Victorian Collectibles and Curiosities

This truly magnificent old 20th century full size carved wooden carousel horse is carved in the style of Denzil. This beautiful animal has been in a private...

A good quality mid-19th century mahogany Miniature wellington chest of four drawers Having original turned knobs and locking Pillaster ...

Automaton horse head walking cane. Early 20th century walking stick with an automaton horse head glove holder. The handle is carved from Horn, finel...

A very attractive and elegant mid-19th century mahogany miniature bow fronted chest having well figured top above two short and two long drawers raised on elegant splay feet.

Antique Victorian quality rosewood inlaid banjo barometer having a quality attractive banjo shaped rosewood case with superb satinwood marquetry inlay and a carved top, porcelain the...

This is a very good, high quality vintage English handmade, boxwood "weighted" chess set club game of 32 pieces, Staunton Pattern No. 5 all in its original box and retailed by The British Chess...

A large pair of scientific optical mirrors, one concave the other convex. These where used in studies of optical sciences and in particular the study of the properties of light r...

19th c. Charming antique miniature chest of drawers. The chest has a marble top. The case is figured mahogany, with four stacked drawers, the ...

Antique Victorian Brass and Scottish Agate Postal scale with Weights, Circa 1865-1870.

A very rare decorative scoring board circa 1890 featuring a carved cherub, almost certainly a commissioned piece. Constructed from English oak with equisite detailing. Rectangular ...

A large collection of late Victorian shell specimens, the majority housed in its pine box with each specimen having its period card sleeve, the remainder displayed in glazed blue car...

Antique Snooker table or Antique billiard table by Thurston London England. A very good quality 'Country House" mahogany Snooker table or bill...

This charming 19th-century English regimental drum was fitted with a glass top to serve as a table. It bears the painted arms of the Royal Dublin Fusil...

British two-Draws Monocular Telescope. Beautiful monocular telescope, created in England during the Victorian era, in the last three-quarters of the 19th century, circa 1900. This i...

ABOUT A set of English lawn bowls made of Lignum Vitae Wood inlaid with bone. Monogrammed "AJG" and "WPS" and "1" and "2" the other side. CREATOR Unknown. Made in Scotland. ...

19th century 3 antique Victorian gold topped canes or parasol handles, some monogrammed, one with mother of pearl, see more pictures.

Late 19th century English Victorian painted diorama wall plaque of clipper ship with red flag painted in cloudy sky in mahogany frame.  

Antique late-19th Century Victorian walnut cased games compendium. The box itself is protected by a lock and key, the lid applied with decorative brass playing cards, surrounded by c...

Beautiful miniature Wellington chest of drawers. Warm Mahogany color. All four drawers are locked by the hinged side pilaster on the right, term...

A magnificent 1930s taxidermy specimen of a Common buzzard with outstretched wings in a large ebonized museum cabinet. This bird has been cleve...

Unique and large Victorian rifle rack with width open box at the bottom. This highly decorative and good condition gun rack for wall mounting could look great above your fireplace, but also in a private library, home office or trophy room etc. The beautifully patinated, light nutwood combined with the four strong and all handcrafted brass weapon holders make this victorian antique hunting piece an impressive sight to see. If you are not into hunting, but you simply love the great look of this finest quality rack then you could also use this stylish antique for various other purposes. You could, for example, also have rare swords...

A mahogany framed billiards or snooker scoring board by Thurston of London circa 1895 with a shaped pediment. A very nice cut of mahogany with boxwood slid...

People like to use the term ‘apprentice pieces’ when referring to small pieces of miniature furniture,but more often than not this isn’t the case. But...

A charming painted wooden dog kennel with pitched roof standing on styled feet. The original green painted body, with a faux marble painted pediment and red roof. The pediment als...

Antique 19th century English Victorian era walnut chess table, circa 1885.

