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10/28/2012 2 Comments

Damaged plaques

My friend, Myrna, has blogged about avoiding damaged and restored items.  She's a purist, and despite collecting rare early figures, won't buy anything if it doesn't make her exacting grade. But despite the fact that transfer-printed plaques were mass produced, some are so rare that a collector might either have to accept a bit of damage, or resign him/herself to never owning one. The plaque below is one such example. It has clearly been through the wars, but three collectors wanted it badly enough to bid over £300 on ebay – it finally sold for a whopping £387.
Picture
The plaque is typical of early Maling (post 1817). See below for a marked circular example (click to enlarge).
When I started buying on ebay over 10 years ago, a pair of broken plaques came up. I expected to get them for under £100 each, but withdrew when the bidding shot up over £200.  I reasoned that sooner or later a perfect pair would materialise. Not so. In fact, I had to wait 10 years until the same pair of broken plaques came up for sale again, in an auction house in America.  Both have the Dixon, Phillips & Co anchor impressed mark (1839–c1850). There is another restored example of the left plaque below, titled 'THE EDYSTONE' (sic), in the Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens, Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums collection. But I've never seen another plaque like the one below right.
Perhaps the main argument against buying damaged items is that you might never see your money back. But let's face it, anyone collecting nowadays isn't thinking about investment. Some plaques that sold for £400 in the late nineties, now struggle to make a century.

When the broken rectangular Wesley plaque was listed on ebay, I was so excited I couldn't sleep. I got up at 5am to take another look at it. I didn't buy it, but if you could bottle the rare feeling of seeing something new, it would certainly be worth paying a premium for. Perhaps the acid test for purchasing damaged items should be, will they end up on your mantelpiece, or in a box under your bed?
2 Comments
Myrna Schkolne link
1/2/2013 06:40:20 am

Hi Stephen,
In defense of us purists...or am I an elite club of one?...I respond to your comments about the broken plaque. If a collector is able to enjoy the plaque as is, I think that is a perfectly justifiable purchase. Believe it or not, I own several things in just that state, and they give me pleasure. But, on the other hand, if the collector wants to restore the plaque, my hair stands on end! Once a plaque is restored it is inevitably oversprayed. How much original surface is left? I think not much. You end up looking at and touching modern material, and to me this is not at all pleasing. At that point, I would sooner own a picture of The Real Thing.

I do know that is is possible to restore broken plates and plaques very carefully and sympathetically, only touching in along the break. The problem is that work like this is very costly, and, whereas an early charger would justify the expenditure, a plaque sadly doesn't.

The rarity of the subject on a plaque would, to my mind, pale in significance if the plaque itself was not beautiful pot. And if it is heavily restored, there is no way it can be beautiful. Surely we agree on that?

Thank you for an amazing site--and a thought-provoking blog.

Reply
Stephen link
1/12/2013 05:32:49 pm

Hi Myrna, Couldn't agree more. There's nothing worse than restorer's spray. It turns yellow over time and flakes off in soapy water. Give me a few cracks and chips any day!

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    Stephen Smith lives in London, and is always happy to hear from other collectors. If you have an interesting collection of plaques, and are based in the UK, he will photograph them for you. Free advice given regarding selling and dispersal of a collection, or to those wishing to start one. Just get in touch...

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    This website is indebted to collectors, dealers and enthusiasts who have shared their knowledge or photos. In particular: Ian Holmes, Stephen Duckworth, Dick Henrywood, Norman Lowe, Keith Lovell, Donald H Ryan, Harold Crowder, Jack and Joyce Cockerill, Myrna Schkolne, Elinor Penna, Ian Sharp, Shauna Gregg at the Sunderland Museum, Keith Bell, Martyn Edgell, and Liz Denton.
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