Collecting Newlyn Copperware
Investment In English Antiques Made By The Newlyn Industrial Class
A high bid for a Newlyn tea caddy at auction suggests that investment in Newlyn Industrial Class copperware remains a significant area for collecting English antiques.
Antique enthusiasts gasped as a small Newlyn copper tea caddy, a repoussé piece with fish motif, signed by the artist T.C. Gotch, reached £210 in an auction room in England this Springtime.
About Newlyn
Newlyn is a cornerstone of the social history of the Cornwall, Devon in England as hard working fishing village, with a large fleet in operation today. Late in the 19th century, an artist named John Drew Mackenzie and local Member of Parliament Thomas Bedford Bolitho responded to an economic downturn – caused by bad weather and low fishing stock – by setting up the Newlyn Industrial Class to train underemployed fisherman to produce items in copper.
Copperware
The Penlee House Gallery and Museum in Penzance, Cornwall in England curates a permanent and comprehensive collection of copper work of the Newlyn Industrial Class and artworks by the Newlyn School of Painters including Henry Scott Tuke, Stanhope Forbes and Walter Langley.
Historians have noted that the introduction of rolled sheet copper in the early 18th century encouraged artists to work with copper. Newlyn Industrial Class artists – including Perry Craft, Reginald Dick, John Drew Mackenzie, T.C.Gotch and John Pearson – specialised in repoussé copper work.
Craftsmanship
Metalworking of an antique repoussé piece is characterised by a raised design on the front shaped by hammering on the reverse of the metal. It is a slow process as the continuous sheet of copper is stretched to form shapes. Such skilled labour and detailed ornamental design from the rough hands of fisherman and other port workers in Newlyn adds to the value and provenance of the work. Experts advise to buff the copper rather than polish to offer authenticity in original appearance and retain value.
Motifs
Like other Cornishware, motifs of the Newlyn copper design usually featured fish, ships and nautical themes. Popular with skippers and sealovers, smaller items can be displayed effectively in clusters of Newlyn Copper and with other arts and crafts antiques. Larger Newlyn Copperware pieces – such as vases with shoals of fish – are rare to find in the English antiques market in excellent condition.
Investment
A full range of copperware was produced by the original Newlyn Industrial Class including food and beverage containers such as tea caddys, coffee pots, fruit bowls, plates, chargers, trays and interior design items including mirror and photograph frames and storage boxes. Artists of the Newlyn Industrial Class inscribed their names on copperware and from 1917 onwards, a Newlyn mark was inlaid in the metalwork.
With fine craftsmanship, rarity and enduring aesthetic pleasure of copper, Newlyn Copperware is a significant area for collecting English antiques.
