Online Auction: Assorted Collectibles & Jewellery – Featuring Majolica Vase and Amber Pieces and furniture
Lot 236:
Victorian and Edwardian Mauchline Ware and Souvenir Woodware Collection, c. 1880-1910
Description
A varied collection of Victorian and Edwardian souvenir woodware and domestic ephemera, primarily featuring Mauchline Ware. This Scottish-produced sycamore woodware was a staple of the 19th-century tourist trade, known for its distinctive transfer-printed topographical scenes. The lot includes a souvenir notebook or needle book with a central oval transfer print titled OXFORD showing a panoramic view of the city spires, bound with a dark leather or cloth spine. Also present is a small wooden wedge featuring a transfer image of SPA SALOON & ITALIAN TERRACE, SCARBOROUGH. The collection contains two larger darning aids: an oversized egg-shaped holder and a darning mushroom, both featuring topographical transfer prints. A rectangular Tunbridge-style marquetry box with light-wood geometric circular inlays is included, alongside sewing accessories such as two wooden thread bobbins, one with a paper label for WATSON & CO. MACHINE TWIST, a cylindrical turned-wood needle case, and a small turned-wood finial. Notebook approx. 100mm x 75mm; Darning egg approx. 85mm height; Marquetry box approx. 65mm x 45mm.
Condition report:
The collection exhibits a range of conditions. The Oxford notebook and the marquetry box are in the best state of preservation, showing only minor surface abrasions and light edge wear consistent with age. The Scarborough wedge, darning egg, and darning mushroom are in fair to poor condition, with significant loss of varnish, fading, and substantial abrasion to the transfer-printed images. The wooden bobbins show expected age-related wear to the paper labels. No structural cracks or breaks are visible, though finish degradation and foxing-like spotting on the wood are prominent on the more heavily worn pieces.
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