At our recent meeting Rtn Iain Walvin gave an explanation of what he looks for when searching for antiques.
He told the meeting that old and unusual artefacts did not necessarily mean they were priceless. Indeed on the contrary modern items can reach very high value given the right buyers at an auction. He showed us an Elizabethan oak chair that we thought would be worth a fortune! Not so when compared with a designer plastic chair made in the 60s.
He explained that cannon ammunition containers made for the Tudor navy and embellished with a picture of a ship of the line might be very attractive but not rare and could be bought for a few pounds. He gave the history of many small antiques including lead printing blocks that he could remember being used before the advent of online compositing and printing. Ian also showed us bowls made at the time of Drake, and similar to those used by the great man just before the Armada.
In all a very pleasant evening was had and our thanks to Ian for sharing his pastime of antique research and reminiscence’s of his working life and experiences in the printing trade.