More Oliver dramas. On their way home from their holiday around 20 miles north of Limoges my daughter, her partner and little Oliver broke down. Their car needed a part which could not be sourced and fitted for a week and returning their car on a low loader would take 2 further weeks. We were on the phone for 2 solid days with the RAC who made a crisis out of a drama. First they took 5 hours to pick them up from the garage, and then they took them 60 miles the wrong way to pick up a hire car. Not only did they take them first to a closed depot, but they could only get a small car, so they have had to leave much of their stuff in their own car at the French garage. They were told to drop the hire car at Lille, 70 miles from Calais and they would be taken to Calais in a taxi. When they got there they had to argue with the RAC to provide the promised taxi (they had realised the cost for this would top £200 and tried to renege in favour of a train (which with baby and belongings was impractical). When they got to Calais they had to embark as foot passengers with loads of their belongings and then hire another car in Dover to get home. Needless to say the car hire depot at Dover was closed and they had to wait 2 hours while the person came back. Then to top it off at 8pm on a Sunday the M25 was a car park. Phew. What a nightmare! Oliver strikes again!!! Anyway……………

Mad Item of the Month

Easy again this month, readers. You will doubtless remember “Plebgate” if you are resident in the UK and possibly even if not. For those who need the background, on 19th September 2012 Andrew Mitchell MP, Industrial Development Secretary and Government Chief Whip tried to ride his bicycle past police manning the gate at the end of Downing Street on his way to carry out government business. He was prevented from doing so and a row ensued. It was alleged that the minister swore at the police and called them “plebs”. He admitted swearing, but did not admit calling the officers plebs. Shortly after, he resigned and a lengthy internal police investigation costing £140,000 took place. To make amends Mr Mitchell auctioned the offending bicycle on eBay this month for an AIDS charity in Africa. The jalopy raised a surprising £10,600 (and probably went straight in the skip).

MIKADO 2910 coffee pot

Over Optimistic eBayer of the Month

As usual there were a few good candidates, but I think the case for this piece has merit. London seller xupesartandantiques offered a teal green and black MIKADO 2910 lidded pot for the cheap as chips price of £385.00 BIN or best offer. Still waiting for that Best Offer, of course.

 
Bargain of the Month

Fake Guinness wall plaque

For the first time ever my bargain is a FAKE!!! (Masterspy – what are you doing? Ed…. Patience Ed). One of the challenges Carlton Ware had to face during its 100 years of existence was the draining effects of unscrupulous potters (throughout the world) cheaply faking their pieces and taking market share. When time moved on into the 50’s and 60’s and styles became simpler the problem worsened and probably contributed to the company’s demise in 1989. So fakes have a part to play in the company’s history. West Country seller murphytabbycat had a Guinness fake 9” square plaque originally made around 1957 which was sold on eBay for £21.00 (and fairly and squarely described as a fake). Interestingly enough, before selling it, the tabby cat’s owner posted a comment on our new Facebook page about this piece in order to obtain expert opinion on it. An example of good interaction between eBay, our CWW website and our new CWW Facebook page.

HAZLENUT doubletray S2138

A UK seller myweeklycollection tried to do what I have wanted to do many times and lob something at the Aussie eBayers (calm down children, I love you, really) but this large HAZLENUT double tray it came right back unsold. Well it would do – what else could a boomerang dish do?

RIBBED STONEWARE Penguin

Ok, So What Happened in June, Then? Allsorts. That’s what. First, a rare novelty item. ungaas, a South African seller, listed a RIBBED STONEWARE penguin. It stands 8” high, but the price of £313.13 surprised me.

Blushware Honeysuckle covered butter

You Blush fans will no doubt have been interested to see a lovely lidded dish 7” across in the Honeysuckle 1601 pattern eBayed last month by eddie1221darts. It attracted only one bid (perhaps owing to some damage) so sold at the start price of £29.99. The good news for Blush fans is that the Facebook page administrator is a Blush collector, so it always features strongly there.

RIVER FISH 3970 preserve

One thing which has affected eBay significantly this month is the sale at Fieldings’ auction house on 27th April. Many fine pieces were auctioned including a complete collection of preserves. These have been resurfacing all month. Some fine examples include the RIVER FISH 3970 which despite being without its stand still made £310.00 for seller daisy-jack.

Hedgerow 3874 preserve

Another beauty was the Hedgerow 3874 preserve sold by 458martin. This one made £206.00.

Stellata 3326 Handcraft preserve

Finally, for my blog at least, the same seller listed a Stellata 3326 preserve and stand which rose to £71.00 after 12 bids. Somebody likes one of CW’s “Marmite patterns” other than just me, it seems.

Grebe & Waterlily 3529 vase S457

My old friends the glums have had a bit of a field day this month. Their first offering was a near 10” vase in Grebe & Waterlily 3529 which flew to £415.25. The masterspy has a couple of pieces in this pattern/colour combo and I am pleased with my pieces. Are you pleased with this one, buyer?

TUT 2711 candlestick

UK seller and all round good egg thestamphouse made tears prick the corner of masterspy’s eye this month, readers. He listed a 7¼” ribbed candlestick in one of my favourite patterns TUT 2711. So, why would I cry? Well, it has had a bit of an accident. If you look at the picture closely you will see there is some bad damage. Hang on while I get a hanky and give the old trumpet a good blow.

Palm Blossom 4278 FOOTED FRUIT

No sooner had I dried my eyes, readers than I was blubbing again like a good ‘un. This time the source of my quivering bottom lip was the fabulous footed and handled comport listed by glad-findings in Palm Blossom 4278. What a jazzer. Unsurprisingly, it brought out half of Australia. But just for a change, we kept our flag flying with a huge bid of £1675.00. One or two were a little unhappy; let me tell you, readers. But, what of you, buyer? Don’t be shy. Tell us if the pot is as stunning in reality as it looks on the screen.

Holly 3418 Handcraft pattern vase S457

Another rarity surfaced in Derbyshire when seller helen041159 parted with an 8” Holly 3418 Handcraft pattern vase. The Aussies were out in force again for this one and it finally went for £641.86. I thought it might do a smidgen more, but the price might have been slightly affected by some water marking on the inside. Is it cheap, buyer? Did you get a bargain?

Floral Comets 3422 vase S467

I have tried to bag a piece in Floral Comets 3422 so many times that I have considered changing my name to Mr Under Bidder. Aussie seller wallybelp decided he could live without a little 4¼ʺ vase, which then made him a healthy £321.81. Not a bad price, but then again I love the pattern.

Zig-Zag 3356 Handcraft pattern vase S467

Not to be outdone glad-findings took a Zig-Zag 3356 Handcraft route to eBay with a vase of the same shape and size. I love this pattern, but doley masterspy had to keep his powder dry (sigh). Never mind…. One day.

WAGON WHEELS 3812 squat jug

Back came the same antipodean eBay warrior and launched a mighty blow with a rare as rockin’ ‘orse poo Green WAGON WHEELS 3812 squat vase. Wowee! Well too rich for the masterspy’s blood, this battle. The seller trousered a useful £773.59 for this 2¾” pot.

DEVIL 3765 ashtray

I am afraid eBay masterspy doesn’t hold with smoking (sad family history and so forth) but wallybelp landed the coup-de-grace with a DEVIL 3765 ashtray. What a cracker! Into the back bin went another £928.30. OMG!

Scimitar 3651 REVO tray

Luckily the smoke cleared from my nostrils very nicely when wallybelp treated us to a 10” REVO tray in Scimitar 3651 which added £820.00 to the coffers. That’s it! The masterspy has fainted. Gone. Finished. Done. Goodbye world. I can die happy now. Are you finished wallybelp, or are will you be back soon on eBay with some more CW treasure.

Chevrons 3657 cigarette box

I need to sit down and calm down, readers, take an ice cold shower or something. What better to do so with than a lovely mega-deco box in Chevrons 3657 put up by glad-findings. There have been several pieces of Chevrons on eBay this month, funnily enough, but this one was my favourite. The buyer assures me it is better than expectations and is very happy with it. A very good buy at £112.00.

Medley cruet

eBay stalwart puffett has been selling off many of his Medley treasures recently (and there are more to come). The one which particularly drew my admiration was a lovely cruet complete with its rare deco base. It is the only one the seller has seen in 40 years of collecting. It has a couple of little chips and some wear to the salt pot paint. Despite this, rarity deserves money and it fetched £87.00. It could be unique, readers, unless one of you out there has one tucked away. Do let us know if you have.

HOLLYHOCKS 3819 plate & detail from BELL 3774 plate

I mentioned the glums above and said that they had had a bit of a field day this month; well they also listed two 9” plates. One was a lovely HOLLYHOCKS 3819 example on pale blue which made £310.00. The other was a superb yellow BELL 3774 piece which rose to £390.00. I have been fortunate enough to set eyes on the BELL plate and can report that it is simply brill. Lucky buyer.

MIKADO 2881 pen stand

A MIKADO 2881 desk pen holder and base was listed by lesmar47. Two pen collectors fought hard over it and it was nib and tuck up to £215.00. Pen collectors seem just as mad as us CW collectors, comforting thought, isn’t it readers.

Needlepoint 3816 gondola

Cheshire seller antdeco put up another magnificent piece, this time a ruby gondola in Needlepoint 3816, which sold for £552.00. I have never seen a piece of Needlepoint in ruby on eBay before, so I was very surprised to see it go so cheaply. Especially as it is a wonderfully delicate design.

SKETCHING BIRD trinket box

Another nice trinket box, this time in the turquoise colourway in SKETCHING BIRD was auctioned by ungaas out of Durban, in South Africa for £259.24. For me, the surprise here is that this shape does not have a handle on the lid. How many lids must have been accidentally dropped over the years?

RIBBED STONEWARE bowls S1116 & S1113

As you know, I like my eBay names, so here are two offerings from UK seller archerymaidmarion. Love it, “Marion”. Unfortunately the arrow hit the mark for a lucky buyer rather than the seller. A 10½” shallow bowl in RIBBED STONEWARE pattern number 3780 and a 9¼” footed bowl also in RIBBED STONEWARE pattern number 3775 which both went to the same buyer for a singleton bid of £9.50 each. Bargains.

Tendrillon 3858 ginger jar

Yankee seller designofthetime would need a very large box to fit this 12½” lidded ginger jar in Tendrillon 3858. A stunning statement piece, indeed. It fetched £235.85.

Persian Garden 3893 vase before and after sending

Sadly, very sadly, seller dianekris123 failed to put an 11” Persian Garden 3893 vase in a strong enough or large enough box and the buyer was faced with this on arrival. It isn’t rocket science, sellers. Get it right. Big box. Strong. Plenty of all round packing. No space left in the box. Simples.

Beach Towel soap dish

Lastly, masterspy can be a little cheeky in his blog at times as you know readers. So here is a pot to finish this month’s piece off in fine (?) style. Seller claphamclanger “cheekily” listed this soap dish designed to look like a beach towel imprinted with errrrr basically errrr, how can one put this? ….. ohh, work it out for yourselves, readers. Ha ha

As always, the blog is a two way street. Feel free to comment on anything in my blog or indeed any CW related issue using the form provided. Good luck this month.
eBay masterspy

First the good news, baby Oliver is doing well so far, but tests will be on-going for 2 years!

Now the bad news. I am now a proper doley! Or is it bad news? At least I am now set up and have started my new black economy job. Do you think masterspy “cuts it” as is, or should I get the battered tin cup I mentioned last month?

Mad Item of the Month

Those of you who know the masterspy are well aware that he is a bit partial to a nice hot cup of tea (non-UK readers – this is what is referred to in common parlance as a piece of typical British understatement)! Clearly, a good cup and saucer, or perchance a mug, is needed to contain said beverage. Now, there have been many types and styles made over the centuries, but none is finer than this beauty offered for only £8.99 by my old eBay friend smuttygifts. It just makes you want a nice hot cuppa right now readers, doesn’t it? Just in case you were wondering…. yes, there are indeed some more cockroaches shown on the inside of the cup. Think about it, readers. Gotta be a great birthday pressie for your boss at work, eh? It would so neatly encapsulate your feelings of downright loathing and total implacable hatred for him or her, or even, dare I say it, “IT” (I might just buy one myself – no, thinking about it, there are at least a dozen candidates, it would cost the masterspy a bally fortune lol).

Mind you, if there was a “Sirry Irriot of the Month” it would definitely be US seller renalien56-2008 who accidentally listed his Crown Devon teapot with this picture – lovely handle and spout!!!

Floribunda 3236
Handcraft tea caddy

Over Optimistic eBayer of the Month.

The winning item ran its course at the very beginning of the month and has stayed on and cantered home to beat all opposition. A quick look at other prices obtained for pieces in the same family of Handcraft patterns would have told anybody that the market was likely to be south of £100, or at least not too much above that. Nevertheless nwantiquesandcollectables listed this tea caddy in Floribunda 3236 at a price of £800.00.

NEW MIKADO 2814 teapot stand.

Bargain of the Month

Well, this one was easy this month. Seller mik.duck of Dorset in the UK sold a teapot stand in NEW MIKADO 2814. These are obviously all too often much worn, but this one is in A1 condition and fetched the princely sum of, wait for it, wait for it…… £2.20. Complete and utter bargain. I wish I could make all my buys like this one.

Top Pots
This month we have seen the return of the CW blockbusters! There were at least five of CW’s big ticket pieces on eBay this month. But masterspy, being a tease, is making you all wait till later in the blog to see them.

Zig-zag 3356 pear top Handcraft preserve.

The masterspy would never be able to make much of a post-dole living doing body double work for Arnie or Sylvester in the fillums. So small is BEAUTIFUL I say!!! The first item I want to mention is a lovely preserve pot in Zig-zag 3356. Two of these, both without their stands and in equally good condition, were sold in quick succession. One went for £122.00 in a secret auction and the other did better and made £135.73 for seller jazzmoo in an open auction, thus supporting my long held view that secret auctions are in nobody’s honest interests. Interestingly, another was sold at Fieldings Auctioneers on 27th April which had a completely different, but clearly correct, knop which depicts a tiny bowl of fruit.

