It would seem not - at least not when it comes to the BBC’s antique programmes.
We’ve had first-hand experience of the way that Bargain Hunt is staged - often (always?) the experts find, negotiate and buy the items for the programme, before briefing the contestants on the items and having the production crew tell them what to say on camera.
It’s hard to see what some of the contestants get out of the experience - other than simply being on TV.
The latest story to emerge regards the way in which auctions are filmed - in this case for Cash In The Attic. The News of the World has a story in which not only was film edited to show a man bidding on an item that he didn’t buy, but the footage used was actually of him bidding at a different auction!
To be honest, I think this story has been dredged up from somewhere, as I first heard about this type of thing some time ago - and the BBC now claim that they use a more honest system when filiming at auctions. Still, you can’t be sure - anyone for a phone-in competition?
You can see the full story here.
Following on from my last entry, Poole Council’s planners have seen sense and refused a planning application that would involve demolishing one of the last remaining tiled pubs and the Poole Pottery warehouse in order to build an apartment complex.
Planning officers had described the proposed scheme as “gross overdevelopment” of a conservation area and it seems that the town’s councillors agreed.
You can see full details of the latest on this story here.
(Reading between the lines, however, it seems that both pub and warehouse could still be demolished if a more suitable scheme comes along… time will tell)
Poole’s councillors are currently considering a plan to demolish not only the old Poole Pottery warehouse and shop (which, if we are honest, is a bit of an eyesore) but also the pictureseque Edwardian pub next to it, the Swan Inn. Right on the Quay, the Swan Inn is particularly noteworthy as it has one of the last remaining traditional tiled facades in Poole.
Developers want to demolish the two buildings to make way for yet another apartment/shop complex - a prospect not welcomed by most locals.
See the full story here, in the Dorset Echo.
Welcome to the first of an occasional series on useful websites focusing on antique and collectable British pottery.
In general, this is a sector quite poorly represented on the internet, so those sites that do offer high quality, authoritative information are worth their weight in bits and bytes.
The website of the Maling Collectors Society is one such site.
The site offers a fairly comprehensive guide to Maling pattern numbers, pattern dates and pottery marks and to the history of the Newcastle-based pottery.
The society themselves have links with several former Maling staff and hold regular Maling Collectors’ Workshops at Charles Allen’s New Castle Delft pottery, which is located on the former Maling pottery site.
If you have already had a look at our own guide to Maling pottery marks and Maling prices and you still have some Maling questions - or would just like to learn more - then I’d recommend you take a look at the society’s website as it is a mine of useful information.
However, if you really would like the ultimate guide to Maling, then it’s a good old-fashioned book that wins the day! Maling: the Trademark of Excellence
is a superb and detailed book, written by Stephen Moore and published by the Tyne & Wear Museums Service, from whom the book can also be bought.
Update: Thanks to the Society’s website, I have now disovered that there is a novel available by Tony Boullemier, great-grandson of legendary Maling designer Lucien Boullemier. It’s called Leonie and the Last Napoleon and takes an entertaining and racy look at the history of the family and the events which led to their emigration to the UK.
A question with several possible answers - but in our case it’s nursery wares, in particular those made by Shelley, which form the subject of our newsletter this month.
Hot on the heels of the birth of our first niece, it seemed a good choice, especially as Shelley
produced a surprisingly wide range of nursery wares - from commemorative pieces through to Mabel Lucie Attwell’s Boo-Boo wares with their fairyland characters.
If you’re interested in Shelley or nursery wares, or would just like to see some fantastic pictures, you can take a look here.
Like many of you, I’m a big fan of the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow. It’s informative, stylishly presented and is not overly obssessed with money and profit - unlike many other TV antiques programmes. People’s heirlooms and treasured collections are lovingly brought to the filming location for a respectful and accurate appraisal - before being taken home again.
It’s fairly rare that any items are found to be fakes - and even rarer that they are shown on television.
Not so in China, however.
Beijing TV’s new series, Collector’s World, is just like the Antiques Roadshow - up to the point where the owners take their pieces home. If your item is judged to be a fake by the show’s panel of experts, then the programme’s host will wield his hammer, smashing the item.
I’ve written about fake antiques in China before and the scale of the problem is well known. It seems that aside from the obvious (if slightly malicious) entertainment value of Collector’s World, it does have a serious purpose - to raise awareness of the number of forgeries that are in circulation in China.
In this article in The Telegraph, the programme’s creator, Bian Yiwen, said that the programme is getting lots of positive feedback:
“We get a lot of feedback - people saying we are doing a good thing by smashing up the forgeries.”
I’m not sure how the viewers of Antiques Roadshow would take to this approach, though…
Perfect Pieces is in the press again - in the current (July/August) issue of Antiques Info magazine with a feature on collecting Maling pottery.
If you’re interested in the Tyneside pottery, then you might want to take a look. The article has a huge selection of photos (with sale prices) taken from Antique Info’s auction result database, as well as useful tips on collecting Maling pottery.
Now is a good time to buy Maling, as prices are generally quite subdued - meaning that even the best 1920s pieces can be picked up for fairly reasonable amounts.