Lovely 19th century Miniature Chest Of Drawers chest of drawers from England Bowfront miniature chest decorated with lemon tree inlays on the drawers and walnut inlays on the top ...

Quality antique Victorian burr walnut carved banjo barometer having a quality burr walnut carved shaped case with a 10 inch silvered engraved dial, original hands, thermometer and a ...

Pair of Victorian antique brass scales standing on a mahogany base. A brass centre column having a shaped arm to the left holding a removable brass...

Antique late-19th century Victorian walnut cased games compendium, the interior comprising a chess set, draughts, dominoes, dice, cribbage board with markers, leather bound boards for games, playing cards, droughts counters, a dice shaker...

Fabulous rare 19th century automaton. Most likely made in France at the end of the 19th century. She is a real beauty and in remarkable condition for her age. She is made of porcelain and cloth. When you wind her she bends her head and raises bouquet to smell the flowers. With the stand she is 15 1/2 inches high. Just herself measures 11 1/2 inches high. Approximately 5 1/2 inches in width and depth. There is a monogram on the back of her neck that appears to be the letter C...

A wonderful antique miniature Victorian Wellington chest of drawers in burr walnut. This dates from around the 1860-1880 period & is quite a rare item. It is a charming little item,...

19th century mahogany banjo barometer by P Nolfi of Taunton, having a swan neck pediment with a central brass finial above a shaped mahogany case decorated with boxwood stringing, th...

Beautiful collection of 12 miniature clocks in Mahogany cabinet, produced by Franklin Mint in 1980. In very good condition considering its age of 37 years old, some minor traces of ...

This remarkable and very finely carved study of the biblical figure of St Paul, The Apostle who was originally Saul of Tarsus born BCE. Tarsus in Cilicia (now in Turkey). He died circa 62 – 64 CE in Rome, Italy. He was one of the leaders of the first generation Christians and was often considered to be the most important person after Jesus in the history of Christianity. This highly accomplished wood carving is a difficult material for detailing English oak. It shows him standing barefoot and dressed in simple robes with a sword in one hand and a scroll in the other. His face has been well captured with a good expression, detailed hair and a long beard. The small scale of this figure would indicate it was not originally church decoration...

Schoenhut clown Antique German papier mâché roly poly clown toy by Schoenhut. Dated to the first quarter of the 20th century this item still works when pu...

19th century inlaid mahogany banjo barometer by L Casatelli of Liverpool, having an architectural top with a central brass finial, the shaped mahogany case having decorative shell in...

VV-X Victrola Phonograph, wind up record player with ten 78 rpm records. This Model number VV-X 147174J, was manufactured by The Victrola Talking M...

This is a high quality large Games Compendium, complete with many individual games in its original hardwood storage box with a hinged lid. All the pieces are well made and complete. The box is very well made of a jointed hardwood, possibly red walnut and is a high quality piece in its own right. The box has developed a lovely color and patination from use and wear. The exterior has a brass oval inset into its top, a brass twin lever lock and brass hinges. The interior is sectioned into different sub compartments by hardwood dividers. Many different games are included within the compendium, including; 55 piece 9 - spot dominoes Chess set - Very good high quality set, large pieces( Kings 8.7 cm high) and glass eyes to Knights, Draughts with 24 x turned hardwood pieces Backgammon with 30 x turned hardwood counters 2 sets of playing cards and two Bezique marker boards Hardwood turned dice shaker and various different dice tiddlywinks Pick up sticks...

Four excellent Civil War-era daguerreotype portraits, each framed in elaborate gold foil. Three images (woman and children) appear to be hand-colored and gilded. These portraits are presented in a fantastic carved gutta percha "Union Case", decorated with a mother, child, and dog on cover and guilloche-style geometric engraving on back. Amazingly, this case appears to be the same one held by the woman in the upper left-hand photograph...