Rabbits at Dusk 4257 Aztec tray.

The same seller, jazzmoo who is from Tasmania, Australia listed a number of good pieces of CW this month. Amongst these was an Aztec tray in the rare pale green ground Rabbits at Dusk 4257. It went for £283.47.  Certainly, now appears to be a good time to buy. I do hope that this comment doesn’t move the prices back up again (pure eBay buyer only bias coming out there – sorry, sellers)!

VICTORIAN GARDEN 3643 vase S465.

Another piece sold by the same seller was a lovely little dinky 3” vase in VICTORIAN GARDEN 3643 which made a flower-scented £120.39. A really pretty vase this and one I certainly would love to own. Why don’t I own it? Because I am stony broke after purchasing an expensive piece in a (different) pattern I have always wanted in the auction mentioned above. You will have to imagine masterspy grinning from ear to ear, readers. Well worth the 2 hour+ drive each way. A huge prize will be given for guessing which piece it was, readers.

Rosetta 3505 vase S467.

Another small vase with a massive impact was also auctioned by jazzmoo. This one was a 3”er in Rosetta 3505. Lovely shape as well. I do have a piece in this pattern and love it. Do you readers?

Grebe & Water Lily 3530 vase S1154

Another one which has eluded the masterspy thus far (both the shape and the colourway in this pattern) is an 1154 shape vase in Grebe & Water Lily 3530. I reckon the mottled ruby gloss finish sets this pattern off a treat. More’s the pity I haven’t got a piece then, isn’t it? Scotland based seller curio47 was rewarded for listing it by attracting 20 bids to £194.99.

SKETCHING BIRD 3891 cigarette holder S1229.

Keeping to the small is beautiful theme is easy. Seller pottman321 (sorry, no points for the name, poor effort, even if your surname is Potts) put up a cigarette holder in the cream ground in SKETCHING BIRD 3891. It flew to £198.99.

DAISY 3693 MELON shape coffee cup & saucer.

Last stop in my trip round the tiny stuff is a MELON shape coffee cup and saucer in DAISY 3693 on the blue ground. What a cracker this pattern is! South African seller paisleylon quickly trousered £108.65 for the set and furthermore listed the matching coffee pot which did £170.01 and the cream and sugar together (some damage) which raised £79.35.

BLACKBERRY floral embossed cheese dish & cover S1548

Let’s move up a bit in size and look at a cheese dish & cover from the BLACKBERRY floral embossed range offered by beckysbargains47. No “sweaty sock” cheese contained in here. This is a very nice piece. Unluckily for the seller, at £52, I think this should have gone to a higher price. What do you think readers?

Rabbits at Dusk 4247 vase S1692

I frequently mention the “Wabbits” don’t I? Well the pesky but very tasty little critters are out and about again, lurking in the undergrowth painted on an 8” 1692 shape vase with lovely serpentine handles (not as that will save them from my trusty little 8” stew pan – yum yum – go on animal lovers, boo and hiss, see if I care, ha ha). The “Tasmanian Devil” himself, jazzmoo ate this Wabbit up and spat it out onto eBay where it made £350.54. That isn’t much per pound compared to previous well cooked prices for the Wabbits.

JAZZ STITCH 3655 jug vase S496.

There has been a goodly selection of masterspy’s favourite CW this month, the slightly damaged, but still buyable type that is. For example, how’s about one of my favourite patterns JAZZ STITCH 3655 auctioned by localbibelots? A 7” jug vase would normally be serious money, but a singleton bidder can display it for £160.00 because it has some gild wear largely on one side of the handle. Ok, come on, wake up you lot.

JAZZ STITCH 3655 REVO tray – damaged

Keeping with the same pattern one sharp-eyed eBayer will no doubt be extremely happy (unlike seller olivia2638) with a 10” REVO tray with a little restored chip and hairline on the back for the “you are joking me” price of £16.50. Stop crying readers, it is most unseemly.

DRAGON & CLOUD 3331 vase S443, damaged.

Whilst the tears are flowing fast and free I might as well add to the general wailing and gnashing of teeth by telling you of another piece of somewhat blemished beauty which all but one of us missed. Seller anywares got even less than olivia2638, only £14.99 for an 11” 443 shaped vase in DRAGON & CLOUD 3331. It has in the past suffered an attack of the oopsy daisy dropsies and has had a significant piece knocked out of it, which has been well restuck, but I have been told by the buyer that all the damage is on one side and this piece has the same pattern on both sides, the large ones often do, so it displays as good as new apparently. Those sneaky singleton bidders are nicking your pots!

Melange 3601 ginger jar minus cover and hairlines.

One reader decided to beat these awful singletons at their own game and become one him or herself, nipping in to grab a 6½” ginger jar (minus its lid and with a couple of small hairlines, but beggars can’t be choosers) in the rare pattern Melange 3601 for a decidedly pleasant £70.00. I bet he or she is smirking right now. What are you going to do about it readers?

Kingfisher & Vine optical illusion it’s 9″ tall ….

Now the tears are all cried out and noses have been blown, it is time to turn you all towards the emotion of annoyance. Australian seller 5moonwitch123 is either about 2 feet tall, or the ginger jar she is selling is 2 feet tall. Well, no actually, it is a 9” ginger jar held out in front of her so it looks much bigger than it really is, owing to the effect of perspective. Your eyes tell you it is 2 feet tall because your only point of reference is the normal length of a person’s body. Come on 5moonwitch123, no using tricks please.

CHINALAND 3014 temple jar S130.

Ok, I have teased you long enough, readers. Here are the biggies. US seller sentimentalrose had a 15” lidded temple jar in the rare as rocking horse poo pale blue ground CHINALAND 3014. It was soon snapped up as a Buy it Now for £961.29. I can think of several eBayers who might be wishing they had spotted it sooner. In fact it was gone so quickly I wouldn’t be surprised if it is news to some of them.

Fantasia 3388 globe vase.

Not to be outdone, UK seller daisy-jack, serial seller of high end CW treasures, listed a perfect 8½” globular vase in Fantasia 3388, which also went to a BIN for £1400.00. The outside is in the pale matt blue ground, but even the inside is in a pretty special matt purple colour. I have its little brother the 5½” version in my cabinet and if the seller fancies swapping because it won’t fit on his or her shelf I am quite happy to oblige (generous to a fault as ever is good old masterspy).

Orchid 3325 Handcraft jug S470

It is said that orchid lovers will fight with bare fists to secure a single rare specimen. I wouldn’t be surprised if the eBay bidders had been in one room instead of 2 continents to have seen fisticuffs over the 8” jug in Orchid 3325 on matt yellow ground which glad-findings auctioned for £510.00. I am sure that some may think this pattern is just too strong, but by gum and by Godfrey one thing is for sure, you aren’t going to be looking somewhere else when you first spot it, are you readers? Come on, buyer, is it wowing ‘em round your house? Do tell us.

Secretary Bird  jug S470

Whilst we are giving it large with the 8” jugs, seller doncaster-collectors-emporium owned one too many Sagittarius Serpentariuses, so he or she sold it off. This is the orange ground version of Secretary Bird. This bird has a few tatty golden feathers and has had a run in with a much bigger bird, because some of its orange plumage has suffered a little too. Despite being a somewhat endangered species it made £460.01. Imagine how much it would have cost had it had it been in the best of health (a bit like Monty Python Dead Parrot all-time classic comedy sketch).

Scimitar 3651 cigarette box.

“And finally Esther Rantzen…..” (this comment will only be understood by older folk who used to watch UK tv programme, “That’s Life” in the 1970s and 80s) we had the most superb ciggy box in Scimitar 3651 which was listed by Aussie seller wallybelp. There is nothing to say about this pattern or this particular piece other than that however much the buyer paid for it (and changes to eBay’s information system make this impossible to specify exactly) it will have been fully worth it. I just wish it had been me, readers. Don’t you?

So another month has gone by and masterspy’s life has changed forever. See if masterspy cares… till the “rocknroll” runs out anyway. I suppose if one is going to be made surplus to requirements kicking it off on a lovely day in spring in England is as good a time as any.
Don’t forget to post any comments in the usual fashion.
EBay masterspy

to this 

Was it my dodgy job, or lack of same? No readers. Was it my nasty dose of man flu? No readers. What was it then, oh masterspy? It was this readers….

My new grandson Oliver was born to my eldest daughter on Monday 18th March and weighed 6lbs 10ozs. Unfortunately not everything went well and there were indications he had suffered oxygen deprivation during his birth. My daughter was taken to the nearest special unit with the little man and he was given a treatment involving cooling his body down by 3.5⁰C for 72 hours. He was hooked up to a frightening array of kit and had 3 drips at one point. It was absolutely heart-breaking to watch him shaking with the cold and this was only curtailed by giving him morphine. All this time none of us could touch him (as it would warm him up). 
Once he was warmed back up late on the Thursday the doctors watched his progress very carefully. He was given all sorts of tests, both physical ones and also on his organs and brain. Eventually my daughter was able to hold him and feed him.

After he had settled to this they were finally allowed home on Monday 25th. However, by this time Mr and Mrs Masterspy had both come down with the aforementioned Man Flu, so after all that stress and fear we have still not been able to have our first hold and won’t be for another few days yet as we have no intention of taking the remotest risk until we are totally free of our (it has to be said) extremely tenacious germs. He will have to have regular visits to see a specialist for his first 2 years and at least one more brain scan in a month’s time. So far, so good though. Obviously the masterspy genes are of excellent quality because Oliver is certainly a fighter.
The masterspy himself has decided to take redundancy after 40 years’ continuous service with one company. Its official, I am going to be a dole bludger! You can picture me sitting on a blanket outside the local Asda with a sad old dog and a battered tin cup. Lol.

Anyway, Mad Item of the Month.

I try to have no snobbish tendencies, but I have to confess to a slight fancy for one of these. It is a solid silver chip fork listed by the appropriately named distinctlybritish for £51.70. Not for me the old wooden one now! Pshaw! That time has gone, but as you know I am a real classy geezer! You can just see the jaws hit the floor when the Chippy owner says, “Do you need a fork?” and you reply, “No thanks, I have brought my own solid silver one!”

MELON Carlton China morning set in Rainbow 4943

Bargain of the Month

Without doubt this month’s winner is a Carlton China bachelor set listed by tiswas in the very rare Rainbow 4943 pattern. This set is said to be in excellent condition, but only made £103.00. Lucky, lucky buyer.

Overpriced Item of the Month

MIKADO 3201 whiskey barrels with stands

hythe49 – an Aussie seller – has made my job easy this month. He listed a pair of MIKADO 3201 whiskey barrels with stands with buckets for an unbelievable £1716.33. Hope he isn’t in a hurry to sell.

SQUIRREL teapot from the 1990s

There is no doubt who is the happiest seller this month either (I know because he told me so himself). Torquay seller puffett sold a 1980’s SQUIRREL teapot for the surprising amount of £100.00. Lucky, lucky seller!

….. and Now, My Lovelies …..

Flowering Papyrus Handcraft preserve

It isn’t all about you rich folks who keep outbidding “poor old out of work masterspy” (I sense the start of a long running theme here readers) there are some pretty things on eBay for just a few quid. One example of this was a little Handcraft preserve pot in Flowering Papyrus 3242 offered by jeanp48 which made a paltry £11.90. There is a little staining and crazing, but mainly on the inside and underneath. Bargain.

NEW CHINESE BIRD 3304 Handcraft preserve

Out of the same Handcraft stable came another preserve pot in NEW CHINESE BIRD 3304, seller betts39 did himself no favours with an out of focus photo. Unusually, this bidding war resulted in a dead heat for price and the earlier bidder takes it in these situations. Even taking into considering the poor picture, the masterspy was surprised both at the low price and that there were only 2 different bidders. Are you all mad? Another bargain.

CHINESE FIGURES 3199 vase S464

Runner up for bargain of the month was a 464 shape vase in CHINESE FIGURES 3199 sold by the amusingly named elpulpo263. This is stated to be near mint, so a price of £41.00 is a very good buy for somebody out there. Again, only 2 bidders. Strange.

Anybody fancy a Secretary Bird 4017 VELOX bowl for £190.00? I bet you do. So do I.

Secretary Bird 4017 VELOX bowl

Even with one shy on the normal complement of feet (the bowl that is, not the bird) and one foot glued back on it is still value for money. 7 bidders thought so, anyway. I reckon this one will be back on eBay one day, standing proud on all 3 feet.

Devil’s Copse 3787 jug

As you all know I like my jugs (the bigger the better) – careful now, masterspy, let’s not get into any deep and murky water here (editor) – and I also like Devil’s Copse 3787 too, so I was always going to include this more or less mint 8” example listed by glad-findings which made £370.00 after 9 bids. Lovely. I wonder how much it would have made if it had been in the turquoise colour way?

NEW MIKADO 2729 ginger jar

Big is beautiful as they say, so my eye was caught by a 13” ginger jar in NEW MIKADO 2729. What a whopper! £264.00 was paid for this beauty. A fair sum for gilt only Chinoiserie these days.

CHINALAND 3015 ginger jar

Not quite as big as the last one, but unsurprisingly this 10” CHINALAND 3015 ginger jar, said to be in top condition, made the highest price of the month £905.50. A superb piece this, one can only marvel at its complexity and beauty. There can’t be many of these around. It must have cost a fortune when new. Come on buyer, is it as good as it looks on screen? Do tell us all.

It was also a month for CHINALAND 2948. Lancashire seller potteryvillage-dot seems to have plenty anyway.

A 10” trumpet shaped vase went for £460.00 and then a 14½” bottle-shaped vase made £600.00. Come on seller, lend poor old out of work masterspy a couple of quid, you can afford it now, lol.

GARDEN 3396 trumpet vase

While doing trumpet shaped vases, I must also mention the GARDEN 3396 10”er incorrectly listed as HOLLYHOCKS by Dutch seller albion-antiek which is an understandable mistake. I just love that green. Gorgeous.

