News — Favourite Finds

Ahoy there shipmates!  Welcome to this week's instalment of 'Blog Post Monday'.

This week's post is going to be all about another rather interesting piece that I've found recently.  I have a bit of fascination with anything antique and maritime, I'm not entirely sure why, but, there you go...  So, when I found a piece of antique maritime carved folk art dating from the early 19th century, it made me tingle in places that I really didn't know could tingle!  Many people buy with their guts, I buy with my tingles...

So, as always, get that kettle on, hoist that anchor and let's set sail on our voyage into the fascinating world of nineteenth century sailor art...

Welcome to this week's instalment of 'Blog Post Monday'.

You might remember that a few weeks ago now, I attended the antiques fair at York Racecourse and purchased a rather fascinating piece of history.  A quite extraordinary WW1 Gallipoli campaign (Ottoman Empire) carved stone trench art set in its original tin.  It consists of a carved Bible stand, a large Bible, a small Bible and some slippers.  The large Bible has an inscription for “Suvla Bay 1915” (one of the 3 landing points for allied troops), followed by “Egypt 1916” and “France 1916”.  The smaller Bible is inscribed with “I Love You” and this sits on the carved Bible stand.  These are all housed within the original tobacco tin that the soldier would have kept them in during his service.

Having had a little bit of free time this week, I finally had the chance to start researching these pieces.  I contacted a few museums and I'm still awaiting a response, but in the meantime, I delved into finding out some more about the Gallipoli campaign itself and what I learnt was quite extraordinary.

So, as always, get that kettle on and let me talk you through this harrowing conflict and how these stone carvings survived one of the most famous battles of World War One.

A very happy and a very warm 'Blog Post Monday' to you.

You may remember a post from a few weeks ago where I told you about an interesting engraved Victorian glass tumbler I'd found and which I thought may have had an interesting connection and story.  Well, I continued my research and there have been some rather interesting developments, and this week's post is a little update on this.

So, as always, get that kettle on, put those feet up and let me fill you in on what I've managed to confirm about this quite astonishing and important little find...

Welcome one and all to this week's "Blog Post Monday"!  I hope you're all keeping safe and well.

Sometimes in this job you stumble across things that are just that extra bit special and this week, I'm pleased to say that happened to me!  With lockdown ongoing, we're stuck to searching for our treasures online and this week, while perusing the wonders of the web, I stumbled across a super piece of militaria history.  A personalised leather cigar case which shows the postings of W.Francis of the Norfolk Regiment from 1891 to 1904.

I'm excited about it and because I'm excited about it, I intend to tell you all about it!  So, this week's blog post is about a leather cigar case and my search to find out who W.Francis of the Norfolk Regiment was. 

So, get that kettle on, buckle up and get ready to travel back in time with me to meet the man himself...