Topic: Did i do good? A Michael Harris CRIZZLE Stone!!

[Andy]

Well, knock me down with a feather, going round the local auction rooms yesterday, on the
bottom shelf, i just noticed as iwas turning round out of the corner of my eye, something i
recognised!  Blimey, i said, or words to that effect, its a Mdina Crizzle Stone
So up early today, waiting for lot 275, described as Mdina Axehead vase a/f (tiny chip to base)
Prepared to go to mid hundreds, bargain of the year, lets just say into 3 figures! and it was knocked
down to me, adrenalin pumping!
Just picked it up, and i have to show it off to my friends on the GMB
And remind you all to keep looking , this time it was my turn to get lucky!
Its even got price on it of £8 2 shillings and sixpence!!!!!!!!!!!!! and a label with  wp4 on it ??
Any ideas anyone??

Hope you like it
Andy 

[Andy]

Couple of things,
anyone have a theory whether the price was for the piece new, in Maltese pounds, or the UK?
I asked at the auction, the piece came from a house clearance/ desceased
so i presume it  has not been on the market anywhere before.

Andy
(im still smiling)

(ps its nearly 10 inches wide, and fraction over 6 tall)

[Lustrousstone]

    :hiclp: :hiclp: :hiclp: Probably in UK £, Maltese currency didn't come into existence until 1972 (when Mdina was founded they would have been on UK currency) and that price tag is in pounds shillings and pence!!!!!!!!!!! You can date it to within two years

[Andy]

Thanks Christine,

A little info on Crizzle stones, from Mark Hills Blog, I read this before the auction, and thought
i probably didnt stand a chance!


http://www.markhillpublishing.com/page20/page20.html

Andy

[Leni]

Wow!  I reckon you done good!  :hiclp:  :girlcheer:

Only a little while ago I thought I didn't really like Mdina However since then I've bought a couple of pieces, and - I have to say it - I just LOVE this piece!     

Congratulations!   

[Andy]

Thanks Leni,
theres a world of difference between everyday tourist pieces of Mdina, and the top end!

A useful(or useless?)  bit of info....
In 2006, £8 2s 6d from 1970 was worth:

£86.83  using the retail price index
£88.33  using the GDP deflator
£157.96  using average earnings
£188.35  using per capita GDP
£204.95  using the GDP

Andy

[MarkHill]

I shall say only two things:
Yep, it is exactly what you think it is - it's one of the larger and most 'fulsome' I have seen and the number and colours of layers is outstanding.
and
I am a deep shade of bottle GREEN with envy!
As you'll have seen from my website, the last one I heard of that came up for public auction fetched around £1,200 including premium...!!
Mark

(P.S.; Oh well, I guess I ought to say it too - through ever so slightly gritted teeth - congratulations Mr Sharp Eyes!!!!) 

[paradisetrader]

The first one in the book looks almost exactly the same as yours. It's described as "very rare" altho the fact that 2 more have cropped up within the 16 months since the book was published should be disconcerting for the person who paid £1000 for one.

Your pics are good but I have found that it's difficult to get across the real beauty of Mdina in photos. In my experience they are almost always better than their pics. That and several hundred pounds profit .... What's not to like ? Well done !

The price label is the most interesting. Andy you should write to Mark to make sure he sees this topic. > Oh he has, I see, while I writing this and trying to say bye to someone on the phone.

Before '71 it could refer to either country. UK decimalized in '71, Malta in '72. Malta had their own banknotes in addition to using UK notes. The value of UK and Maltese pounds remained the the same till the late 70's.

Anyway it seems clear that the label was from the original purchase as it would have only been produced in 72 at the very latest. 

Dymo labels were very popular in the UK for about the mid - late 60's onwards for labelling a wide range of things.   I don't remember them being used for price labels. In the UK Mdina was sold at large prestigious stores such as Chinacraft, Heals & Liberty at that time. It seems strange that they should use them. Personally I could imagine their use as more likely at the tourist outlets on Malta.

Mark mentions that they were expensive. £8 would have represented high percentage of a weeks wage for many people at that time. My first job as a clerk in the accounts dept of a shipping line in the City paid £12 per week. I have just learned that a bricklayers apprentice in Gloucestershire was on £13. A good wage was £25pw at that time.

Hope this helps
Pete









 

[Andy]

Thanks Mark, thanks Pete,
reassuring to get lucky, once in a while! and quite a coincidence for quite a keen Mdina collector
to find such a piece in a small provincial auction house

Any theories for the wp4 on the price label? maybe just a shop code.
I cannot decide whether to take off the black Dymo label, I suppose its all part of the history!
I cant imagine Heals or Liberty putting it on, so maybe its from a Maltese shop, I think if i bought it
in 1970, i may have taken that one off!

Andy

[Lustrousstone]

I might consider taking its Dymo label off but keeping it safe. I hadn't realised the price was on the paper label as well, so it might just be an owner applied thing. The WP4 is probably the item code. Definitely take the auction label off, perhaps keep it with the Dymo label. Dymo was the thing in the 1970s!