BELL 3787 vase S738

At the other end of the size scale was a little 4” tall squat vase in ruby ground BELL 3787 listed by Yorkie seller lujesjaz. It went to a singleton bidder at a hefty £385.00. The masterspy has a couple of pieces in BELL including a 7” conical dish in the ruby. It is one of my favourite patterns. Good job I didn’t have to pay the near £100 per inch that this buyer has paid though! Ouch.

Heron & Magical Tree 4159 7” globular vase

Heron & Magical Tree 4159 7” globular vases are pretty rare, so when etradersblackpool found one it was bound to create a stir and so it did. 21 bids were placed before it found its way to a new home for £580.00. A good buy at this price, I reckon. I had expected it to make over my magic £100 per inch. Luckily for the buyer it fell short of that amount.

I suppose the highest price paid per inch this month was for a mint (and still boxed) 3 piece cruet set in pale blue Fantasia 3388.

Fantasia 3388 cruet – boxed

This was literally fought over by 8 bidders all the way to £777.00 despite being less than 3 inches tall. Wowww!

Zig-Zag 3356 vase

Top eBay CW seller glad-findings found a gorgeous 8” Zig-Zag 3356 vase. Big hitters from 3 continents wanted this one and after 14 bids it went for £535.00. I don’t think this was too much for such an iconic Deco pattern. What do you think, readers?

Jigsaw 3431 vase S406

A pattern that masterspy doesn’t expect to ever own is Jigsaw 3431. subsubsub0 did though, until he sold a 6” 406 shape vase this month. Once more the armour was donned, war horses mounted and sharp steel weapons were drawn and all 3 continents paraded their champions in the joust. The Queen’s favour was at last picked up amidst the dead and wounded for £670.00. Needless to say, not by the masterspy. Hey ho (and a fall-dee-riddle-me-ree for good measure too). One day, maybe. Sigh.

And Finally….
What happened in the SKETCHING BIRD plate caper I hear you ask? Well, the bird has been flying all over the place. First it went to Australia and met with a very frosty response. The buyer got all monies back. Then it was listed again under a different id, but still claiming to be in good display condition. This time it stayed in England, but this second buyer was every bit as unhappy with it as the previous buyer had been. So it was sent back again and money has been refunded again. I wouldn’t be surprised to see it again, either on eBay or at a traditional auction. At the end of the day, it would be a good idea for all UK sellers at least to bear in mind the provisions of the Sale of Goods Act 1979, as amended in 1994. Namely and in brief that goods should be as described. Simple as.
Good luck this month.
EBay masterspy

Well readers, I am a bit miserable tonight as I sit down to begin writing. The evil vile capitalist running dogs who employ me are “restructuring” my department for the 4th time in 4 years, so forgive me in advance if this month’s offering is a little lacklustre and below par. Luckily for you CW buyers out there I doubt if I will be able to compete at the same level in future, because I think, having dodged the bullet 3 times so far, my good fortune will run out this time. Unluckily for you CW sellers, I won’t be making all those doomed under bidder bids which keep giving you those high prices. However, those of you in elevated positions of power at your places of employ, feel free to email the masterspy and offer him a job. Only £100k and a Merc and I’m yours!?! Bargain!

SKETCHING BIRD 3952 vase S457

Speaking of bargains, in email conversation with one of my readers this month it was suggested that I start a new feature, henceforth to be known as Bargain of the Month. The main difficulty for me will be not to list all my own purchases (lol)! So, here we go. Sleeper of the month was a mint 8” vase in SKETCHING BIRD 3952 put up for the guns by UK seller diddybox. Unfortunately for the seller only 3 shooters took aim at this bird and blasted its backside full of buckshot only just above the treetops for £135.00. Pull, baby pull. So, there you are readers. Can you do any better? Feel free to tell us all of any total bargains masterspy hasn’t mentioned.

OXFORD lithographic pattern 4909 covered vase

Overpriced item of the month was also easy this month. By the way, all my old favourites are still going round and round for far too much, but a fresh faced piece schlepped up and smiled a coy little come and get me smile to the unwary new collector (I can’t imagine anybody other than a new collector giving too much consideration to this one at this money). Seller oldesussex wants an exorbitant £99.99 for a 1974 square lidded jar. It isn’t even painted, the pattern is a stuck on label!

Mad Item of the Month was just too easy as well. Do you ever feel a little insecure, readers? Do you ever wonder what you would do if the air raid sirens rang out? Where could you go? Where would it be safe to hide while the radiation falls back to single head and two eye levels for your unborn offspring.

Aficionados of 1970’s and 2008/9 post-apocalypse drama series Survivors, worry no longer! The Ministry of Defence isn’t worried anymore, so they are selling off RAF Neatishead, in the Norfolk Broads. 25.5 acres of strongly fenced off and gated land including “a Helicopter Pad, an underground operations block – 1,935 sq.m. / 20,820 sq.ft. (Following a fire in 1966 it was not fully rebuilt and brought back into use until the 1980s and as a result is probably one of the most modern R3 bunkers around. It has a huge new underground section for electrical and other services to the bunker, which makes it probably one of the newest underground military buildings), Offices – 1,029 sq.m. / 11,071 sq.ft., Officers Mess – 1,910 sq.m. / 20,560 sq.ft., Hanger and stores – 1,606 sq.m. / 17,292 sq.ft., Tennis & Squash Courts, Gymnasium & Changing Rooms, Former Radar equipment building, Lorry Coach Wash, Fuel Pump, Garages, Bungalow, Former Medical Centre, Station Headquarters & Extension, Stores, Hanger”. Who could want for more, and all for a measly £2.5 Mill? I move in next month! Yeah, right masterspy. But there’s more. You can’t afford £2.5 Mill at the moment? Ok, well eBayers are nothing if not resourceful and one amongst us immediately listed a “painting” viewed as seen from the air, of the former airbase which received 3 bids to £10.50. A previous unhappy purchaser of another “painting” left adverse feedback saying it was a print though, so say no more.

I have a bit of housekeeping to finish off next. Last month I told you about a SKETCHING BIRD plate which did not satisfy the buyer (to say the least). Eventually, the seller took back the plate and refunded the money. Unfortunately, it has appeared again under the auspices of another seller in the same part of the world, this time described as in “very nice condition display”. At the time of writing (although listed with a lower starting price and being protected by an as yet unreached reserve) it has attracted one bid. Caveat emptor, as they say.

Early CARNATION flow blue & gilt baluster vase.

So where should I begin this month readers? “Let’s start at the very beginning. A very good place to start” as the old Sound of Music 1963 song goes. Carlton Ware made its first mark on the world with blush ware and flow blue. When over 100 years old (like masterspy) most pieces can be expected to have considerable wear, but not this big 11” beauty (unlike masterspy). I think what attracted me to this one was the lovely sinuous shape of the handles. The gilding seems to be all there too. Good value it would appear at only £44.99 too, methinks.

BELL 3786 bowl.

Back in the June 2012 blog I mentioned a bowl stand in BELL 3786 which sold for £132.00. In conversation with the buyer I was told at the time that patience is the watchword and that a bowl would one day be purchased to sit on the stand. Everything comes to he or she who waits, so it is said. In this case it certainly did, in the form of an 8”er. Let us all know how it sits, buyer. Is it worth the £532.98 you paid for the bowl to Yankee seller samjoelin? Is it as nice as it looks?

Carlton Ware Guinness pudding bowl.

Another bowl which caught my eye was this Guinness advertising ware pudding bowl. Not because it is particularly beautiful (it isn’t), but because it went up to what I think is a crazy price. All you Guinness collectors (and possibly even Guinness drinkers too) will no doubt think such an utterance blasphemous, but, do you know what, I reckon you are all a bit TOO drunk if you pay £123.00 for a pretty basic pudding bowl you could buy for a Fiver down at your local Asda.
No, I simply can’t go on without repeating the scary price of the last item, just to confirm for those of you sharing my disbelieving persuasion that there wasn’t a decimal point missing in there somewhere. It was indeed One Hundred and Twenty Three pounds. Ye gods!

INCISED DIAMOND Aztec tray with decoration 3901

By way of price contrast I know one or two of you out there like INCISED DIAMOND 3901, which rarely makes a great deal of money at the moment , so is easily collectible by those who can’t run to WAGON WHEELS and DEVIL etc. Hmmmm, I may have to start a collection now I am about to become a poor dole bludger (as the Aussies say). A nice Aztec dish was listed by antdeco and achieved a very good price for the pattern at £53.00.

Carlton Ware OBLONG INK STAND in black & best gold 3846.

As you all know I like a clever id name. Well… cakesupperior sold a black gloss and gold pen stand and inkwell in the plain decoration 3846 for £70.50. I reckon pieces which are predominantly black could become overpowering if you display too many together, but the odd one is fine by me, in fact one of my favourite pieces is a PERSIAN GARDEN 3893 bowl on black gloss. Have you got it front and centre, buyer? It bet it stands right out whether or not!

Carlton Ware JAVA biscuit barrel.

Londoner chris2456chris must have already eaten his 5 a day because he listed a biscuit barrel from JAVA range of fruit embossed wares, one of the earliest of the embossed ranges. It had a very tiny chip and a bit of missing orange, but still attracted bids to £36.00. I have to say that I like it. I am sure it would look nice in a kitchen somewhere. Is that where you have it, buyer?

Fruit embossed BLACKBERRY biscuit barrel S1565.

Sticking with my fruity theme another biscuit barrel was auctioned by ray54188 from  the fruit embossed BLACKBERRY range. This one went up to £95.05 which is a reasonable price considering that I may have seen it in an antique centre in Scotland a couple of years ago priced at £200.00! But then its asymmetrical Deco shape is very striking and highly original.

Carlton Ware APPLE BLOSSOM 3522 Handcraft FOOTED PUFF.

One last fruity reference, if you will allow it, readers. This time it is a lovely pedestal powder bowl in Apple Blossom 3522, a Handcraft pattern. Unfortunately it is by no means perfect, having a chipped finial and some other minor faults, but it still made £88.86 for seller albaforce.

BARGE 2519 FOOTED PUFF bowl.

I adore the pedestal powder bowl shape, as do many of you out there. This is obvious from an auction run by regular seller glad-findings, this time in BARGE 2519. You won’t find many pieces of BARGE only 5” tall selling for a sensational £224.99. Alas, I was not the buyer of this almost mint piece.

Part MODERN WARE coffee set decorated in Leaf & Catkin 3919.

As you all know I love my MODERN WARE. I watched this coffee set for months. I didn’t buy it when I had the chance because it is without its most important component, the coffee pot, but what a lovely pattern! It did eventually sell for South African seller ungaas for £165.89. Look at the fantastic gilding on the handles. Where were you all? Have you no taste? It is gorgeous!

PARISIENNE coffee set in decoration pattern number 4077

Another good eBay id is laughteristhebestmedicine and this seller must be laughing all the way to the bank (again). This time a PARISIENNE coffee set in decoration  4077, which uses bands of best gold as the decoration. I so long for a set in this pattern, but (again) ‘twas not to be. Sigh.

Eden 4242 covered vase minus cover.

I did enjoy seeing the 3 pieces of Eden 4242 which came up this month. Firstly there was a lidless 5” covered vase listed by glad-findings. It raised £128.98 and the buyer assures me that it was accurately described and a happy buy.

Eden 4242 gondola

The second one was a fantastic gondola sold by ron_ashton. Yes, there is a little gild wear exhibited on the rim, but still a great buy for the buyer at £330.00 and boy, was he happy! Triumphant email, the whole 9 yards!

Eden 4242 vase S464

Finally there was a 6” vase auctioned by samjoelin which was BINned for £366.42.

RIVER FISH 3971 MODERN WARE tray S1619.

RIVER FISH 3971 12” trays are pretty thin on the ground, so when one comes on eBay, even badly damaged, it is going to create a stir. Sure enough, windsor12’s listing did just that. Despite serious damage it leapt out of the water and grabbed the Damsel Fly at a mere £188.33.

I predict we will see this one back on eBay in a few months, when I am sure it will look better than it looks now.

PERSIAN GARDEN 3893 diamond tray.

I mentioned PERSIAN GARDEN 3893 above and a piece duly arrived on eBay this month. It was a 12” diamond tray. It went to £207.50 for glad-findings. Truly stunning.

Unknown “Heatwave” MODERN WARE jug.

Lastly, there were 2 pieces of Heatwave this month. One was a nice Aztec dish in the “normal” brown palette, but the other was in shades of blue and was a wavy handled jug. Is it unique? I don’t know, but it is pretty rare for sure. Somebody thought it was worth a fair bit and paid hildenlea24 the sum of £177.50.

Well, as I said at the start of this blog I may be out of a job by the time it is necessary to write my next installment. Don’t worry, readers, I will still do a blog next month, but I am not sure how long it will be. As you know I love your responses, so please send your comments in the usual fashion.
Good luck,
eBay masterspy

Nightingale 3562 damaged vases

That said, the easy winner of the Over Optimistic EBayer of the Month for January 2013 is…… iauction-limited who has been listing a pair of damaged 8” 326 shape vases in Nightingale 3562 for £650 for months and months. You are reaching for the mouse button trying to get there first, aren’t you dear reader? “How the hell did I miss that” you are muttering angrily to yourself. Stay your hand a moment while I tell you more. They are both, how can I put this plainly, errr, well and truly knackered. On enquiry a friend was sent extra pictures. Gamely, he still made a reasonable offer in the light of the very poor condition of both vases, but did not even get the courtesy of a reply from the seller. You have let go of your mouse now, haven’t you? I’m not surprised.

For the first time I am not sure if this item is attractive, or a great Mad Item of the Month. Judge for yourselves readers. Japanese seller vintagemania*shiho offers you the chance to buy a butterfly in a jar! What? I hear you say. It is a fake butterfly, panic ye not, Lepidoptera lovers. It works via sound or vibration from tapping on the glass wall of the jar. The fake butterfly is suspended by a wire from the lid of the jar, wherein sit 3 AAA batteries. Helpfully the seller has included a link to a YouTube video of the butterfly in action. Have a look see.

