Vintage shop - Quirksome Vintage in Southampton

FRIDAY FACT - Chimney Pots For many of us as children, the sight of smoking chimney pots in the colder months was a common one. Over time, with environmental clean up programs, they are less likely to be seen these days as houses have changed to cleaner ways of heating and cooking. These days, chimney pots are more likely to be seen serving as planters in the garden. But how do you know how old a pot is or who made it? ... The shape and design are the best clues as to the date of your pot. Look carefully for a maker’s mark people were proud of their products and unlikely to allow an item to leave their factory without marking it. Don’t be fooled into thinking that the ornate gothic style pots are older than the more modern, streamlined versions though, there was a gothic revival period in the mid 1800s where these highly stylised pots became popular. Most chimney pots are made from unglazed, red, earthenware pottery. Stone and concrete mixes were less popular. Some of the finer earthenware examples were glazed inside and out to help stop the build-up of soot and protect them from weathering, whether or not this worked very well is doubtful. If a pot was glazed, it was generally a salt glaze that was used. Very early chimneys don’t survive well as they tended to be built from individual brickshence no actual ‘pot’ to survive a building being taken down. Occasionally these brick chimney stacks were topped with a small, plain pot but more often just a decorative brick edging. Hampton court palace has some fabulous examples of extremely ornate brick chimney stacks with very plain and modest pots on top in fact a visitor doesn’t tend to even notice the tiny pots, just the brick stacks. The style of a chimney pot on a house gave an indication as to the wealth and social standing of the owner. It mattered so much that even companies like Royal Doulton (better known for their fine china) produced pots. There are many styles of pot, some of them have vented tops to avoid backdrafts (most annoying and very smoky on a windy, winter’s day). Many have rain guards to stop water entering the chimney and causing the fire to spit black, sooty drops into the room below. Some have partial covers to stop birds entering the chimney during the warmer months and nesting there causing the home dweller an expensive clearance by the chimney sweep before the fire was able to be lit again. Nests not only block the chimney but can also cause chimney fires. Copper and various other metals have been used to make chimney pots, but these have generally been used on industrial buildings where the size of the pot needed would be huge hence using metal, much lighter than earthenware and no need for it to look nice. Next time you’re out for a wander, look up. How many chimney pots can you spot? If you are lucky enough to live in an area with a lot of older buildings, take note of how the pots differ according to the age and grandiosity of the building.

Vintage Yale Pull-Lift. Sell as is or clean up and go for the big bucks? Working order but would make a magnificent industrial display piece. Yale still make them........400!! DM us for price whilst in "as found" condition. You will be pleasantly surprised! #tools #winch #vintage #industrial

Pleased to announce our latest Virtual Vintage Tour is now available for viewing on YouTube (search Quirksome Vintage Virtual Tour 11/11/20) All prices are considerably reduced while lockdown is in force. Safe collection, click and collect and local delivery are all available. #quirksomevintage #clickandcollect #vintageshopping #Southampton #robinsnestemporium

Quantity of Royal Navy uniform items. The items that have visible dates show ww2 issue. Looks like this all issued to the same sailor as his name appears on most of the items. Mixture of hairy blue items and white, almost canvas, summer or tropical items. Being sold as a job lot. Trade price available. #royalnavy #sailor #ww2 #livinghistory #uniform

Cute pair of dogs. 1935 vintage and with some pencilled notes on the bases including date 11/11/1935 #schnauser #1930s #quirksomevintage