​A 200-year-old teapot that very nearly ended up on the rubbish tip; a continental silver comport that pre-dated the French Revolution and an early 19th century linen press that was on its way to the bonfire . . . the world of antiques collecting is full of surprises. When in doubt, get it checked out, says Journal columnist and Brown & Co auctioneer Craig Bewick . . .

The New Hall teapot that was found wrapped in a pair of old trousers in a suitcase full of junk destined for the rubbish dump

What do you do with an old teapot that has a slightly chipped spout?  The executors clearing the house of a deceased relative had no doubts:  It was dropped in to one of a number of old suitcases of stuff that were to be taken straight to the rubbish tip.

That could have been that. Thankfully the case into which the old teapot was dropped happened to be full of clothes that were being thrown out . . . and then instead of being separated out from items that were being brought into the auction rooms at Brigg, the cases of junk were loaded on to the lorry too.

When they arrived in Brigg, one of our lads decided to go through them all, just in case.

He found the teapot entangled in an ancient pair of trousers, none the worse for its unorthodox transportation. My eyes almost popped out of my head when I saw it.

It was not, of course, just any old teapot with a chipped spout. For starters, it was almost 200 years old; it was made at the New Hall factory; it was rare and, despite the slightly chipped spout, it was in otherwise terrific condition.

New Hall was founded in 1781 and was the first Staffordshire pottery to successfully manufacture porcelain. The company was a syndicate of potters who came together to acquire the patent rights to make hard-paste porcelain from Richard Champion, who had pioneered the technique in Bristol.

Some of the major players in the 18th century Staffordshire pottery industry were involved in the project, including Samuel Hollins, Anthony Keeling, John Turner, Jacob Warburton, William Clowes and Charles Bagnall. Turner was potter to the Prince of Wales and New Hall pottery is to be found in the collections at the Royal Pavilion in Brighton to this day.

Early pieces were done at Keelings works at Tunstall, but after a bust-up, which saw Keeling and Turner leave the concern, production was switched to Shelton Hall – the “New Hall” that became the company name.

A difficulty for collectors, not to mention executors clearing houses, is that like many potteries at this time, New Hall was eccentric in identifying its wares, particularly in the early days. Things were often not marked at all; sometimes all they had was a pattern number, which could be anyone’s.

So in this situation we have to assess shape, design, colour, clarity and so on. It is not something that can be easily read up in a guide. Expertise is down to how much of the stuff you have seen, studied and handled.

The executors were a little shocked when we gave them the news that their old teapot was worth at least £150, but when it was actually sold in the last antiques sale of the year at Brigg, in December, it did rather better than that – the hammer went down at £560.

The successful buyer was a private collector from Norfolk bidding on the Internet. He did not want to trust his newly acquired treasure to the post and so he drove up to collect it in person. I did not mention to him how it arrived with us!

As the sale of the teapot underlines, early pottery and porcelain are fields in which major discoveries are still made on a regular basis. Another area that can produce surprises is that of continental silver, particularly pre-19th century continental silver.

The English hallmarking system is so well known and so simple to sort out with the aid of a cheap guide that, unless marks are badly rubbed, few people will have very much trouble with it. However, continental silver is an altogether more complex matter. It is not uncommon for sleepers to slip through.

That last auction of 2009 saw a continental silver comport make £500, 10 times the pre-sale estimate of £50. We thought it was 19th century; specialists in the room took the view that it was 18th century.

However one of the star lots in the auction – and certainly the star item in the great escapes department – was an early 19th century mahogany linen press. Standing over seven-and-a-half feet high and eight feet wide, it was a big, big piece of furniture of a type that is no longer the height of fashion.

The owners had long since tired of it, first shifting it into a garage and then deciding to get rid of it altogether. The drawers of the piece were actually in the bucket of a tractor in readiness for them to be put on a bonfire when someone decided perhaps they really should get us to take a look at it before going ahead.

They were pleased they did: I had the feeling that it was a piece by Gillows, one of the most famous names of the 19th century, but sadly, there was no maker’s stamp on it. Nevertheless, it sold for £2,200, so it would have been a pretty expensive bonfire. Had we found a mark stamped on the top of a drawer or under the base, we could have been looking at a cool £30,000.

What do we take from all this?

Just be careful when getting rid of old stuff. If in any doubt, get an expert opinion. At the Brigg Rooms we have a free valuation session every Thursday morning when anyone can bring in portable items that they wish us to take a look at. We’ll drop by your place and look at larger items that are impractical to bring along to the auction rooms.