Tyrolean Bands 4076

Sadly I must report that I am both hungry and thirsty as I sit and write this (the Head Chef is out at the shops – I hope she gets back soon or I may expire). Don’t get tooooo excited ladies, I can fold a slice of dry bread over and shove it into my mouth the same as the next man (mind you, boiling an egg looks a little bit too technical to me…. Lousy packaging on eggs by the way, not a hint of any cooking instruction on the shell. It is about time those genetic modification blokes got to work on the humble chicken! Come on scientists. Get it sorted). Anyway, one needs a plate for one’s canapés. Luckily seller elvisashers had a bread and butter plate which will serve nicely in the very rare pattern Tyrolean Bands 4076. Unfortunately, this plate has had a lot of use in its time and quite a bit of the gilding has worn off. It sold for £16.01, which is a long way short of the last bread and butter plate sold in this pattern, which made £206.00 just 2 years ago, though it was in much better condition.

SKETCHING BIRD 3891 10½” plate

If something a little better preserved (and perhaps a little more restful to look at) is needed, don’t look in the direction of a cream SKETCHING BIRD 3891 10½” plate auctioned by a UK seller from Launceston in Cornwall. Only one bidder at £125.00 for this one. The buyer informs me that this bid was made via iphone whilst on holiday. Unwisely, as it turns out. It is in very poor condition (despite being referred to as “IN TOP CONDITION THIS ONE” by the seller) and a frank exchange of views is therefore currently underway. I will update you later readers.

Oval baby plate with Jack & Jill rhyme

Ok, I admit it, selfishly my first concern is what I can put in my own “north and south”, but now I have to worry about providing a plate for little Erin Elizabeth, my recently born granddaughter! Here we have the very thing, a nice oval baby plate showing Jack and Jill (and surprise, surprise readers – damned if they don’t appear to be falling down a hill), sold by hanfan2010 for £13.50. I bet this plate will never see any stewed prune and curried chicken flavour baby food will it, buyer?

SPRINGTIME 4751 teapot and trio.

Those who know me will be well aware that I am addicted to a nice cup of tea. What better to “mash” the wondrous brew in than this lovely Carlton China SPRINGTIME 4751 teapot? Seller dusteranddishes obtained £45.00 for it, but only £8.83 for a separately listed trio (bargain).

Pendant Bubbles 2845 AMORY coffee pot.

Apparently, there are some people who actually profess a partiality to that thoroughly noxious brew coffee (yuck)! I can’t stand it myself, and funnily enough, neither can the buyer of this lovely coffee pot in Pendant Bubbles 2845 eBayed by Manchester seller three-tailscollectables.

ROUGE ROYALE MODERN WARE chocolate mug & cover.

There are also people who like a nice cup of hot chocolate (yummy). Carlton Ware thought of that too, of course. I can’t recall seeing a wavy handled mug complete with its lid in Rouge Royale on eBay before, but I may be wrong. In any case it attracted interest and after 17 bids sold for £84.50. No doubt seller johill2 smacked her lips at the price and headed straight for the supermarket to buy some drinking chocolate to toast her success.

Dutch Scenes 2549 cheese dish & cover.

One of the types of ware not normally associated with CW (and one which I do not know any collectors thereof) is your actual blue and white. This month I found a nice cheese dish and cover with a windmill and sailing boat scene on it, mimicking Delft pottery. It was said by seller mikej49 to be in “good condition for its age”. Having said that I don’t know any blue and white CW collectors, it may pay to collect this genre in CW because after 5 bids it still only sold for £16.00. Investment-wise there can’t be too much down side risk at this price. Was it a good buy, reader?

Model of Colonial Hat with the crest on the New Zealand Rifles.

I don’t know much about crested ware, I freely admit. It doesn’t float my boat, but we are all CW brothers under the skin is what I say. Having checked with Harvey Pettit I am assured this is CW and not by one of the many other manufacrurers of crested china. Seller yorkgoss (who comes from Tunbridge Wells, not York – eh?) sold a model of a Colonial Hat with the crest on the New Zealand Rifles in perfect condition for what seemed to me to be a surprisingly high price of £103.50. Have you paid more for crested ware pieces? I would love to learn more about this side of CW, so do post your comments and stories.

Crinoline Lady Napkin rings.

And now for somebody who, ironically, does come from York! Seller kguest20 listed 6 Crinoline Lady Napkin rings. The strange thing is that there are 9 in the picture and no comment about the quantity in the description. Most odd. Well anyway, “If 6 Turned Out to Be 9” (hey, ya could make a song out of that) it would be an even better buy at £86.00. Give yourself a brownie point if you know whose song that was.

COLOURED WARE napkin rings.

Another item I have been watching for some time is this set of 6 novelty Napkin rings. Stylistically, these were completely different from the previous item, but equally collectible. They finished up at the opening price of £180.00 for seller happy_aly. I am sure I have seen these on eBay before and who knows maybe we may well do so again.

Blushware Ginkgo Leaf biscuit barrel.

Luckily, I was saved from starvation at the last minute (see above) by a wonderful repast prepared with endless patience and incredible skill by my very own ever-loving Mrs Masterspy (you creep, Masterspy…. Yeah, ok, but I know which side my bread is buttered on). However, my meal is wearing off now and I feel a bit peckish again…. Biscuit anyone? I am sure we could all reach for a biccie from this beautiful barrel, couldn’t we? UK seller 41ollied must have been delighted by the 9 bid crunch match with the cookie finally crumbling at £113.15. However, consultation and research shows that this Art Nouveau style pattern could be a one off and unsurprisingly the buyer “nearly performed a cartwheel” to celebrate. Clearly a massive bargain. The new pattern already has a tentative name – Ginkgo Leaf. There is no pattern number on the base, but it is clearly from the same period as Blush. Some people have all the luck…. Grrrrrrr.

Stellata 3326 preserve pot. cover & stand.

Now don’t be too fussy, readers. Biscuits should be fine for anybody, but if you insist I can offer a nice scone with some jam on it. Where did I put the jam, oh yeah, it’s in the Stellata 3326 lidded preserve pot (complete with saucer). Sad tale time. Hankies ready everybody. I have an octagonal lidded pot in this pattern, but my mother-in-law decided it should take a swift and vertical trip to the floor. Just waiting for it to come back from the restorer (hey ho). Now call me an old cynic if you wish, but Mrs Masterspy has made no secret of her total hatred of this pattern. Do you see the way my mind is working on this one, readers? What should I do? Any advice welcome. Anyway, enough of my problems. I reckon premierpottery must be another delighted seller because despite a chip on the rim of the saucer it made an astonishing £181.00.

TUT 2711 bowl.

Perhaps we should be good and try to get some of our healthy “five a day” fruit and vegetables today readers. Hmmm. Where can I put these figs and dates? Why not in this handy 9” fruit bowl in TUT 2711? A little gilding loss on the rim shouldn’t offend the Pharaoh too much (after all, he hasn’t been in much of a position to complain for the last 3 millennia, has he?). Certainly 5 bidders thought so too and bid it up to £410.00. You could buy 10 camels and a couple of concubines for that sum! I can just see glad-findings happily belly dancing all the way to the bank. Calm down masterspy, I thought you had got over that sort of thing – editor. I could go on stretching this line even further by mentioning a plate and cigarette box in EASTERN SPLENDOUR sometimes called Sultan & Slave, both eBayed this month, but I don’t want to push it too hard. Who me, push it too hard?

FLOWER & FALLING LEAF 3948 bowl.

We certainly don’t want to get our citrus fruit all sticky from those dates and figs, so we will need another bowl. UK seller diddybox felt the need to sell a fantastic 9” bowl in FLOWER & FALLING LEAF 3948. WHY???? It is one of the all-time masterspy favourite patterns. Tears pricked my eyes and cascaded down my cheeks when this one went elsewhere. I took to my bed and moped for a week. Well worth £280.00 in my opinion.

Parkland 3523 bowl .

Too many oranges, lemons and limes to fit into 2 bowls? Ok, I will go and fetch the 10” Parkland 3523 bowl in pale blue eBayed by earp1001. What a cracker and fought over till the last orange pip squeaked at £601.00. Are you happy with it, buyer? Do tell us.

Fantasia 3421 cigarette box.

Now you have filled your faces with my biccies, cakes and fruit you can take your ciggys outside and smoke them on the “naughty step”. I suggest you carry them outside in the cigarette box in Fantasia 3421 sold by akmrjb for £390.00. Even now you could buy a fair few cigarettes with that much money. Mind you, let me think, 1000 ciggys or a Fantasia box, hmmmm, easy one, no contest. I have no idea if the buyer partakes of the evil weed or not, but having paid £390.00 I can’t see any ciggys going into this box any time soon.

Feathertailed Bird & Flower 3355 10” cylindrical vase.

While you anti-social lot are outside adding to your carbon footprint I will tell everybody else about the vases we are going to put the flowers you brought round into. First up is a lovely Feathertailed Bird & Flower 3355 10” cylindrical vase sold by the imaginatively named road-to-victory. Sadly it has a crack in it, properly disclosed by the seller and consequently it fetched only £93.67. I bet it appears again at some point without said crack.

Heron & Magical Tree 4160 vase.

Heron & Magical Tree 4160 is a superb deco pattern, especially in this colourway, and shape 1675 is a spellbindingly complementary execution of the design. Only 5” tall, this one, but what a beauty. Is it worth £440.00, buyer? It certainly looks like it to the masterspy.

FOREST TREE 3244 vase S406.

This month also saw another nice 406 shape 6” vase in FOREST TREE 3244. Like the last one, this piece has a chip, this time under the base rim. Nevertheless it went to £141.37. A good price in my opinion, considering the presence of the chip. Yankee seller samjoelin stated in her listing and in answer to a question from a potential buyer that the blue ground was in “Hammered Pewter” which is the name of a pattern not a finish. I can see what she meant, but I call it “shark scales” and Harvey calls it “pebbled”. Feel free to make your own suggestions for what this finish should be called. I wonder how they created it. Anybody out there know how it was done?

DRAGON 3251 vase S406.

Not to be outdone, glad-findings listed her second 6” 406 shape DRAGON 3251 vase in 3 months. The first one brought in £217.34, but this one raised the bar to £252.00. A good price for the seller, but what a blue! Say no more.

APPLE BLOSSOM 3522 vase.

Next up is a very pretty 5” 467 shape Handcraft APPLE BLOSSOM 3522 vase. It looks in excellent order and I would have loved to buy it. Unfortunately, seller tann10 has posted it elsewhere. No matter how long I press my nose against the frosty window glass the postie is not going to knock at my door. Sigh…. and only £165.00 too.

Handcraft CLEMATIS 3525 jug vase.

As you know, I like my jug vases. Guess what, readers? Correct, I did it again. I sat on my hands waiting for the right moment to make an offer on the super CLEMATIS 3525 7” jug vase listed by call94, which is a pattern I STILL don’t have. Some evil eBayer nipped in and stole my prize away with a sneaky Best Offer. Curses, curses and more curses (imagine me twirling a long thin moustache, readers, with a wicked scowl on my face). Serves me right.

Chevrons 3657 vase S406.

Lastly with regard to vases a fantastic 11½“ tall (yes, I did say 11½” tall) 406 vase was listed in Chevrons 3657. It reached around £155.00 and disappeared before it was due to end. Gobsmacked! Gutted! Horrified! Nay, readers…. Mortified! I was playing poker here – I was going to go “all in” at the death. Mind you, so were half the collectors in the Milky Way! Simply put, sadly, the seller lost her nerve. It hasn’t come back on eBay (yet), so I assume somebody has thieved it away from us all with malice aforethought. I wonder where it sits now. Fancy telling us, buyer?

Lightning 3692 inkwell.

Almost done folks. An inkwell with a chuffing great crack inside was listed by cobwebschoice. It was in the quite rare Lightning 3692 pattern. I have no problem with the listing. It was entirely accurate.

In my collection I have a 7” jug vase and a 6” goblet-shaped vase in this pattern. Neither of them has a chuffing great crack. In fact they are both mint. Between the 2 pieces I didn’t pay much more than £300.00. Somebody has shelled out £437.50 for this little beauty.

Handcraft Wild Cherry chamber stick.

Anyway, I seem to have been writing this for days (I have, in fact been writing this blog on and off for 4 days), so it is time I climbed the little wooden hill to Beddington. What could I possibly need to light my way to bed, why, a chamber stick of course! My final offering is one such in the handcraft Wild Cherry 3272 pattern. It went for £51.00 to the benefit of UK seller creamofdevon.
So, “good night children, everywhere” (there came the sound of a candle being gently blown out). Don’t wake me up until next month, unless you want to send a comment or question in of course. Happy eBaying!
eBay masterspy

Mad Items

Perhaps the funniest item in a whimsical way was the stretchy €50 note offered by smuttygifts for only £1.99. Ahhh, if only you could spend them like real money, but that they would last as far as you could sssssstretchhhhh them. I bet George Osborne does too.

Most useful mad item of the year was possibly the 25Kg of ground glass eBayed for only £19.99 by frostautorestoration, because after finally seeing off the wife / husband by feeding some to the other half you will no doubt have plenty left with which to sort out the rust on your car. Totally excellent. A double bargain!

Most worrying item was probably the weird Marcie Misery doll created by seller justinaerni who wanted £63.75 for it. What is inside that guy’s head? Whatever it is must be pretty unpleasant and I don’t fancy having any of it, thanks muchly.

There is no doubt which is the most discordant item of the year. That was last month’s offering the 1967 single “It Can’t Happen Here” by Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention. Funnily enough, I don’t remember any reader posting in his or her deep and abiding admiration for it. I wonder why not.

 
So, which one does masterspy think was maddest? Well, Marcie Misery by a mile, no doubt in my mind at all. Do you agree, readers? If you want to suggest a different winner, maybe one I haven’t even mentioned, write in and let us know.

 
Over Optimistic EBayers

 
I haven’t been doing over optimistic eBayer of the month all year, but I think I can still offer a top 3 for 2012. In first place and winning by a distance was cky_him_rule who thinks his Golly playing a piano sugar bowl is worth £700.00. It isn’t. Take two noughts off the price and it just might get a bid. Lack of success hasn’t prevented a dogged determination to relist it at the same stupid price every month though. Very puzzling.

