Chelsea Pottery Barrister Figures

I picked up these four Chelsea Pottery barrister figures more than 6 months ago for $9.99 at one of my favorite thrift stores. I remembered having seen something like them before and that they were collectible. A little research revealed what they were and that they commanded fairly high prices in the UK, where they were made between 1952-1990, but not much in the US. A few months ago I saw a pair sell on eBay for just over $20 so I didn't rush out to list mine.

I was tidying up a storage area a couple of weeks ago to make room for some purchases and decided to test the market with two; one tall and one short. They sold to a man in Cyprus for $57 and $56, respectively. When I packed them up I noticed the short fat one had what appeared to be a very small chip at the end of his nose. I emailed the buyer to let him know and offered to swap it out with the other short one. He told me to go ahead and send the ones he paid for as well as the other one and he would pay me a reasonable sum. I ended up selling him all four for $218.

Not as much as the $200-300/hour a lawyer makes, but not a bad profit at all!

Painted Porcelain Candlestick

Here is a piece that I bought while in San Francisco a few weeks ago (the weekend was entirely paid for by the sale of the monkey bottle!) and what a beauty it is. I picked it up in a consignment store off Polk Street for $42. It is beautifully hand painted by a man named George Leykauf, who was a master porcelain painter in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He stopped painting in 1920 because the difficulty in finding quality blanks. Leykauf died in 1922.

All of the research I have done online indicate that Leykauf is considered to be one of the great porcelain painters of all time. The handful of items that I have seen for sale online have ranged from $800-8,000. I'll keep you posted when I have found a buyer. If anyone knows any serious porcelain collectors out there be sure to let me know.

**UPDATE** After attempting to sell it through a retail outlet I decided to list the candlestick on eBay where it sold for $100. Not quite the return I'd hoped for but I'm happy to have doubled my money. B

Staffordshire Figure of Charity

I picked up this Staffordshire figure of Charity over the weekend at one of my favorite Goodwill stores. It's a bit out of the way so I don't get there too often. I think this one has a bit of age, particularly as there are a couple of hairline cracks which show some discoloration. I would venture to say that it's early 20th century but almost definitely not older than that. I don't know much about them but am looking forward to learning more.

The research part is always so much fun for me. But after that last sale of the monkey bottle I'm finding that parting is not such sweet sorrow after all.

Stay tuned for more phenomenal phinds!

Charity sold for $39.00 - not as much as I'd hoped but more than than the $2.99 I paid for her at the Goodwill store. Next...

Oaxacan Monkey Mezcal Bottle

I found this interesting bottle last weekend at a yard sale. At first I thought it was African and made for the tourist trade. I was right about its purpose but a little off on the country of origin. A little bit of web research and I learned that it is a mezcal bottle made in Oaxaca, Mexico most likely during the middle part of the 20th century. It was part of a Mexican folk art tradition that is now a dying art. I've reached out to two Mexican folk art dealers on the west coast and there is real interest. I'll keep you posted on the outcome after I've finished negotiating a sale. Hold onto your tits!

**UPDATE** I've just shipped off the monkey to a folk art dealer in San Francisco. She was hard to part with but I was able to get 100x what I paid for her. I'm using the money to finance a weekend in San Fran. Some people leave their hearts there; I left my monkey!