipping times.
We have such a wide selection of fantastic pieces we thought we would refresh your memories on some current stock. Remember if you can’t find what you are looking for, do get in touch as we may just have it in stock or be able to place our hands on it for you!
Featured Stock
French Thuya Jewellery Box
Rene Lalique Archer
Brass Bound Jewellery Box
Huntsman String Box
Marble Desk Set
Walnut Jewellery Box
Paper Scroll Sewing Box
Maxwell Hour Glass Decanter
Silver Hip Flask
Rosewood Jewellery Box
Amboyna Writing Slope
Satinwood Tea Caddy
We update the website with new stock regularly so don’t forget to check in regularly so you don’t miss out!
We have already confirmed our attendance at the Chelsea Antiques Fair and The Costwolds Art & Antiques Dealers Association Fair.
We have now been informed that Winter Art & Antiques Fair at London Olympia will be going ahead in early November.
“The Chelsea Antiques Fair” runs for 6 days from 21st – 26th September 2021, with exclusive invitation-only collectors preview on Monday 20th September.
The Cotswold Art & Antiques Dealers Association Fair is held at the Compton Verney Art Gallery and will take place from Thursday 14th to Sunday 17th October.
The Winter Art & Antiques Fair held at the Olympia Exhibtion Center in West Kensington, London. From Monday 1st to Sunday 7th November.
When we speak of those who own ageing artefacts, we often mean collectors. But not necessarily.
For reasons of nostalgia, family connections, good fortune, generosity or simply appreciation of something unusual or beautiful, most of us have scattered around our homes treasured possessions from a bygone age. These may be plentiful or sparse, but only if they conform to a predetermined pattern – abstract modern art, for example, or at the other end of the scale beer mats – do they nowadays count as true collections. And that’s a topic for another day. What I want to write about here are the things we acquire more or less at random.
How does this acquisition take place? Sometimes by descent from a loving parent or childless aunt or uncle. Sometimes as a gift from partner, friends or colleagues. And sometimes by personal purchase. (You may be thinking of a fourth category, but I’m sure Mark Goodger doesn’t include any burglars among his clientele.) There is a charming element of serendipity about this – unlike the true collector who researches each purchase with consummate care, agonising over its authenticity, provenance and condition, connoisseurs with catholic tastes simply buy the things they love – or come to love the things they are given.
In a way, those who lack that laser-like focus are harking back to a more spacious age. Early collectors planned their acquisitions not to follow a definite theme but to amuse themselves and impress their friends – and that meant diversity. The clusters of eclectic, unrelated objects we display on shelves and mantlepieces, or coyly tuck away in drawers and cupboards, are directly descended from the ‘cabinets of curiosities’ created in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
What does my own (metaphorical) cabinet contain? If, God forbid, the house was burning down, and some guardian angel – or possibly a fireperson – had saved my wife plus her clothes, shoes, handbags and other essentials from the blaze, which ten things, in roughly chronological order, would I dash back inside to rescue?
Absent from the many different types of antique box sold by MG is the traditional music box (what about it, Mark?). This example by Nicole Freres dates from around 1880 and plays six different airs. It’s a thing of beauty, both visual and aural – a past birthday present from my brother (yes, rather a significant birthday) – and I treasure it greatly.
I have a slightly macabre interest in heroic exploits with unhappy endings. Following a ten-month siege of Khartoum, General Charles Gordon was beheaded by Mahdist forces. The Liberal government in London had despatched a relief force but, much to the fury of Queen Victoria and a large section of the British people, it arrived too late to save him. This commemorative pitcher refers to the ‘Hero of heroes’ being ‘Betrayed’ on 26 January 1885 – the date of Gordon’s death.
Being an old-car buff, I have quite a library of early motoring books, but a favourite is The Devil’s Motor (1910), a baroque fantasy by Marie Corelli. Lavishly bound, and luridly illustrated by her sometime lover Arthur Severn, it tells of the devil’s descent ‘in a fiery motor car to wreak havoc on the denizens of the earth.’ The publisher even impregnated the pages with smoke, to evoke in readers the sulphurous torments of the underworld. A true period piece.
The silver cocktail shaker is one of the defining symbols of the roaring Twenties but this set, bought from Mark G a few years back, combining shaker, measure, stirrer, taster and openers, is rather special. Cocktails concocted using these implements may look no better than those made with a modern jug and spoon, but they certainly taste better.
The art deco era ushered in sweeping changes in design, from buildings to tableware and jewellery to motor-cars. It also coincided with a fashion for topping car radiators off with a nickel-plated mascot. This bright young thing from France perfectly captures the carefree mood of the late Twenties.
The tantalus was devised as a way of discouraging bibulous butlers from helping themselves to their employers’ antique cognac or vintage port. My wife bought me this three-decanter set from Mark as a Christmas present, perhaps in the forlorn hope it would curb my own consumption. It’s a fine example of Thirties style, and a talking-point for dinner-party guests – especially when I remember to hide the key.
Sadly, I don’t have either the physique or the bank balance to play polo, but my wife and I have always enjoyed watching matches in the sylvan surroundings of Cowdrey Park or Smith’s Lawn. Our son and daughter-in-law presented us with this delightful pen-and-ink depiction of a precarious pre-war tackle, by renowned Jersey artist Edmund Blampied.
In the mid-1970s I used to walk past a jewellery shop which displayed watches by the legendary Swiss firm Patek Philippe. At that stage in my life party invitations often stipulated ‘black tie’ and I yearned for an ultra-slim Calatrava dress-watch to wear on such occasions. Sadly it was miles outside my price range, so I compromised and bought from the same shop an equivalent model by the excellent, though less well-known, maker Baume et Mercier. In an era not renowned for its design flair (with the honourable exceptions of Bang & Olufsen and Terence Conran) this watch has stood the test of time in both respects, being extremely accurate and also a thing of beauty – at least in the eye of this beholder.
A passion for motoring – and in particular, motoring in old cars – is a legacy of my late father, Bentley being his (and now my) favourite marque. From sculptor Chris Davis came this wonderful bronze casting which depicts the 4 ½ Litre Bentley which raced, and frequently won, at Brooklands and Le Mans in the late 1920s. It’s all the more special as it was another present from my wife.
The last piece on my list is also the most poignant. Not long after my father’s death, my mother received a letter addressed to him from the great London jewellers Garrard saying that the gift he had commissioned for their golden wedding anniversary (and had thoughtfully paid for) was ready for delivery. This turned out to be an exquisite fairy-tale castle by master goldsmith William Tolliday, which now graces our dining-room – and reminds me of both my parents whenever it catches my eye.
We would love to hear from you, tell us your story so we can publish it in this newsletter, we can add images and will liaise with you. Rest assured your identity will be kept strictly private.
Click here: mark@markgoodger.co.uk
or call Mark on: +44 (0)1604 863979
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