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CHATS ON HOUSEHOLD CURIOS
BOOKS FOR COLLECTORS
_With Frontispieces and many Illustrations
Large Crown 8vo, cloth._
CHATS ON ENGLISH CHINA.
By Arthur Hayden.
CHATS ON OLD FURNITURE
By Arthur Hayden.
CHATS ON OLD PRINTS.
By Arthur Hayden.
CHATS ON COSTUME.
By G. Woolliscroft Rhead.
CHATS ON OLD LACE AND NEEDLEWORK.
By E. L. Lowes.
CHATS ON ORIENTAL CHINA.
By J. F. Blacker.
CHATS ON OLD MINIATURES.
By J. J. Foster, F.S.A.
CHATS ON ENGLISH EARTHENWARE.
By Arthur Hayden.
CHATS ON AUTOGRAPHS.
By A. M. Broadley.
CHATS ON PEWTER.
By H. J. L. J. Masse, M.A.
CHATS ON POSTAGE STAMPS.
By Fred. J. Melville.
CHATS ON OLD JEWELLERY AND TRINKETS.
By MacIver Percival.
CHATS ON COTTAGE AND FARMHOUSE FURNITURE.
By Arthur Hayden.
CHATS ON OLD COINS.
By Fred. W. Burgess.
CHATS ON OLD COPPER AND BRASS.
By Fred. W. Burgess.
CHATS ON HOUSEHOLD CURIOS.
By Fred. W. Burgess.
_In Preparation._
CHATS ON BARGAINS.
By Charles E. Jerningham.
CHATS ON JAPANESE PRINTS.
By Arthur Davison Ficke.
CHATS ON OLD CLOCKS AND WATCHES.
By Arthur Hayden.
CHATS ON OLD SILVER.
By Arthur Hayden.
LONDON: T. FISHER UNWIN.
NEW YORK: F. A. STOKES COMPANY.
* * * * *
[Illustration: FIG. 1.--OLD FIREPLACE, SHOWING SUSSEX BACK, ANDIRONS,
AND TRIVET.
Frontispiece.]
* * * * *
CHATS ON
HOUSEHOLD CURIOS
BY
FRED. W. BURGESS
AUTHOR OF "CHATS ON OLD COINS," "CHATS ON OLD
COPPER AND BRASS," ETC.
WITH 94 ILLUSTRATIONS
LONDON
T. FISHER UNWIN
ADELPHI TERRACE
_First published in 1914_
(_All rights reserved_)
PREFACE
There is a peculiar charm about the relics found in an old home--a home
from which many generations of fledglings have flown. As each milestone
in family history is passed some once common object of use or ornament
is dropped by the way. Such interesting mementoes of past generations
accumulate, and in course of time the older ones become curios.
It is to create greater interest in these old-world odds and ends--some
of trifling value to an outsider, others of great intrinsic worth--that
this book has been written. The love of possession is to some possessors
the chief delight; to others knowledge of the original purposes and uses
of the objects acquired affords still greater pleasure. My intention has
been rather to assist the latter class of collectors than to facilitate
the mere assemblage of additional stores of curiosities. It is truly
astonishing how rapidly the common uses of even household furnishings
and culinary utensils are forgotten when they are superseded by others
of more modern type.
The modern art of to-day and the revival of the much older furniture of
the past have driven out the household gods of intermediate dates, and
it is in that period intervening between the two extremes that most of
the household curios reviewed in this work are found. Although many of
the finest examples of household curios are now in museums, private
collectors often possess exceptional specimens, and sometimes own the
most representative groups of those things upon which they have
specialized.
The examples in this book have been drawn from various sources. As in
"Chats on Old Copper and Brass" (which may almost be regarded as a
companion work), the illustrations are taken from photographs of typical
museum curios and objects in private collections, or have been specially
sketched by my daughter, who has had access to many interesting
collections, to the owners of which I am indebted for the illustrations
I am able to make use of.
My thanks are due to the Directors of the British Museum, who have
allowed their printers, the University Press, Oxford, to supply electros
of some exceptional objects now in the Museum; also to the Director of
the Victoria and Albert Museum, at South Kensington; and the Director
of the London Museum, now located at Stafford House.
Dr. Hoyle, the Director of the National Museum of Wales, at Cardiff, has
most kindly had specially prepared for this work quite a number of
photographs of very uncommon household curios. The Curator of the Hull
Museum has loaned blocks, and photographs have been sent by Messrs. Egan
and Co., Ltd., of Cork; Mr. Wayte, of Edenbridge; and Mr. Phillips, of
the Manor House, Hitchin. To Mr. Evans, of Nailsea Court, Somerset, I am
indebted for the loan of his unrivalled collection of ancient
nutcrackers, some of which have been sketched for reproduction. I have
also made use of examples in the collections of private friends, and
illustrated some of my own household curios, many of them family relics.
The story of domestic curios is made the more useful by these
illustrations, and also by references to well-known collections. There
is much to admire in the once common objects of the home, now curios,
and it is in the hope that some may be led to appreciate more the
antiques with which they are familiar that these pages have been penned.
If that is achieved my object will have been accomplished.
FRED. W. BURGESS.
LONDON, 1914.
CONTENTS
PAGE
PREFACE 7
CHAPTER I
THE LOVE OF THE ANTIQUE 19
No place like home--Curios in the making--The influence of
prevailing styles--A cultivated taste.