Undecorated BUTTERCUP butterpat

 Second is the seller who listed a 65mm undecorated butter pat dish in BUTTERCUP for A$1599.00. At least this person saw the error of their ways and changed the price after a few days to A$9.99. Didn’t do any good though as it didn’t even sell at that price.

CHINESE BIRD 3729 MELON coffee set

Third is nwantiquesandcollectables who listed a coffee set in CHINESE BIRD 3729 at £2500.00 opening bid. It has been relisted at £1650.00 and still got no takers. I wonder how much it will eventually sell for, especially considering that two of the pieces are actually damaged. I am sure that every one of you out there has at some time hit search and found an item listed at an outlandish price and either sat there laughing like a drain, or perhaps feeling really annoyed that an item you actually like very much and would love to bid on is priced to not sell – ever. Tell us about it. Get it off your chest, dear reader! 

CHINALAND 2946 trumpet vase S165

The “Good Stuff”

I do love CHINALAND in all 3 colourways and I do love a nice trumpet shaped vase. Seller dealsanmore sold one such 10” tall in orange 2948 for a handsome £678.36. CHINALAND is simply a potter’s tour-de-force and an amazingly complex pattern.

JAZZ STITCH 3655 VELOX bowl

As you all know by now I also love the VELOX shape, so when one in JAZZ STITCH 3655 was sold by joncrm you can rest assured it was followed very closely by the masterspy. I reckon the final price of £431.00 understated how striking this piece is.

Zig-Zag 3356 chamber stick

Next came a chamber stick in Zig-Zag 3356. ZZ is a pretty uncommon pattern. I can understand this to some extent as the design is so strong it might not be to every collector’s taste, but as far as the Masterspy is concerned this was simply a bargain buy for the lucky eBayer, as it only went to £136.15. Pity it wasn’t me.

Devil’s Copse 3769A CONE bowl S1062

How often do you see Devil’s Copse in the uncommon yellow colourway on eBay? Not very often. mackems1 found a super 9” cone bowl hidden away somewhere and launched it on eBay. It raised a surprisingly low price £759.00. Four figures, I thought. Another bargain.

Fan shaped bookends in black & green

The following month catstealer must have sold all his book collection because he listed a pair of the most magnificently Deco bookends in a superb black and green. They fetched a huge £231.95 and entirely deservedly so in my opinion. This was despite the presence of a small chip underneath one of the bookends. I must mention here that I am indeed indebted to The Cat for extending my knowledge of Yorkshire dialect, because in his listing he referred to this chip as a “spelch”. Nice one, Cat. lol. 

TUT 2711 FOOTED FRUIT S184

In July we took a “Walk Like an Egyptian” (Bangles music fans will remember that little ditty) as tofvoszi did the sideways thing with a TUT 2711 two handled footed fruit bowl. He BINned it and it didn’t take long before somebody whipped it away for £450.00. Oh My Amun, what a bargain!!! After all, it can get damn hot out there in the Egyptian desert, can’t it?

Secretary Bird 4918 jug S470

Secretary Bird 4918 ruby colourway is simply magnificent in my humble opinion. It had long since been my ambition to own a piece in said pattern and colourway and I achieved that during the year (and very happy I am about it too, readers). Yorkshire-based lujesjaz sold an 8” jug, though not to me, for £400.00. I do have a jug in this size and shape in another pattern and it makes a superb display piece, so even though there is a little restoration to the rim of the jug I still think the buyer got a very good buy.
Metropolis 3420 is, as all my readers well know, one of my top patterns. I think I may have finally figured out why (at last)! Claude Monet painted a series of paintings of the Houses of Parliament in London at the beginning of the 20th Century. 

Metropolis 3420 jug vase S496 & Monet painting

Amongst these was Le Parlement, Effet de Brouillard, 1903, which can be seen in the flesh at the Museum of Fine-Arts, St. Petersburg, Florida (which will be exceptionally convenient for one of my readers). It definitely puts me in mind of Metropolis, despite being of a different city and depicting a different time. I do like my Monet and this is a very fine subtly lit and shaded atmospheric painting. I have enjoyed seeing the picture in books and one day I may get to see it with my own eyes, you never know. The 7” jug vase sold by call94 went to a lucky eBayer for a very reasonable £176.15.

FRENCH 3334 AKA Sunflower Geometric FOOTED FRUIT S184

Another two handled footed fruit bowl arrived in September. What a cracker! The FRENCH aka Sunflower Geometric 3334 beauty, again eBayed by lujesjaz, moved me to say that I had considered kidnapping family members in an attempt to secure it. Alas, I didn’t (secure it I mean, nor did I kidnap any family members). Gorgeous and many might say well worth £550.00.

Cloud Flowers 3568 vase S457

If you are looking for rarities to add to your collection readers, one of the rarest soon followed, a 7” vase in Cloud Flowers 3568 which rose skywards to a lofty £425.51. “A Dream is where a boy can swim in the deepest oceans and fly over the highest clouds” (J.K. Rowling – Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban). I didn’t even bother bidding as I reckoned (quite correctly as it turned out) that an eBayer with much more money than me would be the buyer. Oh well and hey ho.

Scimitar 3651 vase S442

Easily the highest price of the year was obtained by daisy-jack for an 8” globular vase in shape 442 decorated in the much sought after Scimitar 3651 pattern. Somebody shelled out the huge sum of £4000.00 for this magnificent piece!!! I can honestly say that I did put my grubby mitts on this vase, unfortunately it was at the NEC Antiques For Everyone show, not after unpacking it. Obviously somebody else had that thrill. Sighhhhh.

 
Finally, in at the death came doncaster-collectors-emporium with a 14” x 8” trinket tray in the pink WAGON WHEELS 3813.

WAGON WHEELS 3813 trinket tray

The big bidders were out in force to try to claim this prize. 9 collectors bid this one up to a massive £2149.00! What a pressie to unwrap at Christmas (and I had to make do with a jumper – again…. mumble….grumble….mumble)!

So there we have it, readers. Which one does eBay masterspy give this year’s top accolade to? Hmmmm, I may call this award the Golden Cuthbert Vase. Yes, I like it. In third place is the Scimitar globular vase. It is only third because of its high price, which most of us can never aspire to. In second place I put the Metropolis jug vase, for the exact opposite reason, its price was remarkably low for such a personal favourite. In first place, and inaugural winner of the Golden Cuthbert Vase was (slight pause as he opens the envelope) the Sunflower Geometric two handled footed fruit bowl. Why, because it is simply a wonderful piece of CW. It is magnificent and I wish I owned it.  Do you agree with my choices? No? Write in and tell us.

Before long I will be doing the usual monthly blog and I hope you will stop by again and read it when it is posted to the site by the indefatigable Harvey.

Until then, have fun on eBay.
eBay masterspy.

“Christmas is coming, the Goose is getting fat,
It’s Carlton Ware for me, be it gloss or matt.
Christmas is coming, the Goose is getting fat,
Please put a Jazz vase in masterspy’s hat!
Christmas is coming, the Goose is getting fat,
If not Jazz, leave a big piece of Mondrian on my welcome mat!”

Regrettably (and unsurprisingly) it didn’t work.

As the great David Bowie once sang “I’m busting up my brains for the words”. Now I know how he felt! Better not give up the day job just yet, eh, readers? Not much of a threat to Carol Ann Duffy anyway.

Well, it was a strange month. At one point I thought I was going to have to write a blog about stuff which didn’t sell, but happily one or two gems surfaced after all.
Nevertheless, let’s start with the mad and overpriced items of the month. First up is a little pair of earrings by juliettejewiz. So what is unusual in earrings, I hear you ask? Well, if you give your head a sharp turn whilst wearing these earrings ladies, I reckon they will smack you right in the eye. On the credit side, if you are desperate for a quick gamble, perhaps you could take them apart and use them for a quick game of Craps. Bargain for a fiver.

 I am tempted not to describe this item at all. Perhaps I should let the picture speak for itself. Naaah, you know me by now, readers. Seller hotstyle360 of Dubai (a first appearance for the desert state in the blog, readers) describes this lovely piece of, errrr, gear as “slightly more hardcore”. At last, a seller who gives an honest description! Offered for £62.00 opening bid, it attracted 9 bids, selling at £75.16. No Mrs Masterspy, I won’t wear it! Ever!!!

TEMPLE 3003 VELOX bowl

There were a number of over optimistically priced items to choose from this month, but in the end it came down to a choice between 2. US seller, realjon19 of Missouri listed a very nice TEMPLE 3003 VELOX bowl on Ruby. Now I like a nice VELOX, having an example of the shape myself, but TEMPLE at £927.19? Errrr, no, I don’t think so.

MODERN WARE coffee set

My other contender is the well-named eagerdealer (well, wouldn’t you be eager at this price)? He or she listed a MODERN WARE coffee set for £500 and got no takers with only 28 viewers, so undaunted (and dare I say, over eagerly) tried again with a listing for £525.00, helpfully giving a BIN price of £750.00. Bear in mind that 2 of the pieces are damaged. No, I am sorry, my eager one – wayyyy too much. I bought a perfect set myself for less than £100.00 on eBay, so I am fully qualified to speak. I have never quite understood why sellers re list at a higher price, having failed to sell sometimes more than once.

And this month’s winner is…….. eagerdealer. 

CHINESE BIRD MELON coffee set

As a quick aside, by way of updating you all, the CHINESE BIRD coffee set which won overpriced item of the month last month for its nosebleed price of £2500.00 was not sold when re listed at £1650.00. I did say it was still too high, especially with a damaged piece. Perhaps an auction starting somewhere sensible, say £500.00 and see where it naturally finishes up, seller???

Anyway………

The month started on the first as usual! I had wanted to grow a beard for charity (following “Movember” comes “Decembeard” these days), but ‘er Indoors said no, just as she did last month. She said she would rather cut a toe off with a rusty old nail than kiss me sporting a beard or moustache, so a clean-shaven masterspy carries on regardless. All donations to Masterspy’s Movember and Decembeard Downtrodden Husband’s Popular Resistance Front will be gratefully accepted. I will overcome!

TEMPLE 2481 is a pattern in which I own a number of pieces. I don’t have a vase in this lovely shape though. At 8” in height, it isn’t small either. A tiny bit of gilt wear on the top rim, but well worth the £24.87 paid by the buyer to UK seller alacander. Some people have all the luck (and maybe a nice beard or moustache too, eh buyer).

NEW STORKS 4339 temple jar

Keeping with the Chinoiserie genre, Cheshire seller premierpottery listed a 16” temple jar with a Dog of Fo finial in NEW STORKS 4339. This monster was bought for £285.00. It was previously auctioned in Stoke, so I was able to cast my beady eyes over it and can tell you that it was in good condition with only 2 of the tiniest chips on the lid rim.

WORCESTER BIRDS 2196 temple jar

Any fans of WORCESTER BIRDS 2196 will no doubt have been moved to flights of feathery delight by the large 14½ʺ temple jar in matt yellow offered by Aussie seller the-sweet-tricorn as a BIN for £498.00, it was shot gunned toute suite for £401.62. Lovely piece.

Unidentified pattern

At the opposite end of the size scale we have a little 463 shape globular vase in an unidentified pattern, which to me has an unfinished feel to it though this is possibly because at first I saw it as being similar to ROOKERY & PHEASANT. Perhaps this is a trial that wasn’t adopted. If so, the buyer got a bargain at £22.67, whilst seller zeichen1 will no doubt be more than disappointed.

PERSIAN 2884 covered vase missing cover

2000 miles to the west of China, CW also drew inspiration from Persia (as Iran was known in the 1920’s). This 11” covered vase – minus its lid - in PERSIAN 2884 is a lovely shape and attracted much interest despite a lack of pictures which prompted potential bidders to ask what designs were not pictured on the sides and rear and how the inside was finished. This reminds me of the century-old adage that a picture is worth 1000 words. It does surprise me that when eBay sellers only have words and pictures with which to market their wares the quality and range of pictures is often given scant attention. As it was the vase still made £206.00 for Cornish eBayer kernow_x, but was this top money, who knows?

Floral Comets 3422 vase, Floral Comets 3422 jug vase, Eden 4241 vases

One or two items were listed which didn’t sell as usual this month. Normally, unless these are official “over-optimistic” items I rarely include them, but some do stand out from the crowd. Firstly we had an absolutely stunning 8” 463 shape globular vase in Floral Comets 3422. What a piece! It is back on eBay now at a somewhat lower price. There was also a terrific JAZZ 3353 7” jug vase which somewhat caught my attention. Lastly we were offered a pair of 7” Eden 4241 1692 shape serpentine handled vases which are now being offered one at a time.

Shamrock 3235 HANDCRAFT chamber stick

Time for a spot of HANDCRAFT. Where’s masterspy’s trusty tool box? Let’s start with a chamber stick in Shamrock 3235. The buyer will no doubt be happy to relieve subsubsub0 of it for only £29.99. A good buy.

Metropolis 3420 HANDCRAFT vase

As you will all know I have a yen for Metropolis 3420, a HANDCRAFT decoration, and this 4½” globular vase is no exception. This is such an evocative pattern of its time. I am so glad that it isn’t normally completely out of my reach (not that I bought this vase). Yankee seller tyler*95 was responsible for whetting my appetite with this beauty and was rewarded with a very satisfactory £247.50 for his efforts.

SPRING 3865 vase S406

Next up was a 406 shape 6” vase in SPRING 3865 in “superb condition” which was auctioned by UK seller nwantiquesandcollectables. This one was hard fought over by some determined eBayers and reached a dizzying height for this pattern at £142.00 after a 25 bid battle. Are you happy with it buyer?

SPRING 3897 jug vase

By contrast a jug vase in SPRING 3897, a much rarer variant of this freehand decorated pattern, only realised £56.00 for bumble.bee despite 11 bids being made, which just goes to show how sought after the 406 shape vase is. A tall jug was also sold in the same pattern for only £20.00 if further proof is needed. Someone’s had some bargains!

