If I ever sarcastically said to my old boss "Well you learn something new every day", he would instantly reply "It’s a fool who doesn’t" and this is something I am often reminded of as a valuer.
Even something as simple as a nutcracker can reveal a whole new world as I have found since cataloguing a single owner collection of antique nutcrackers for the forthcoming Sporting & Collectors sale of 18th September 2013.
A 19th century Black Forest carved bears head nutcracker
Perhaps like many people I had only seen the typical lever type crackers once a year around Christmas, but the collection has opened my eyes to the wonderful world of nuts and antique nut crackers. There are a wide variety of materials and methods for cracking nuts and each of these vary again for different types of nut.
A 20th Century 'Tough Nut' table top percussion nutcracker
From small brass 18th century crackers to 19th century carved wooden crackers from Germany and Italy, the collection has a good range for all enthusiasts. The appeal of nutcrackers is universal from the treen examples of the Pinto collection in Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery to the Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum in America.
Some examples of the type of crackers included within the Sporting and Collectors Sale of 18th september 2013 can also be seen at www.nutcrackers.org.uk.
