We’ve had some changes in our shop layout in Geelong, to accommodate some superb ‘Fresh Furniture’. As there are a number of Dining type pieces of furniture, we now have a room setting from an elegant ‘English Country House’ – the perfect setting to showcase a good portion of our stock!

The Regency mahogany table is superb quality, with a cavity inside containing extra leaves – one complete and two half-leaves. It can comfortably seat 10 when fully extended, and yet compacts to a 6-seater of manageable size very simply.
The Hepplewhite sideboard is elegant, and provides some excellent storage including a deep ’cellerette’ drawer made to hold wine bottles.

We now have a wall to showcase some art. These interesting landscapes are Georgian, and show four views of the same Georgian house, by a ‘talented amateur’ who hasn’t signed or dated.
First instinct was ‘Could this be Tasmanian !?’, but closer examination of details show typical English countryside features such as deer and : it’s therefore an interesting Palladian-style English Country House of the early 19th century – we’d love to know if anyone recognizes it.

Each of the four views show different facades of the house, and the surrounding countryside: it is therefore possible to produce both a complete diagram of the house layout, and also the topography surrounding it!

Saltglaze

We have a stunning piece of ’Saltglaze’ fresh to stock. Made in the Staffordshire potteries in the mid-18th century, ‘Saltglaze’ is so-named due to the nature of the glaze: salt was introduced into the hot kiln, and as the oxygen had been consumed by the kiln fire, the resulting chemical reaction with the clay surface produced a thin, waterproof surface. As there is no added layer of glaze, the original moulding of the product shows to the finest detail, and the potters used the technique to showcase their finely detailed designs. The dish we have is ’best in class’ – crisply moulded and in terrific original condition.

It was a popular technique with the Victorians also, and the bowl shown above is a finely detailed piece designed & produced in 1846 by Charles Meigh, decorated with eight figures of saints in arches, inspired by the Gothic wonders of York Minister.

Children’s Plates

These were intended to ‘Educate’ the children – but many were perhaps more likely to amuse the adults!
Take this one for example:

The ‘fishing’ isn’t really the subject, as the man hasn’t even cast his line: he’s gazing at the ‘beauty’ doing the fishing instead!
There’s a certain mocking undertone that would be very politically incorrect today!

A particularly interesting example is the girl nursing a cat, dressed up as a baby. This example is marked, with an anchor & LONDON. As this exact mark appears on wares of multiple known makers, it is thought to indicate they were made by potters for a retailer in London. The slightly different moulded daisyheads on this example are the clue we need to follow to shed more light on where it was made – and a comparable moulding & clay is found at the Scott pottery, Sunderland. They also printed versions of ‘OUR EARLY DAYS’ series, and coloured them in a similar way. However, the impressed LONDON & anchor doesn’t appear to be recorded as a ‘Scott’ mark, making this plate a probable documentary example.

Finally, there’s a fresh selection of English & Dutch Delft pottery.

CLEARANCE!
We’re making space,
with many terrific bargains here >>

Today we have a big variety – from an almost life-size alabaster bust, to some fresh furniture, antiquities, ‘seaside’ souvenirs, and even a Black Forrest bear.

Enjoy!

Furniture

We’re over-stocked with Fine Furniture! Unfortunately, it has been difficult to access the furniture on our website – until now.

We’re pleased to introduce a brand-new browsing page, which groups the furniture into logical galleries for you to enjoy. Click on the above banner – also now featured on the homepage – to see our furniture.
Note: there’s a vast amount of furniture in stock, 600+ pieces, and much is still to be catalogued – if there is something in particular you are looking for, contact us. More added constantly!

Antiquities

We have some more interesting Ancient pieces for you to enjoy, including a collection of arrowheads. These are not uncommon in the ancient world, as they were a very necessary product. Warfare was a way of life – and a city being attacked needed a vast stock to keep the enemy at bay. The other aspect was hunting – this was an everyday necessity in some cultures, and once again needed a lot of arrowheads made.
Of note in this collection released today is an ancient Egyptian example around 3,000 years old, another Egyptian-made example that is only 2,600 years old (!) – but with Greek origins. Others are Roman, Persian, and a Medieval English example found in the Thames.

There’s some pottery, and a remarkable ancient bronze mirror…

Seaside Souvenirs

These fun items show the Victorian’s classic holiday – a Seaside trip. The ‘sand pictures’ were a classic souvenir of the Isle of Wight, taken from Alum Beach – and depicting the classic view from the beach of ‘The Needles’, a series of sea-stacks on the neighbouring headland. The mussel shell is painted with a fishing boat, and applied with real shells and a small moulded pottery fishwife….. you can almost hear the seagulls.

A variety of Fresh items have just been released on Moorabool.com –

“The Diverting History of John Gilpin Shewing how he went Farther than he intended, and came safe Home again ” was a poem penned by William Cowper in 1783, which rapidly became ‘the most popular poem in England’. 

It told the tale of a certain London draper named Beyer, re-named by Cowper to ‘John Gilpin’, and follows the series of unfortunate incidents that befell him when he attempted to ride the 10 miles to an inn in Edmonton, to celebrate his 20th wedding anniversary. As his family took up the entire carriage, he borrowed a horse… which was too lively for him and would not stop! 
It was adapted into a stage play at Astley’s Theatre, London (remembered as ‘the first modern circus ring’), and published as a children’s book; this figure dates to this period. 

Here’s the relevant verses from what is a rather long original poem:

(Line 97)"...But finding soon a smoother road
Beneath his well-shod feet,
The snorting beast began to trot,
Which gall'd him in his seat.


So fair and softly, John he cried,
But John he cried in vain,
That trot became a gallop soon
In spite of curb and rein.


So stooping down, as needs he must
Who cannot sit upright,
He grasp'd the mane with both his hands
And eke with all his might.

His horse who never in that sort
Had handled been before,
What thing upon his back had got
Did wonder more and more.

Away went Gilpin neck or nought,
Away went hat and wig,
He little dreamt when he set out
Of running such a rig.


The wind did blow, the cloak did fly,
Like streamer long and gay,
'Till loop and button failing both
At last it flew away

Antique cutlery is a fascinating – and useful – collecting field. There were many different makers, creating many variations, all beautiful. And still very usable! The 200 year old steel of the Georgian implements is incredibly fine quality, and super-sharp after all those years – even without sharpening.

Antiquities, freshly mounted, including a group of American Indian stone arrowheads (one is 10,000 years old!), a small Egyptian bronze Osiris, a Greco-Roman head of Harpocrates, plus more.