Previously unknown HANDCRAFT decoration

Perhaps the star of the month in HANDCRAFT price-fetching terms was this 5” globular vase similar to the Hiawatha pattern and unknown to us here at Carlton Ware World. This looks unfinished to me, but that certainly did not deter 4 bidders from war-whooping it up to £600.00. But soft, dear reader, I have saved the best bit till last! The seller’s name is bluehippychick32. If that doesn’t paint a picture of the seller I don’t know what will. I love it, definitely name of the month if nothing else.

Arrowhead 3416 HANDCRAFT REVO tray

Seller bluehippychick32 followed this up with a REVO dish in the very rare Arrowhead 3416 HANDCRAFT pattern. I am surprised that this piece did not pierce the sky price-wise, flying to only £112.50.

Lazy Daisy 3414 chamberstick

Now, comes my monthly “if only” item. I absolutely ADORE the chamberstick in Lazy Daisy 3414 in a very rare colourway sold by zeichen1, but lazy masterspy did nowt and it got away for £160.00. Sob, sob, sob. Damn, damn, damn.

Grebe & Waterlily 3530 vases S217

Best Ware didn’t do too badly in this allegedly slow month of December either. Let us ascend the price ladder and see what occupies the top rung. Regular CW seller glad-findings seems to have a never-ending supply of good CW and this month was no exception. This time we were treated to a lovely little pair of 217 shape 3” tall vases in the ruby colourway of Grebe & Waterlily 3530. One day the masterspy will get round to bidding on G & W in this colourway, because it is a stunner isn’t it? Certainly the winning bidder must think so because there were 9 other bidders who also wanted this pair and the price rose to £280.00. A very good sum for such small pieces. Are you delighted with them, buyer? Do let us know.

Rabbits at Dusk 4247 jug

On the other hand it is hard to tell what will happen on eBay and one of this month’s auctions certainly surprised me. I have commented several times on the high, sometimes huge, prices being paid for Rabbits at Dusk 4247. Have the buffers been hit at the end of the line, or is this just a blip? One can only imagine that UK seller jayne8379 must be gutted to only get 2 bids to £285.00 for an 8” jug when recent prices have been nearer 4 figures than 2 figures. What is going on, I hear you say. Were buyers put off by just one mediocre picture of a high-priced item? I know I would be.

Secretary Bird 4018 MODERN WARE jug

Mind you, it isn’t jugs going out of fashion because trampuss sold a 1347 shape example in Secretary Bird 4018 for £450.00. Once again I believe I may have seen this auction recently in Stoke. If it is the same piece I saw in Stoke it is in fine fettle. Good value in my opinion, but certainly not a third of similar recent items in the same pattern.

Secretary Bird 4018 vase S777

Now this isn’t funny. I have to grit my teeth and tell you of a 6” vase in my favourite shape 777 (of which I STILL have no examples) in one of my favourite patterns. Why do you lot keep bidding loadsamoney on the ones I set my heart on? It took 23 bids and £577.00 to part good1091974 from this little beauty. No surprise here.

Heron & Magical Tree 4293 vase

 When we get to 4 figure prices we are in the territory of the heavy hitters! The air is far too rarefied up here for poor old eBay masterspy to breathe. Sighhhhhhhhhhh. Once you get to 4 figures the quality is magical though. When this piece, a 5½” globular vase in Heron & Magical Tree 4293 on the pale blue shading to pale pink ground was listed, I sat back and thought, here we go. Chaaaarrrge! The said heavy hitters did not disappoint. There were only 3 of them in there, but I bet tyler*95 is damn glad they were, because the wizard with the smokin’ wand had to shell out £1269.58 to get him to box it up for posting.

WAGON WHEELS 3813 trinket tray

Finally and occupying that top rung of the price-ladder……… If I ever buy a large piece in this colourway and pattern you can turn me in to the police immediately, because I will have had to rob a bank for the funds! You don’t see mottled pink WAGON WHEELS 3813 14½” x 8½” trinket trays on eBay every week, do you? So it was just a matter of how far this wagon would roll. 9 bidders really battled it out until the price reached a dizzying £2149.00. WOW! Already one of masterspy’s friends has emailed saying “I wonder how much my WW vase is worth now?” You wouldn’t want to be the under bidder having gone to over £2000 would you? The frustration would be enormous.

What a month! I have had to buy a new PC and get used to Windows8, not to mention the marathon challenge which is the modern British Christmas. Currently I am sat typing in my dressing gown at 5:00 am, as I am unable to sleep due to a heavy cold. As usual I welcome your comments on all matters CW. Please get in touch; you people are what make this page tick.

Nigel

These matters are as nought compared to the sadest of events. Before finishing this month’s blog I would like to say a few words about losing our good friend Nigel Howse, the husband of Carole Moore, CWW’s founder member and Events Organiser. Sadly, Nigel died in a road traffic accident on the 28th of December. His humour and friendship will be much missed by us all. Our deepest sympathies go out to Carole and all their family. Rest in Peace, Nigel.
Best wishes,
EBay masterspy.

The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,

I know of no reason

Why the gunpowder treason

Should ever be forgot.”

Where else could I start in reviewing eBay for November? I reckon there are a few of you out there at the moment that would gladly set light to the fuse! Politicians, eh? Who’d have ‘em? Man the barricades, Carlton Ware Brothers in Arms! Slaughter ‘em to a man! Ok, enough of fermenting bloody revolution (for today at least). Well, what happened this month? There were a few gob smackers for sure and the usual crop of goodies, overpriced stuff and mad items.

Mad Item of the Month

Speaking of mad items, I reckon I have a contender for Mad Item of the Year here, not merely of the Month! Back in 1966 a young Californian musician named Frank Zappa and his band The Mothers of Invention became tired of “old square” people making comments that clearly indicated (usually fairly robustly) that their music was not entirely melodious and was “Commie influenced” (seamless link to the intro, eh?), so they set out to answer their critics. They created a little ditty called It Can’t Happen Here. It was aired one Saturday evening on a TV programme called “Juke Box Jury”. This was hosted by a gentleman called David Jacobs (who was firmly among the “old and square” generation). He played new songs and 3 people (celebs) decided whether the song was a “Hit” or a “Miss”.

It Can’t Happen Here was entirely outwith his ken. Sadly (?), it was voted a “Miss” by the panel. However the song has a huge cult status, both here and in the States amongst hardcore Zappa fans. This month I spotted an original 7″ vinyl version on eBay by UK seller onlygnom for £70.00. It didn’t get any takers.

I will leave you to judge for yourselves whether this was a surprise when you play it by clicking on the record above.

Overpriced Item of the Month

Stellata or Wild Cherry 3326

Once again we have 2 contenders. In the blue corner we have occasional UK seller trampuss who gave me the pip with a pair of 6″ Stellata or Wild Cherry 3326 406 shape vases. The starting price was £550.00. Nope. Too much. 2 other Stellata/Wild Cherry listings this month, one for an 8″ candlestick which went for £75.00 and a second for a 3 piece cruet which went for £40.00 back this up.

CHINESE BIRD 3527 MELON coffee set

In the mottled pale orange corner (ok, it isn’t exactly a red corner as tradition requires, so sue me, ok?) was one of the gob smackers of the month. Unfortunately the price was quite a bit toooooo gobsmacking. nwantiquesandcollectables thought an eBayer might be persuaded to pay at least £2500 for a CHINESE BIRD 3527 coffee set with a restored cream jug. Surely not, when 2 similar quality sets, the BELL on yellow and the PARADISE BIRD on yellow listed recently by pre82 didn’t attract a single bid at £1000.00 in perfect nick, which I can vouch for as I have seen them. The winner this month is nwantiquesandcollectables. Well done sir or madam. Da-dit-dit-da-dit-dit….. Latest news – early in December it has been reduced to £1650.00 (still too much).

Basket of Flowers 2194 candlesticks

At the opposite end of the over/under pricing scale, a denizen of Torquay and CWW member, puffett almost sold a beautiful statement 10¼” tall pair of candlesticks in Flower Basket 2194 recently at the CWW Get-together in The Potteries for £40.00. He got no takers at that price (although sadly, I have to tell you readers, that both I and Mrs Masterspy hovered over them indecisively for a long while). So he listed them on eBay and our favourite auction platform did him proud with a 10 bid battle culminating in a bid of £194.99. There are two morals to this tale, readers, firstly where the hell were you when such bargains were floating about at our sellathon (I can promise you this as I benefitted from several of them myself, he he he)? Secondly, eBay will find what something is worth one way or the other. There is no need to list at daft prices.  

FIGUREHEAD shape coffee set

Right then, I suppose it is time to go for the gob smackers. You will have to imagine my tears, readers. Trust me, there were plenty. The first one I want to mention is the absolutely wonderful and extremely rare FIGUREHEAD shape coffee set for 4 in pattern number 3796 (with a cracked sugar bowl). I remortgaged the house, I sent Mrs Masterspy out every night for a week in the local cruising area and I flogged the company car to try to buy it, but at the end of the day I finished a mile short. Hey ho. Portuguese seller melofrei saw it rise to a stunning £1701.00. The last 4 of the 17 bids were from the same buyer, so it could have gone even higher. 

Scimitar 3651 vase S442

Naturally I can’t go any further without mentioning the 8″ 442 shape Scimitar 3651 vase sold by daisy-jack as a BIN for a mere £4000.00. I wonder who is gloating over that big and bouncy beauty? In fact I am dying to know. Go on, reader, you know you want to tell us. I did hold this incredible and well nigh perfect pot in my hot and sweaty paws at the NEC Antiques for Everyone fair, but I don’t suppose I will ever see it again. Sob.

Awakening 3450 cigarette box

Continuing with the gob smackers, one of my fave patterns is Awakening 3450. Although the ruby and green (and other) colourways of this pattern are rarer than the brown, I think this may be my preferred colour (not that I will ever own one – sigh). I promised last month that I would be including items from catstealer this month now that he has recovered enough strength in his mouse finger to list again (hmmmm, cat and mouse, Tom and Jerry – one of my puns is trying to claw its way to the surface here, but I will let you think up your own this time). I have also held this trinket/ciggy box in my hands and it is gorgeous. As I said in my last blog seller catstealer has made a pact with the devil! I can also add, that having now had the brief pleasure of meeting Mrs Catstealer, I can clearly lay this to rest once and for all! Lovely lady! He HAS INDEED made a pact with the devil. Luckily for the Cat he has £329.99 in his pocket to spend on his lovely lady. 

FOREST TREE 3254 ginger jar

Very early in the month a Yankee seller listed a 10″ ginger jar with lid in excellent condition in FOREST TREE 3254. He said in his listing that he wouldn’t post to the UK. I emailed him twice to ask him why not, or if he would entertain a bid from me. He didn’t answer. The auction ended short of his reserve price at a ridiculous £27.94. Fool.

“Wabbits” fans prick your ears up now. Danger lurks in the long grass. Several pieces of Rabbits at Dusk 4247 and one in the rarer 4257 came up for auction this month.

Rabbits at Dusk 4247 & 4257

Some pretty tasty (sorry animal lovers) prices were paid. Amongst these there was a 10″ shouldered vase from Scottish seller a.kerr which saw 10 foxes chasing the bunny up to £811.30 and a lovely 10″ diamond tray shape 1286 which was offered up to the shotguns by candleman38. Six pot shots later the stew was boiled up for £650.87. The same seller must be inundated in the furry little critters because he also had a 7″ 1676 shape jug in the pale green 4257. Somebody else has it now and paid £415.00 for the privilege. Cheap perhaps, compared to the others.

BARGE 2519 DON vase

Now it is the turn of Chinoiserie and Chinese influence fans to be gobsmacked. BARGE 2519 is one of the finest patterns produced by CW before Art Deco became the house style of the factory. I love it. The only problem with BARGE pieces is that the orange is prone to flaking off because it was applied over large areas. A vase in the DON shape (ice bucket to you and me) with a few such slight orange flaking imperfections was listed by markyeva1968 during the month as a BIN at £154.99. I have one of these (luckily without any flaking) and I can tell you readers that it is front and centre in my Chinoiserie cabinet. Incidentally, for those of you who love the pattern there is a 10″ lidded ginger jar and an excellent large jardinière on eBay at present.

CHINESE BIRD 3527 plate

Next up is a 9″ cabinet plate in CHINESE BIRD 3527. Just the thing to go with your overpriced coffee set in the same pattern and colour. A curious pattern, this. It has an unfinished look, but comparing it to other pieces this plate is not unfinished, so it isn’t just this piece. Seller thekemporium frisbee’d this across the ether and back came bids up to £135.00. Not bad for a 9″er. 

CHINESE BIRD & CLOUD 3274 Rumidor

Finally, I saw a 7” Rumidor in CHINESE BIRD & CLOUD 3274 listed by US seller bearyscloset11, but due to an overoptimistic asking price of £623.95 he still has it.

Lovely piece though – a definite gobsmack.

3″ bowls in Gazania 3592 & Mandarins Chatting 3654

After all these gob smackers, what about a dose of “less is more”? Mrs Masterspy loves little pieces and there were 2 tiny beauties this month in the same shape and size. One was a lovely 3″ bowl in Gazania 3592 sold by delnjane for £45.00 and the other was in Mandarins Chatting 3654 sold by pixie5144 in OZ for £109.64.

Rosetta 3505 vase S406

A Violet Elmer triumph next. Rosetta 3505 6″ vases in 406 shape don’t grow on trees (ooops), but they weigh heavy with fruit, certainly for seller thirdeye76 who can afford a few goes on the lottery now, having trousered £432.15. A very very nice piece. What do you think readers?

MODERN WARE tea for two

One of my favourite sellers’ names is glums. I bet they aren’t living up to their name at the moment though, having achieved a selling price for the “less is more” sparely-designed MODERN WARE tea for two in orange of a stunning £375.00. Very nice…. 

Medley 3588 MODERN WARE preserve & stand

Definitely in the “less is more” envelope design-wise is my old friend Medley 3599. catstealer put this lidded preserve pot complete with its oh-so-deco saucer up for auction and it went for plenty of money for this pattern. I bet the cat has ripped the lid right off this preserve pot and is currently sticking his paw inside and licking off all the jam!

GARDEN cigarette box

This next piece was featured back in the October blog when it sold for £161.00. The buyer was not happy with it and returned it because it had “less (is more)” paint on it than it should have had (ha ha). It has now sold again for £20.00. Perhaps more like it under the circumstances.

