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Treasures
from the Deep
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Details of the
most unusual assignment we have ever carried out will be presented
here soon.
In the meantime, some images to whet your appetite. |
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"Amber"
with something fishy about it
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This was a fairly unusual piece recently brought to us for examination.
A large conical shaped mass of "Amber" approximately 150mm x 100mm was being offered to a gentleman with the added "bonus" of containing a Seahorse inclusion (right). He was quite right to be suspicious. Examination showed this to be a conglomeration of large pieces of Copal Resin (a natural resin formed in the same way as Amber) that had been fused together. Furthermore the Seahorse and the other "beasties" that were present, had been added during the fusion process.
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The junction between the "patch" that had been partially melted and the Seahorse, could clearly be seen (left). It is not unusual for insects and debris to be trapped in tree resin as it oozed out of prehistoric trees, later to be fossilised as Amber but one has to doubt effectiveness of this fakers actions as we could not instantly see how a live pine tree and a Seahorse would be in the same place at the same time!
Since this fraudster was offering our client further amounts of little treasures, we hope that we saved our customer a lot of money and heartache. |
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Only a
teaspoon .... but what a teaspoon!
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This was a fairly ordinary Georgian teaspoon that under normal circumstances would only be valued for a few pounds as it was not in exceptional condition and had been engraved with the owners' initials (image 1a). There are still plenty of these teaspoons in circulation as, unlike today, silver flatware was part of the inventory of most middle class houses at that time. |
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Image 1a
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Image 1b
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| However, a quick turn over to examine the marks on the reverse of the handle revealed this to be a very special teaspoon indeed (image 1b). There are collectors that would willingly pay £1,000 for this spoon. It was made by James Sellar but more importantly, it was hallmarked in Wick in about 1825. Silver items marked in Wick are probably the rarest of all Scottish Provincial silver and as such are highly prized. We always strongly recommend that we have sight of all your precious metal items, even if you feel that they are not worth valuing. This example demonstrates quite dramatically the reasons why. This little teaspoon could very well have spent the rest of its life rattling around in a kitchen drawer along with the spare fuses, super glue and spare car keys with the owner totally unaware of its value. This piece will now probably be sold, providing its owner with a little windfall and a collector with many years of pleasure. |
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"Less"
really can be "more"
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| This pendant came into our
client's possession following the sad death of her mother. The pendant had always been stated by the deceased as a "Fine Burmese Ruby". Since the stone was thought to be in excess of four carats and given our clients unease of wearing an extremely valuable piece of jewellery, she had decided to put it in the bank and required a valuation for insurance purposes. Following our examination of the stone, it was clear that this little fortune was indeed…….. little! In fact it was a
garnet topped doublet, a red paste stone with a thin "cap" of
garnet. The garnet was added to increase the lustre of the stone and increase its durability. |
Image cropped to protect
identity |
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Image 2a
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Image 2b
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In reflected light, the difference in the lustre of the two materials can clearly be seen
(image 2a), in the second image (image 2b) we managed to get the natural crystal inclusions in the
garnet in the same shot as the round gas bubbles in the paste and the flattened bubbles of the trapped air in the cement used to join the two substances.
As you can imagine we were more than a little concerned at breaking the news that her "Fine Burmese Ruby" was in fact a clever little fake produced around
1900.
Much to our surprise, our client was delighted! She went on to explain that now she can wear the piece as often as she liked, which is what her mother would have wished. Now this little pendant has become a wonderful memorial to her late mother, rather than being locked away in a safe and never being enjoyed. Sometimes even the saddest stories have a happy ending.
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