People like to use the term ‘apprentice pieces’ when referring to small pieces of miniature furniture,but more often than not this isn’t the case. But what is an apprentice piece and why are they often confused with miniatures? Here we aim to answer these questions! The majority of miniature furniture are in fact sample pieces used by travelling salesmen. Workshops would send out salesmen on lengthy country-wide tours, with a miniature of each piece on his sales cart. This meant the cabinet maker could use the smaller form to show off his skills, without the salesman having to carry a full size piece of furniture wherever he went. Using exactly the same skills and techniques as used on the full sized pieces, the miniatures offered a way of potential buyers being able to get a feel of the quality of goods the workshop produced, before committing to a purchase. Better than a flat ink drawing in a catalogue. A much smaller number of these miniatures are termed ‘apprentice pieces’. Apprentice pieces, although again a scaled down version of the workshops’ offerings, were made by an often inexperienced apprentice. They were given lesser quality materials to work with and the craftsmanship was often less refined. Antique miniature furniture...

Antique 19th Century Victorian Black Forest carved figures of sheep used as props from a christmas nativity. Such items were usually bought back by tourists from the Swiss / German b...

A very rare Victorian taxidermy dog, often scaled down by the best naturalist of the period. Also could be the extinct English White Terrier circa 1860 ...

Antique late-19th century Victorian burr walnut cased games compendium, the interior comprising a chess set, draughts, dominoes, dice, cribbage board with markers, leather bound boards for games, playing cards, droughts counters, a dice shaker...

Antique 19thC Victorian coach panel, hand painted, showing the emblem of The Great Western Railway Company. Founded in Bristol by Isambard Kingdom Brun...

Victorian cased taxidermy of a pheasant amongst natural Habitat. Dimension: H 55.5 x W 80 x D 23 cm.

An unusual antique brass table vesta or nib holder decorated with a novelty black enamel figure of a boy diving on the ground dating from the 19th ...

Victorian Stick Barometer circa 1880 Finely Carved and inlaid with satinwood decoration. Possible Scottish provenance.

This is a 19th century antique hardwood inlaid banjo barometer with a thermometer and a 10' silvered dial, brass bezel with convex glass. It is a very...