Peach Melba 2448 jug vase

Finally in the “less is more” section, seller delnjane auctioned a 6.5″ Peach Melba 2448 jug vase. For me this pattern has an almost impressionist quickly drawn feel to it, as if the design was never quite fully finished, but, as I say…. less is more. The seller managed to get a sweet and tasty mouth watering £100.00 for it after 6 bids. Lucky lucky seller. A really good price, don’t you think? 

Jagged Bouquet 3457 rose bowl

So, what else did I like? The rose bowl in the very rare Jagged Bouquet 3457 which seller mauliz auctioned for £162.23 comes immediately to my mind. Bargain of the month for the lucky buyer.

ANEMONE 3694 REVO tray

Naturally I loved the 8¼” ANEMONE 3694 REVO tray sold by nunraw for £225.00. As I turn now to my left as I type I can see my own 10″ example. Just beautiful. So vibrant, so colourful, positively exuberant. Lucky buyer.

NEW ANEMONE 4245 ginger jar

And while we are doing a spot of Anemone-ing what about this 8″ NEW ANEMONE 4245 lidded ginger jar in one of my fave colourways (the pale blue shading into pink, or is it pink shading into pale blue)? So delicate.

BELL 3786 vase S457

As you know I do like my BELL 3786, so when catstealer found an 8″ 457 shape vase it was bound to be sought after and so it proved. After 19 bids the cat pocketed another £601.00 to take that lovely lady of his somewhere special. What do you mean; stop feeding her ideas, cat? Me?

Devil’s Copse 3787 CONE bowl

Lastly I don’t want to miss the 9″ conical dish in Devil’s Copse 3787 BIN/ONOed by inspiration54 which went for £420.00. Why don’t I want to miss it out? Because mine has now proved itself to be a bargain!

Once again I intend to write both a final monthly blog for 2012 covering items listed in December when the time comes to do so and also a masterspy “Items of the Year” article. If you have any suggestions for pieces to be included feel free to respond to the blog.

Regrettably (and somewhat angrily), I must also report that one of the items I mentioned 4 months ago has reappeared in a restored condition (as I fully expected) without being described as such by an unscrupulous seller. Outcome, almost £400.00 profit for a bit of effort and some white spray paint. Not on. Be very careful out there, buyers.

As ever, I hope to hear from you with comments, ideas, information etc. Feel free to do so.

Good hunting (but make sure you bag what you expect) and of course Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all.

 eBay masterspy.

After what seems like an age the masterspy has triumphed once more on eBay! Yessssssss!!! I feel like a thirsty man in a desert with a glass of cold beer in front of him (think of the end of the film Ice Cold in Alex and you should get the drift). I will leave it up to you, readers to imagine the humungous triumph which has engendered this explosion of relief and joy. Suffice it to say that I am currently a very happy man (it won’t last long, but I might as well write my blog while I am in such a good mood). So then, what caught my eye this month, readers?

Mad Item of the Month

I am sorry to say that while you get a happy blog, my humour does occasionally descend to the 14 year old schoolboy level. So here we have such an item, seller shineyredshoes has plumbed the depths of the Mariana Trench and has come up with one which made the masterspy smirk in the aforementioned schoolboy way. He or she auctioned a copy of Oh Yuck, The Encyclopaedia of Everything Nasty by Joy Masoff. Just the picture is enough to put anyone off…. and it did indeed put everybody off…… No takers whatsoever, even at only £0.99!

Over Optimistic EBayer of the Month 

Stork & Bamboo plaque

Once again I find myself hard-pressed to make a decision between 2 very different offerings this month. US seller lukantiques has a 15.5” charger in Stork & Bamboo on bright yellow (“puke up yellow” as a friend of mine somewhat unkindly calls it but you should see the colour of his car!). Notwithstanding my friend’s less than enthusiastic endorsement of the colour, it may look very striking to many of you and me, but I bet the price doesn’t…. £1240.44. Yarooo!!! 

“Old Woman tossed up in a basket” baby plate

Carlton Ware baby plates are a specific collectable genre and they have devoted adherents with plenty of nice examples, not least of whom is the CWW Chair herself. I doubt if she would be reaching for her mouse to buy robinsonsrelics1’s monochrome plate though, not unless she reduced the £100.00 asking price.  
After deep and meaningful thought and agonising consideration I award this month’s Over Optimistic Seller award  to……. robinsonsrelics1 . Well done, sir or madam!

This Month’s Goodies

PARADISE BIRD & TREE 3151 MEOL coffee set

The Stork & Bamboo charger reminds me of two other bright yellow lots eBayed during the month, coincidentally both by pre82, a UK seller from Norfolk. They were coffee sets, one in PARADISE BIRD & TREE 3151

BELL 3774 AMORY coffee set

The  other in BELL 3774. Both were priced at £1000.00 to start and but neither sold. The BELL set is right up my street, but my bank manager would have committed hara-kiri, so no bid from me (come on now, readers, none of us would like to see a poor innocent banker bleeding to death on the floor with his entrails spread out across the concrete, would we???). You are right; I should have bid after all.  

GREEN TREE 3569 HANDCRAFT plate

There were some other pieces this month which I reckon also exhibited stunning colours. I have a little HANDCRAFT vase in GREEN TREE 3569 in my collection, which I adore, so the 9¼” plate in the same pattern and colourway auctioned by prosch1900 floats my boat for colour. What a green! OMG, what a green! At £51.15 the buyer will surely be really chuffed to own this one.

DRAGON & CLOUD 3331 ginger jar

Reliable seller glad-findings had 2 beauties. First up was a 10½” ginger jar in DRAGON & CLOUD 3331. What a green this one is too! 8 of you thought so too and bid it up to £216.00.

DRAGON 3251 vase S406

Secondly, yea and verily, she brought forth unto the world of eBay another DRAGON, this time a 406 shape 6” vase in pattern 3251 on an absolutely stunning matt blue ground. I bet Harry, Ron, Hermione and the buyer are all well pleased with this fearsome fire breather. Certainly 8 intrepid members of the Order of the Phoenix swished their wands 13 times and the lucky wizard with the Elder Wand had to pay £217.34 to slay this particular dragon. I bet it is on the mantle at number 12 Grimmauld Place right now.

Awakening 3456 vase

I reckon it is time for some rarities…. There is a saying in Manchester that you wait for ages and then two 53 buses turn up together (mainly because “that part of Manchester” is somewhat “iffy” and there is strength in numbers), so when a little ruby ground 4¼” globular vase in Awakening 3456 rolled up it was followed closely by a pair of candle sticks in the same pattern and colourway from the same seller, mthroness. Unfortunately one of the sticks had a restuck chip on the base. The vase made £621.15 and the pair of sticks only £97.93.

Awakening 3456 candlesticks

Now, I reckon both these prices are cheap. I have been watching eBay for a long time now and I don’t recall any pieces in Awakening in ruby. Even if I have missed one (I am unbelievably old after all and I have long since made the acquaintance of Dr Alzheimer) they are still extremely unusual. I was ready for a 4 figure job for the vase, so I bet the buyer was pleased. Were you, buyer? 

Cloud Flowers 3568 HANDCRAFT vase

Another pattern I haven’t seen on eBay this last millennium is Cloud Flowers 3568, a HANDCRAFT decoration, lifelinemacarthur, a charity seller in OZ, has though. A 7¼” vase was rummaged out of the attic and was quickly snapped up for £425.51. Another bargain? I reckon so. Damn that bank manager! Da dit dit da dit dit…. Late news. A fellow collector has sent me information about another Cloud Flowers vase sold recently in Canada! This was a 5” 467 shape vase with a rather prominent rim chip. Despite this it made £308.60, which says it all about the ££££s pulling power of a rare CW pot.  

Carnival 3305 HANDCRAFT jug

Carnival 3305 in matt pale blue is also part of the HANDCRAFT range. You can’t get much more geometric deco than this pattern. Well, Aussie seller bakerhoughtonantiques listed a little 3¾” squat jug and 6 bidders tripped the light fantastic to the Copacabana and the Brazilian beauty who danced to success paid £91.84 for it. I bet they are dancing in Rio tonight!

PRIMULA 3749 HANDCRAFT vase

I am not sure how rare this one is, but again, I don’t recall it appearing before. Seller mackems1 auctioned a 6” 443 shape vase decorated with PRIMULA 3749, which had an unusual background of mottled pink with wide mottled green borders. This too is part of the HANDCRAFT range. 8 eBayers wanted it badly and it made £141.00 after a 12 bid battle.

CONE bon-bon possibly decorated in RAINBOW LUSTRINE

Lastly, an honourable mention should go to UK seller puffett who finally, at the third time of asking, got £30.00 for a 4½” rimmed trefoil conical dish in what he thought was an example of the elusive RAINBOW LUSTRINE. Hardly a crock of gold for such a rare piece is it? Again, I have never seen this pattern either listed in books or websites, or on eBay, so I am surprised the big collectors didn’t have a nibble (I wonder if you all noticed it). Has anybody seen this pattern before? Do tell us if you have.

Rabbits at Dusk 4247 MODERN WARE preserve pot & stand

On the other hand there were some eBayers out there prepared to pay over plenty of good dough this month and no mistake. There could be nowhere else to start other than with the lidded preserve pot and stand auctioned by a.kerr in Rabbits at Dusk 4247 in orange. What is it with you lot and the blooming “wabbits”? Back in May 2011 an 8½” jug (in green) went for £1158.69 and 2 months earlier a cracked 10” 443 shape vase (in pale yellow) went for £595.00. More “common” pieces in the orange regularly fetch north of £300, often even when crazed, scratched or exhibiting gild wear. You really do love the “wabbits” don’t you, readers? Certainly 8 of you do, because the price ended up at an eye-watering £845.00. OMG! I hope the buyer puts this little piece where it can be seen easily. At that money it needs eyeballs staring at it all the time. 

Floral Comets 3406 REVO FRUIT S324

My wait for a Floral Comets 3406 piece in matt pale blue goes on. Damn, and damn again. Two identical pedestal REVO FRUIT bowls came up this month. One went for £263.79 while the other one did £439.99. UK seller jamesmiles2012 listed his with a couple of scratches, but Canadian seller harwil had some re-gilding of one handle, hence the disparity in prices.

Next in the high price section is a lovely petrol blue pedestal gondola in CHINESE BIRD 3196 auctioned by UK seller laughteristhebestmedicine for the not inconsiderable sum of £549.99.

CHINESE BIRD 3196 pestal gondola

I would have loved to grab this one and so would one of my acquaintances, however his Internet crashed shortly before the end of the auction and he was unable to bid. He tells me that he was going to bid quite a bit more than the winning amount. Sad for him, but I wonder if the seller is still laughing now he knows this.

Secretary Bird 4018 MODERN WARE tray

Secretary Bird 4018, designed about 1937 by the late great Violet Elmer is an example of Carlton Ware at the forefront of British Art Deco design. It epitomises Violet at her artistic zenith only a year before leaving Copeland Street to get married (See, I have thoroughly read my copy of Cast Aside the Shadows by Elaine and Barry Girling – a great book by the way and not to be missed). Not only is the pattern stunning, but the shape of the finned tray on which the pattern sits in pre82’s offering is sublime.

Wile E. Coyote found himself alone at the winning post with a singleton bid of £350.00. “Meep Meep” as the Road Runner would say. Lucky buyer.

BELL 3788 vase S467

BELL 3788 (in the delectable mottled ruby lustre which the masterspy just adores) is another of the Violet Elmer patterns from her purple patch in the late 1930’s. A 4” squat vase in shape 467 came to eBay this month via seller clarendon_house27vx. 13 bids were placed and the division bell rang at £490.00. Well above the masterspy’s magic £100 per inch threshold. 

JAZZ STITCH 3655 jug

I simply can’t leave out the superb JAZZ STITCH 3655 7” jug listed by a_perfectionist. It certainly attracted plenty of interest and 21 beefy bids, culminating in a killer blow of £510.00. Wo’a jazzoh (as we say in Manchester)! Rough translation…. “I say chaps, what a superb example of the potter’s art this piece is and no mistake”.

FLOWER & FALLING LEAF 3949 CONE bowl

I have always loved FLOWER & FALLING LEAF 3949. US seller samjoelin listed two 7” conical dishes and one was quickly snapped up for a mere £527.59. Lovely lovely piece. I have an almost perfect Aztec dish in the same pattern and colour which you and any 10 of your strongest friends could not prise out of my cold dead hands with a jemmy. Good luck trying!!!

Devil’s Copse 3817 REVO tray

Another version of a pattern which is still on my list of unrequited loves is the matt turquoise Devil’s Copse 3817. South African seller ungaas has been listing a REVO dish for some months now, progressively reducing the opening price. It found its level as a singleton bidder took MY prize at £311.10. Grrrr. Just one more reduction and I would have been in there (the happy mode I started with seems to have dissipated now, doesn’t it readers?)

PERSIAN GARDEN 3894 vase

The same seller has been adopting the same periodic reduction tactic in listing and relisting a large 10” 457J shape vase in PERSIAN GARDEN 3894. A little rim gild wear and a restored base rim chip on this one, but a big old hunk in a rare colourway, so it eventually also found a new home with another singleton bid of £248.75. I would go Grrrr again, but I am all grrrrr’d out. I have only once seen a piece in this pattern/colour combo and it was stunning. Oh well, sigh.

Medley 3587 powder puff bowl

Whilst mentioning pieces with a bit of damage, in some cases it can hold the price down dramatically, but still display well. A case in point is the Medley 3587 powder puff bowl offered by bumble.bee. This one has a perfect lid, but a crack and chip on the base. As I have said in this blog before Medley obviously has no main pattern display side, so turn it to the back and it is as good as new and for £19.78 who can sniff at such a price for such an unusual shaped piece?

HOLLYHOCKS 3972 jug

Much more severely wounded, some may say fatally so, was an 8” jug in HOLLYHOCKS 3972 offered by US seller iraelvira. It wouldn’t be possible to display this one without showing some of the damage, but it could go on a top shelf perhaps. At £7.81 (plus postage and customs of course) it might still have a little life left in it. The seller hopefully says “a restorers dream,” more of a nightmare I would hazard (and expensive to repair too).

