Antiques slideshow – in pictures

Item one: a pearl and diamond necklace, sent in by Barbara Méresse. This item is designed as two-hoop set with hold-cut diamonds and pear-shaped diamond drop centres, with a central golden pearl and diamond surmounts, on a simple curb-link chain. It looks to have been converted in the 1920s from a 19th-century piece as the diamonds are old-cuts and mounted in silver and gold. The pearl would need to be tested. Value: £800-£1,200 Photograph: Barbara Méresse

Item two: a late-Victorian cast-iron table mounting kitchen implement, sent in by Scott Paterson. This has six serrated blades issuing from an axle, mounted with a turning handle on a cast-iron stem with screw clamp. It is inscribed ‘Lovelock London’, which was best-known for table-mounted mincers and coffee grinders, and dates from the late-19th century. The precise purpose of many of these Victorian gadgets is uncertain, although it was obviously designed for food preparation. Sadly these items, while fascinating for social historians, command little at auction. They were made in large numbers and their quality means many are still around. Value: £10-£20
Photograph: Scott Paterson

Item three: A gold filled/plated hunting-cased Elgin winding watch, sent in by Safia Saeed. The movement dates to about 1905. It is frosted gilt with seven jewels, bi-metallic compensation balance, white enamel dial, Roman numerals and subsidiary seconds. As no photographs of the case were submitted it is difficult to fully assess the watch, but Elgin pieces were made in large numbers and values tend to be modest. The valuation provided is based on the assumption the casing is plain or with a simple engine-turned decoration. The owner has mentioned it is marked ‘Guaranteed 10 years’, which would indicate it is gold plated. Value: £20-£50
Photograph: Safia Saeed

Item four: Hundreds of Tunstead and Happing, Smallburgh Poor’s House, vellum bound, sent in by Tracey English. This is a lovely piece of ephemera from 1809. Monetary value is relatively modest, but the social value is far greater, and public records offices and museums are always keen to add items of this nature to their collections. If selling, you should do so in the Norfolk area where interest is likely to be greatest. Value: £200-£300 Photograph: Tracey English

Item five: a tray depicting Chhinnamasta, sent in by Edwin Robinson. This was made in Bengal or Bihar, east India, circa 1900. Such recent brass and copper trays from India are not generally of great value, although this is rather unusual and it is nice to have the two metals used together. Value: £200-£300 Photograph: Edwin Robinson

Item six: An Italian pottery dish, sent in by Bruce Dyck. Decorated in the sgraffito technique with a stylised bird among foliage and inscribed ‘1793 HR’, this dish is actually a 20th-century copy of a late-18th-century piece and it is likely it was made as a commission for the Metropolitan Museum. Although Picasso decorated ceramics during the mid-20th century, his pots were made in the south of France and are of a different material. Although attractive, this example would be of limited value at auction. Value: £20-£30
Photograph: Bruce Dyck

Item seven: a Soko China part dinner, tea and coffee service, sent in by Sandra Almeida. This is a typical Japanese eggshell porcelain service with hand-painted decoration made during the early to middle part of the 20th century. Many of these sets were bought by servicemen in the Far East between the late-19th century and the mid-20th century. Too thin and usually too good to use, they were kept in display cabinets and only brought out on special occasions, hence they have survived in huge quantities and so realise low prices at auction. Value: £100-£150
Photograph: Sandra Almeida

Item eight: a set of porcelain figures, sent in by Helen McGinty. These figures were made in Germany during the latter part of the 19th century. Such pieces were made in moulds and in relatively large numbers, mainly for export to Wales where they would have been sold as souvenirs. Value: £30-£50
Photograph: Helen McGinty

Item nine: a watercolour on paper by George Barret Jr, sent in by Stuart Barrett. This is a typical work of Barret Jr (British, 1767-1842) who did scenes of classical subjects and was fond of moonlit scenes. The picture may have faded somewhat and lost its ‘greens’ in the foreground – often the first colour to fade – which has diminished its value. It is about 25cm x 45cm and is signed and dated 1836. The 19th-century British watercolour market is selective at present and an auctioneer might suggest a lower estimate to ensure a sale. Value: £300-£500
Photograph: Stuart Barrett

Item 10: three articulated metal models of insects, sent in by Clive Pople. These appear to be fashioned from brass in a rather crude manner and to be of (almost) naturalistic dimensions. They have been evaluated accordingly. While they are very much in the style of the Japanese metal artists who excelled in this type of object, the Miochin family, there is nothing conclusive in the photographs that indicates a Japanese origin. Value: £80-£150
Photograph: Clive Pople

Item 11: a Japanese Kaga Kutani vase, sent in by Carrick McDonald. This is 14cm high and dates from 1880-1910. The globular body is rising to a waisted neck with everted mouth, the shoulder applied with heavily stylised dragon handles, decorated in overglaze enamels, rouge-de-fer and gilding with butterflies, grasses, flower heads and formal motifs. The base has the painted mark of the A.A.Vantine & Co import and retail organisation. The calligraphy beneath the flags reads ‘Watanao sei’, meaning Watanao made this, and refers to the decorator rather than the potter. Value: £50-£80
Photograph: Carrick McDonald

Item 12: a George III-style mahogany bureau bookcase, sent in by Eileen Reid. This would have been very fashionable at the time of manufacture – around the late-19th/early-20th century – when there was a revival in Georgian furniture. There is less desire to furnish in this style now, which will diminish the auction price. The moulded cornice is above a pair of geometric astragal doors enclosing adjustable shelves, the fall revealing a fitted interior. Below are two short and three long, graduated drawers on ogee bracket feet. Value: £300-£400
Photograph: Eileen Reid