Investing in Antique Silver Toys and Miniatures By the same author Non-fiction Masonic Memorabilia for Collectors (2002) Fiction The Freemasons Daughter (2009) Playing Away (in preparation) The Elusive Mr Hooper ((in preparation) Investing in Antique Silver Toys and Miniatures William G. Jackman AESOP Collectables Oxford AESOP Collectables An imprint of AESOP Publications Martin Noble Editorial / AESOP 28 Abberbury Road, Oxford OX4 4ES, UK www.mne-aesop.com First paperback edition published by AESOP Publications Copyright (c) 2011 William G. Jackman The right of William G. Jackman to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the copyright designs and Patents Act 1988. A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library. First paperback edition 2011 Condition of sale: All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, sold or hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. ISBN: 978-0-9569098-0-0 The author is grateful to all who have kindly made their photographs available for printing in this book. Wherever possible he has made known the source of the photographs in the captions Printed and bound in Great Britain by Lightning Source UK Ltd, Chapter House, Pitfield, Kiln Farm, Milton Keynes MK11 3LW Contents Preface ix Acknowledgements xvi List of Illustrations xvii 1 A Short History of Silver 23 2 Hallmarks on Silver Toys 27 3 Dutch Dating Codes for Silver Items, 1815–1960 33 4 The Duty Mark 37 5 Silversmiths and Their Marks 39 6 A History of Silver Toys 43 7 How Silver Toys Were Made 51 8 Dutch Silver Toys 55 9 Doll’s Houses 59 10 English Silver Toys 67 11 The Present and Future of Silver Toys 75 12 Buying Silver Toys as an Investment 77 13 Where to Find Silver Toys 79 Illustrations 83 Bibliography 107 Appendix I: Museums to Visit 109 Index 111 About the author 119 n. o ollecti C r’s he ut A s. y o er t v sil h wit d e p p ui q e n, e h c kit n a ri o ct Vi A :piece ntis o r F I dedicate this book to my three granddaughters Sophie, Chloe and Kate Preface T HERE IS money to be made in investing in antique silver toys, and there is no reason at all that, unlike stocks and shares, they should ever drop in value. Furthermore, it is a hobby that very few people are aware exists, and little is known about the makers of the toys. As a result, there is plenty of scope for investigating the history of your hobby, and for still being able to find some choice silver toys dating back from the seventeenth century right up until the present day. The obvious snag is that the further back one goes the more expensive the toys become. Interest in making tiny copies or miniatures of items in everyday use dates back thousands of years. It is conceivable that cavemen, not having silver at his disposal, whittled a wooden toy dinosaur for his child. Mankind always seems to have had a yearning and admiration for perfectly formed replicas of the larger full-sized original object, whether it be a picture, a piece of porcelain, glass or furniture, or as evidenced by the ‘oos’ and ‘aahs’ one gives when seeing a new baby. It is a built in delight we have of the Lilliputian-sized world we are so intrigued by and admire. The purpose of giving a toy to a child was twofold: it not only amused the child, keeping it quiet and happy; but was also a learning aid – a model for the child to copy, based on its application by the child’s parents or the servants. Nowadays we can add to this a third purpose: as a collectable and an investment The craftsmen of the day liked to model items which were often made in their respective trades. Glassblowers would make tiny glasses; exact replicas of the originals, cabinetmakers would make tiny doll’s-house furniture, of a standard equal to, if not better than, the full-size original. The making of tiny objects was 10 Investing in Antique Silver Toys and Miniatures indeed a craft of love. It was, and still is, a fairytale world, as exemplified by, for instance, Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, in which miniscule objects are a microcosm of the real thing. It doesn’t matter what type of materials were used in the construction of the tiny replicas. European adults, have, since at least the seventeenth century, taken an interest in tiny toy objects they could display in doll’s houses or baby houses. Although originally intended for children to use, these miniature toy replicas fascinated adults even more – so much so that the child was only allowed to see the interior of the doll’s house under the parents’ supervision, and with strict instructions that they could look but not touch. It is the finished tiny copy that intrigues adults and makes them express admiration and childish delight when seeing a doll’s house fitted out with tiny copies of what they have only known until then as the real item. One can’t help admire the craftsmen that have gone to all that trouble to miniaturise a chest of drawers no bigger than a matchbox, or a fireplace with fire irons and fenders, all made of silver. It is not only children who are fascinated by tiny reproductions they can play with. The parents sought new toys from the silversmiths, getting them to make something unique, especially for their collection. The gold and silversmiths, meanwhile, soon realised that there was a potential market in making tiny toys, especially in silver and gold, and many silversmiths, especially on the continent of Europe, began to specialise in this demanding craft of toymaking. It was only the English who used the term ‘silver toys’ to describe our tiny copies of the original-sized objects. They were made originally as playthings. In Germany they are called silberspielzeuge; in Holland, the most prolific producer of silver toys, they are referred to as zilverspieelgoed. This obsession with miniaturising everyday items has not diminished over the years, and even today there is a growing and