FOREST TREE 3244 vase S406

Sometimes sellers (especially when new to eBay) can make too much of damage while at the same time not making the most of a good pattern name. Out of focus photos don’t help either! This piece, listed as “Carlton Ware vase” with “damage” is a FOREST TREE 3244 vase in 406 shape with the tiniest of chips on the rim. It can hardly be seen and if the vase is turned round the pattern on the other side will display perfectly. “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet” as the Bard had it in Romeo and Juliet, readers. £60.00 seems good value to me, well worth snatching up a Buy it Now anyway. Are you happy with it, buyer? Do let us know.

Felix the Cat ashtray for British Empire Exhibition 1924/5

Lastly for this month another item linked to me by a fellow collector in Australia certainly deserves a mention here. This is a little British Empire Exhibition novelty ash tray depicting Felix the Cat made in 1924/5. It caught the imagination of 7 bidders, who fought hard for it and went to a remarkable £412.97 to buy it. I imagine seller collektiques is off down to the tobacconist to buy a few extra-long Havana cigars to celebrate. It just goes to show the broadness of the church that is Carlton Ware.

I am sad to report that UK seller catstealer has not been very well this month (don’t panic readers, he has had a virus, not a heart attack), so his pieces have been a little thin on the ground on eBay recently, but he is well enough now to list some new pieces again as I am sure some of you have noted on eBay yourselves. I reckon they may well feature next month! He finds so many good pieces I asked him recently if he had made a pact with the Devil and do you know readers, he actually admitted it! Say no more (you heard it here first – lol). Anyway, do have a healthy month yourselves readers. Please feel free to make any comments you wish in the time-honoured fashion.

eBay masterspy.

Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;

Conspiring with him how to load and bless

With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;

To bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees,

And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;

To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells

With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,

And still more, later flowers for the bees,

Until they think warm days will never cease,

For Summer has o’er-brimm’d their clammy cells.

John Keats – Ode to Autumn, penned 19th September 1819

This is undoubtedly one of the top 20 poems in the history of English poetry and at this time of year a more than appropriate introduction to my blog. Keats was one of the great tragic figures of English literature, dying of Consumption (TB, or the Poet’s Disease as it was known) at only 26 years of age. His gravestone in the Protestant Cemetery in Rome bears the words “Here lies one whose name was writ in water.” Sad. Think about it. Hopefully, however, you will have had a mellow and fruitful September of eBaying (unfortunately I haven’t – hey ho).

Over Optimistic EBayer of the Month

Tendrillon 3858

When a seller lists an item with a Buy it Now price almost twice that of the highest price achieved by any piece in the same pattern in the last 3 years on eBay it is fair to say they are being seriously optimistic. This month, an Aussie seller wins the “Golden Plonker” with a sterling effort. He or she tried to get £385.00 for a 466 shape 8” vase in Tendrillon 3858. Nobody bit on this expensive morsel – quelle surprise.

Undecorated POPPY butterpat

A pretty good runner up though was  another Aussie (what’s got into you this month, my friends?) who launched a plain white glazed undecorated butter pat dish from the POPPY floral embossed range (only 65mm in diameter) at a ludicrous price of A$1599.00 – no doubt hoping to find a mug. After a couple of days the price was altered to A$9.99. Unlucky, no mugs about, but it didn’t even sell at A$9.99 either.

Mad Items of the Month

You have got to admire the nerve of an eBayer who finds a tired and tattered old photo (preferably one with little or no artistic or significant historical interest) and lists it at a huge price to see if there are any idiots out there. One such is serial offender ampnoise who has found another such photo less than 5” x 3” in size and asked $99.99 for it. Not this time, Gromit.

An honourable mention also has to go to megabooks-uk for their book listing entitled “Never Marry a Woman with Big Feet”. Lol – ok, but why not?

This Month’s Goodies 

FAN 3558 gondola

In the early hours of the month a GONDOLA in FAN 3558 completed its run on eBay. Seller preciousbargains had quite properly drawn attention to previous fairly poorly restored damage and the final price reflected this. It cooled down at £145.99 after a 10 bid battle. I predict this will be with us again at some point looking in an apparently better state. Let’s hope the seller displays the same honesty about the condition as preciousbargains did.

Heatwave 4092 tubelined vase

An unusual, if not rare, 5” vase in shape 1156 with Heatwave 4092 pattern was auctioned by seller prosandsqs and went for the bargain price of £62.00. I bet the buyer breaks out in a sweat of pleasure to have won this hot little vase for such a cool price. I have a friend in the South East of England who has a piece in this pattern and I think it is very underrated – damn – I shouldn’t have said that, now you will all bid up the next one. Forget what you have just read. It is a rubbish pattern!

Late Woods orchid decoration 1980s

Last month might have been a juggy sort of month, but this month is very boxy! The first box which I noted was a one from the 1980s, listed as in perfect condition. I am not sure of the actual pattern name or number, but it certainly went at a massively modest price, only £6.55! I am sure the seller, alexcunliffe007 must be more than a little disappointed.

SKETCHING BIRD 3890 box

Next on my radar was a SKETCHING BIRD 3890 box listed by max313gerry, which flapped its wings majestically up to £365.00. A very high price paid for this one and no mistake, but equally speaking, a really good example. The matt glaze has the benefit of not suffering the same crazing seen on so many gloss pale yellow/cream pieces of such patterns as SKETCHING BIRD, Summer Flowers and the Mandarin (Tree and Chatting) patterns.

PERSIAN 2882 hairpin box

Next up was seller wonoften who had a tiny crimp-edged hairpin box from the HERALDIC CHINA range in PERSIAN 2882. Unfortunately this box has a few chips. Otherwise it would have made lots of money, but this time it only went to £29.89. Pity.

Moonlight Cameo 2944 round box

Back to Aussie seller 1080prospecting who this time mined a beautiful round little gem of a circular box in Moonlight Cameo 2944. 9 bidders dug deep into their pockets and raised a figure of £141.93. Again, I believe we may well see this again one day.

GARDEN GATE 3863 box

Another pattern I believe to be undervalued is GARDEN GATE 3863. I have described it in the past as mysterious, asking the question, what lies behind the gate. I still see it as very enigmatic, but this perhaps belies its simple and stylish prettiness. Unsurprisingly, a good CW box will attract solid money, but I imagine creamofdevon will have been well happy to trouser £161.78. Perhaps, this pattern is growing on you lot too.

WAGON WHEELS 3813 octagonal box

Lancashire lad potteryvillage-dot has been doing a bit of decorating and I don’t mean wallpapering the bedroom!!! He has made and painted a lid for a WAGON WHEELS 3813 octagonal pot (a sort of box, hey, cut me some slack here) which came without its original lid. After a considerable amount of interest and 27 bids it sold for £280.00.  Were you happy with the outcome, seller, or are you going to the pub next time and getting a man in to do the diy?

Parkland 3523 biscuit box

While with the same seller and the diy theme another interesting “sort of” box was sold simultaneously. This one made £155.00 and had the benefit of a real lid of the correct size and type which was repainted to suit. Were you happy with your Parkland 3523 biscuit barrel, buyer? Do let us know.

WATERLILY & DRAGONFLY 4492 box

I know many of you like WATERLILY & DRAGONFLY 4492, which uses a black ground. A more traditional, used-to-be a ciggy box, but now it’s a “trinket box” was auctioned by maisy-patcheye. Even at today’s price for baccy the buyer could have bought him or herself a fair few boxes of the evil weed for £303.61. That wisp of ciggy smoke has got in my eye I think reader, because my eye is watering. Oh, hang on a minute, it might just be the mega price that’s doing it!

RIBBED STONEWARE box with decoration 3845

To bring to a close my focus on boxes a RIBBED STONEWARE box with decoration 3845 in matt pale muted tones is not a high flyer, but the box sold by seller swillyrules was a real bargain for the singleton bidder at £14.99. I told you this month was boxy. Now do you believe me? Would I lie to you?

Hedgerow 3862 vase

I would have loved to have been in there fighting grimly to the last bidder for the lovely mottled ruby ground 5” 467 shape Hedgerow 3862 vase, but the item was located in South Africa and I couldn’t find out how much customs duty would be due, so I kept out of it. I regret it now, of course (I always do). Paisleylon of Pretoria still pocketed £204.35 without any help from me, though. Sigh.

PERSIAN GARDEN 3892 conical bowl

Another one I lusted over (stop right there masterspy, you know I don’t want you over exciting the ladies) but had to see go elsewhere was the 9” conical bowl in Blue PERSIAN GARDEN 3892. I have a similar sized normal bowl in gloss black which is amongst my 3 top pots. It would have looked lovely right next to it. Oh dear, oh dear. Sigh. My bottom lip is quivering as I write. clarendon_house27vx has £273.88 in the back bin to console him or her. I don’t. Sob!

CHINESE BIRD & CLOUD 3275 vase

Sometimes a small amount of wear or damage will bring an expensive pattern into range for us poor folk and this was exemplified when shamworcs listed a 9½” 406 shape CHINESE BIRD & CLOUD 3275 vase. This piece, uncommon in this size, has a bit of staining and crazing and a short hairline inside. From the outside it looks as good as new. The price reflected our fastidiousness about such things though and the hammer came down, luckily missing the vase by a hair(line)sbreadth, at £92.73. Is it a bargain, buyer? Tell us. Perhaps another one we will see again, who knows?

Asymmetric Flower bookends in decoration 3535

Seller sportycooper81 presumably likes his deco because up came a pair of Asymmetric Flower bookends in decoration 3535, again with a little chip on one corner and again the price reflected this, ending up at only £51.51.

Unfinished 9½” bowl in SKETCHING BIRD 3891
A finished example is shown on the right.

An unfinished 9½” bowl in SKETCHING BIRD 3891 missing its bird came to eBay (on foot of course, no bird, no wings, right?) via the hen coop of laughteristhebestmedicine. Somewhere on this there will be a fault, which explains why is was not completed. This also explains its low price of £16.01. Probably won’t fly if it goes on eBay again, readers. What do you think?

Toff bell

I think the little Ringmaster bell from a series of table bells is great fun. The “Toff” bell here made 2 appearances this month. Chelmsford seller debbier7414 sold hers for £50.00 to a singleton bidder. The other one didn’t sell at £155.00 (now going round again at £145.00). I doubt if it will sell this time either without a serious reduction.

Floral Comet 3405 tobacco jar

Matt blue and mauve Floral Comets 3405 pots are suddenly appearing across the night sky. Quintessentially deco and one of my favourite patterns. It has to be seen as a masterpiece really. Up there with WAGON WHEELS, BELL, FLOWER & FALLING LEAF, Sunflower Geometric, JAZZ etc for me. A 5” tobacco jar with a restored chip to the underside of the lid fetched a stratospheric £311.00 for seller jamesmiles2012. Lucky James also has a footed 2 handled REVO tray which will finish early in October and another seller has another identical piece which also finishes in early October. Not only that, but a 6” globular vase also appeared briefly, but went MIA. Watch this space next month for an update.

Wind & Flower 3508 HANDCRAFT candlestick

I haven’t previously noted the presence on eBay of HANDCRAFT pattern Wind Flower 3508, but a candlestick blew into town early doors from Canada and despite a rather average bit of restoration still made £34.68 for seller the_lion_passant. A good buy at this price I would say, considering the rarity.

Canada makes another appearance in the form of harwil from Calgary. A lovely 9” lamp base in the teal green Moonlight Cameo 2969.

Moonlight Cameo 2969 tablelamp

Again, this must be one of the rarest variants of Moonlight Cameo which should have overcome the price inhibiting effect of a small chip on the base at the back. All the more surprising then to see it only make £96.92. Are you happy with the outcome, harwil? Are you blind, buyers? It is a cracker!

Pansy 3424 HANDCRAFT REVO tray

Chuckin’ another HANDCRAFT pattern into the mixer, whinstanes sat back and waited for the bids for a Prickly Pansy 3424 REVO. Despite a chip on the back of the rim, unlikely to be seen on display, it rose to treetop height and realised £77.00. I had made my mind up to bid, but by the time it came to the moment of destiny to put my money where my mouth is the price had exceeded my expectations. Another sigh.

Fantasia 3406 jug vase

I have a small but perfectly formed collection of 3 (yes, three) jug vases, so when I saw a 7”er in dark blue Fantasia 3406 listed in the USA by kpstreet1 I sat back and watched the action with bated breath. Fortunately for the seller, 9 of you didn’t just sit and watch you made solid bids to £405.94. I believe an American may have won this one (little consolation for the battering the Yankees suffered in the golf tho’, ‘cos runner up in a field of two is, errrr, basically rubbish ha ha ha).

Mandarin Tree 3719 jug vase

Heron & Magical Tree vase

To finish this month I regret to inform you that collector/seller lujesjaz has unfortunately lost his marbles. Nothing short of this could explain why he has sold 3 gems from his collection. He has sold a superb 7” jug vase in Mandarin Tree 3719 for £300.00, a 5” Heron & Magical Tree 4160 flared vase, also for £300.00 and a Sunflower Geometric 3334 12” x 7½” footed and twin handled tray for £550.00.

Sunflower Geometric 3334 rectangular fruit bowl

All were in excellent condition. I had planned to kidnap his wife and children and ransom them for the Sunflower Geometric tray, but, oh well….. (Biggest sigh yet and a bunch of racking, anguished sobs and shudders for good measure). Why oh why did I have to start collecting this stuff?

So I am another month older (but not much deeper in eBay debt since I haven’t bagged anything of consequence), but at least I still possess all those important little bits a man doesn’t want to be without! I think you might just get my drift without having to spell it out any more graphically, readers. I hope you have all had a more productive month, collecting wise than I have and that you also still possess all the bits you hold dear!!!

Don’t forget. This is an interactive forum and I welcome any and all your comments. Feel free to make them, be you a new contributor or a seasoned one.

Good luck in October (as always, unless I am bidding of course),

Best wishes,

eBay masterspy.