Spun Glass Figurines - How to Find Special and Unique Figurines for Yourself, Family or Friends?

Are you looking for Spun Glass Figurines?

Do you want to find something that is truly special and unique for yourself or the ones you care and love?

Spun Glass Figurines are perfect for gifts and your own entertainment. They bring you fun, warmness and the memory of your childhood.

There are so many varieties of spun glass figurines: Angels, pets, toys, plus ... Frog Couple on Swing and Yummy Strawberry – think about them!

Spun Glass Figurines are full of surprise. Have you ever thought about raising a pig OR Two at the same time? If your answer is no, do it now - you can "raise" (Oh Yeah!) two pigs with your small finger - they are as tiny as a one-cent coin in the miniature figurine world!

Spun Glass Figurines bring you true love and joy. They tell touching stories and reveal the details of your daily life, which you might have been too busy to notice.

Animal Figurines are a very special type of Spun Glass Figurines that everyone loves. You can own one or more animal figurines just like your real pets. You can enjoy the same closeness, warmness and companion and avoid the hassle of hairball and walking in the snowy evenings. Especially you don’t have to worry about losing your sweeties one day.

Angels Spun Glass Figurines get you closer to the angels in your mind. They bring you peace, courage and guidance.

Figurine is more than Spun Glass. Artists use all kinds of materials plus their own unique imaginations and techniques to make special figurines. For example, the Olmec Figurines represent a very special culture. Look at these: Baby-face Figurine, Elongated Man and Were-jaguars Figurines!

When creating figurines, artists go beyond materials and techniques. In each piece of their work (spun glass figurines as well as others), they speak loudly and clearly on their observation of the world. For example, The Royal Doulton artists strived to show you the details of the life, while Susan Lordi of Willow Tree believes in simplicity and openness: "I hope this makes it more personal, and allows the viewer to decide its meaning."

Today, both Royal Doulton and Willow Tree are extremely popular. Their figurines are among the most sought after. Surely, the style, the uniqueness and the philosophy on how to observe and interpret life make them stand out. It means for us that Spun Glass Figurines are only part of our exploration. We need to look at all the figurines to find something that are truly special and unique.

Do you know what are the hottest figurines people are looking for on the Internet at this moment?

Do you know where to find them - special, unique and dirt cheap?

Have you ever wondered how the beautiful colors were added to your favorite Spun Glass Figurines?

Did you know that blown glass is another way to make delicate figurines in additional to Spun Glass Figurines? What is Float Glass (That affects everyone's life)?

If Spun Glass Figurines really interest you and you are looking for something special and unique, please spend a few minutes with us by visiting http://www.spun-glass-figurines.info to enjoy the beautiful spun glass photos and interesting discussions, and discover where to get your unique spun glass figurines that will surprise all your family members and friends. Julie18Plus loves to find great deals that offer high quality products and services with unbelievable low prices. For additional information, please visit: http://www.onlythebestdeal.com

Antiques & Collectables When Beatrix Potter & Peter Rabbit Met Fred & his Pushy Wife

Beatrix Potter Beswick Figurines.

Tales from a country antique shop.

A long time ago . . in a galaxy far far away . .

Had a phone call from a gentleman called Fred who was cleaning out his aunt's house.The trouble was, his wife was giving him a hand!

The reason for the call was that they'd found 'some rabbits' amongst his aunt's bits and pieces. It took me a few minutes to work out if they were of the furry variety or the easier to keep pottery sort.

Well his wife was a keen TV fan - especially of the lunchtime 'buy cheap and sell expensive' type of antique/collectable programmes. She was convinced that they'd stumbled on a fortune with the rabbits because they were EXACTLY the same thing that had fetched top money only the other day on TV while she was having her soup and sandwiches. Our telephone conversation continued like this. Fred remember, was on the other end of the phone talking to me, but having to listen to his wife's advice with his spare ear.

"It's a rabbit with a blue coat and there are marks on its bottom"

A few further questions ascertained that the marks were on the base of the pottery figure.

"Are the marks in brown or gold?" I asked

"Yes" replied Fred. I could tell it was going to be an uphill struggle!

"I really need to know just which colour" I continued "Well it's difficult to tell in this light - it's sort of a browny gold"

Next sound I could just hear was Fred's wife saying, tell her it's like the one on the telly on Tuesday lunchtime.

"It's OK Fred, I heard that, but it doesn't really help. Any possibility of slipping them into the shop so we can pinpoint the date accurately"

"Yes I'll bring them in tomorrow, but could you just let me know what they're worth today"

Bless him, he wasn't giving in!! This happens all the time and sometimes it's fairly easy to give a rough estimate over the phone, but in this case, almost impossible.

As you've guessed, the rabbits were Beswick's Beatrix Potter range and the one in question was Peter Rabbit

So now we've got the make and the specific item, but still a few problems.

So how can individual figures be identified and valued quickly?

Well . . . .

Beatrix Potter published several books about animals her first being The Tale of Peter Rabbit in 1902.

Royal Doulton was founded in 1815 and already specialising in figurative sculpture.

Miss Potter approached the Lambeth studio in 1908 with a view to having her own animals produced in ceramic. An earlier contract with another company made any arrangement with Doulton impossible and it was not until 1948, sadly after Miss Potter's death, that the Beatrix Potter figures were finally produced by the John Beswick factory.