Presenting an absolutely gorgeous and extremely unique and rare 19th century British Tunbridgeware hair pin/bobbin or slide. This slide is unlike any of it’s kind we have seen before…. it is a very rare survivor ! From circa 1860–1880. Made of walnut with gorgeous marquetry inlay on the entirety of the front with classic Tunbridgeware micro-mosaic all over the front. The rear is walnut. The marquetry inlay appears to be various different woods, namely, maple, walnut and satinwood. Would have been worn in a Lady’s hair bun with the micro-mosaic facing forward. This would have belonged to a very elegant lady in the mid to late 19th century. Tunbridge ware is a form of decoratively inlaid woodwork, typically in the form of boxes, that is characteristic of Tonbridge and the spa town of Royal Tunbridge Wells in Kent in the 18th and 19th centuries. The decoration typically consists of a mosaic of many very small pieces of different coloured woods that form a pictorial vignette. Shaped rods and slivers of wood were first carefully glued together, then cut into many thin slices of identical pictorial veneer with a fine saw. Elaborately striped and feathered bandings for framing were pre-formed in a similar fashion. There is a collection of Tunbridge ware in the Tunbridge Wells Museum and Art Gallery in Tunbridge Wells. The famous makers of Tunbridge ware were in the Tunbridge Wells area of Kent; their most notable work was from circa 1830-1900. Early makers of Tunbridge ware, in Tunbridge Wells in the mid-18th century, were the Burrows family, and Fenner and Co. In the 19th century, around 1830, James Burrows invented a technique of creating mosaics from wooden tesserae. Henry Hollamby, apprenticed to the Burrows family, set up on his own in 1842 and became an important manufacturer of Tunbridge ware, employing about 40 people. Edmund Nye (1797–1863) and his father took over the Fenner company when William Fenner retired in 1840, after 30 years in partnership with him. Thomas Barton (1819–1903), previously apprenticed at the Wise factory, joined the Nyes in 1836, and worked as Nye’s designer; he took over the business in 1863 and continued there until his death. In Tonbridge (near to Tunbridge Wells), George Wise (1703–1779) is known to have had a business in 1746. It continued with his son Thomas, and Thomas’s nephew George (1779–1869), who took over in 1806. In its early years the company made articles such as workboxes and tea caddies with prints of popular views; later items had pictures created from mosaics. Their workshop in Tonbridge, Wise’s Tunbridge Ware Manufactory, was next to the Big Bridge over the Medway; the building was demolished in 1886 to widen the approach to the bridge. Tunbridge ware became popular with visitors to the spa town of Tunbridge Wells, who bought them as souvenirs and gifts. Articles included cribbage boards, paperweights, writing slopes, snuffboxes and glove boxes. At the Great Exhibition of 1851, Tunbridge ware by Edmund Nye, Robert Russell and Henry Hollamby was shown; Edmund Nye received a commendation from the judges for his work. He exhibited a table depicting a mosaic of a ship at sea; 110,800 tesserae were used in making the picture. The manufacturers of Tunbridge ware were cottage industries, and they were no more than nine in Tunbridge Wells and one in Tonbridge. The number declined in the 1880s; competent craftsmen were hard to find, and public tastes changed. After the death of Thomas Barton in 1903 the only surviving firm was Boyce, Brown and Kemp, which closed in 1927. Marquetry was an old technique which was continued by Nye and Barton to create images such as birds or butterflies. ‘Green Oak’ as caused by the fungus Chlorociboria aeruginascens. Stickware and half-square mosaic was invented by James Burrows in about 1830: a bunch of wooden sticks of different colours, each having triangular or diamond-shaped cross section, were tightly glued together; in the case of stickware, the resulting block was dried, then turned to form an article such as the base of a pincushion. For half-square mosaic, thin slices were taken from the composite block, and applied to a surface.[1][2][4] Tesselated mosaic, was a development by James Burrows of half-square mosaic; it was adopted by George Wise and Edmund Nye. Minute tesserae were used to form a wide variety of geometric and pictorial designs. Many sorts of wood were used for the various colours; about 40 were in regular use. Only natural colors were used; green was provided by “green oak”, produced by the action of fungus on fallen oak. Designs for articles were often taken from designs of Berlin wool work.

A 19th century, early Victorian period walnut and inlaid Canterbury whatnot music stand, barley twist supports, with blind frieze drawer to the cavetto base, all standing on 4 elegan...

Map of Sussex with explanation Maker unknown.  

Very nice 19th century knife sharpener and cleaner from London Kent. Very nice object where we can find a ceramic plate with probably the name of th...

Stunning 19th century altar crucifix with a secret bible compartment in the base. Over the decades we have sold a number of unique and very well crafted crucifixes, but never one with such an amazing patina or with a compartment in the base. Not only is the inside of this compartment padded with the most beautiful, handcrafted yellow fabric, the door even comes with a perfect working lock and key. We believe the secret compartment inside this antique church relic...

This is an early styling doll. When have you seen another dating to the 1800s. Its mounted to a cabinet with one draw. In the draw are a handful of worn original leather and horse ha...

Late 19th century automaton of a monkey in 18th century style dress. Likely to be French, this piece shows all the hallmarks of J. Phalibois, one of the foremost makers of clockwork toys...

A beautiful mahogany framed scoring cabinet by Cox & Yeman circa 1890, featuring hand painted sliding panels ,revolving numbers and a central slate panel....

A vintage gentleman's library telescope Not sure exactly of it's age. Estimated Mid Victorian Period ( 1860-1880). Uncertain to maker and origin. ...

About A late 19th century balance scale. The body is Mahogany with two brass trays, brass and glass window and bronze inner mechanism. ...