This arrangement continued successfully until the late 1960's when Ewart Beswick was ready to retire but had no heir.

The Royal Doulton group acquired the Beswick factory in 1969 and when the modeller Albert Hallam retired in 1975, Graham Tongue became the head modeller at the Beswick studio and added many new characters to the range in the 1980's.

Beatrix Potter figures have become highly collectable and so far, the 1990's has seen Graham Tongue develop the Beatrix Potter collection for the 100th birthday of Peter Rabbit in 1994. 1997 saw yet more celebrations as Beatrix Potter figures had been in continuous production for Beswick for 50 years.

19 figures were withdrawn in 1997 making more than 60 retired figures for collectors to find.

Quite a task and getting more difficult each year so how does one handle this situation . . . . .

The quick and dirty way is to visit: http://www.architus.com/beatrixpotterfigurines.html There you will find the rest of this article with the associated photos and graphics explaining the various marks used by Beswick. Happy Collecting.

We run a small but beautifully formed General Antiques Shop which is situated in Kirkby Lonsdale In the Yorkshire Dales/Cumbria Border. Lots of Collectables, Antiques and witty banter.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Joy_Pearson

Why Start a Collectible Figurines Hobby?

igurines are great things to collect. They can transform any home into a personal and originally decorative domain you have created out of your own imagination. A figurine, often referred to as a small statue or even a doll, usually depicts an often embellished humanoid or animal figure. These statuette's, because of their size, make worthy collectors and/or decorative items.

Figurines, these days, are made from many different types of materials, like ceramic, for example. Figurines used to be created for religious or ceremonial reasons, but like any piece of art, they are now found in many forms, shapes and sizes to satisfy the more decorative reasoning of our modern day culture.

Here are some types you could get:
owl figurines
frog figurines
elephant figurines
gargoyle figurines
border terrier figurine
eagle figurines
buddah figurines
great dane figurines

The person with the figurine fetish may stick to only 1 famous figurine brand. These could include household names such as Royal Doulton Figurines which are sought after by many avid collectors.

The amount of choices you have regarding figurine types can be quite overwhelming. Most often, newbie collectors will begin with a specific type of figurine, such as dragon figurines or figurines of a specific material, such as ceramic figurines. The budget for figurines can be quite low or very high, depending on what you are prepared to pay. Royal Doulton figurines for example can cost over $200 for one item. On the other hand you could pay about $12 for a decent ceramic figurine if you prefer. Searching action sites, flea markets or other swap and trade type sites could yield many treasures if you look carefully!

Figurines, (or statuette's / miniatures) are common place in our society as gift and home decor items. You have most likely seen them many places before and may even have bought one or two for your home. The problem with gift items is their prices, due to all the costs and low profit margins around selling these in brick and mortar stores. This makes the internet the saving grace for gift buyers or figurine collectors due to the low costs of doing business, the range of items and the competition.

So, whether you are looking for an item to create a world class collection (which will increase in value over the years!), something beautiful to decorate your home, or even a thoughtful gift for a loved one, a figurine can be the perfect choice.

Visit Figurine Kingdom now for the largest range of figurines available. Make sure you check out our massive dog figurines range!

Jarad "the figurine guy" Nelson is a expert collector and retailer of the finest figurines money can buy. He runs Figurine Kingdom with a vision to provide the figurine enthusiast community a one stop shop for all their figurine shopping requirements.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jarad_Nelson

Collecting Royal Doulton Bunnykins Figures

By Lance Field

Collecting Royal Doulton Bunnykins is a thriving hobby, with about 400 figures to collect ranging from the common (£10-20) to limited editions (£50-£250). At any one moment there are between 1500 and 2000 Bunnykins figures for sale on Ebay with the rarest figures commanding high prices. The Bunnykins range is cleverly designed to appeal both to the gift market and collectors. Figures with a Christmas or Easter theme are fairly commonly issued, and there is a Bunnykins to represent most trades and professions. To appeal the collector market there are frequent limited edition and collectors club issues.

This article specialises in the Bunnykins figures. Originally six figures were produced in 1939, production ceasing during World War II. These six original figures are very rare and cost between £500 and £2000. The six original figures are “Billy”, “Mary”, “Farmer”, “Mother”, “Freddie”, and “Reggie”. Of these “Mary” turns up on Ebay the most, one recently selling for £681. Less common figures sell for more, with “Reggie” recently achieving £1500 on Ebay.

After the war production was not resumed until Royal Doulton purchased the Beswick factory and the first of the modern figures was produced in 1972. This range of figures is labelled “DB” and now numbers some 400 figures, varying in rarity and value. Several limited editions have been produced, most notably, Happy Millennium Bunnykins Tableau, of which only two have been produced (one in the Royal Doulton Museum and the other sold at auction in 2000 for £9,800).

Ebay has certainly driven prices of Bunnykins down, and Ebay auctions for common Bunnykins rarely reach more than half the retail price or book value. However, the limited editions continue to hold prices well especially the limited editions with low issue numbers. To illustrate, the Bunnykins Oompah Band, comprising a sousaphone player, trumpeter, cymbals player, drummer and band major has been issued three times. The first, a red version, was issued between 1984 and 1990 and sell for £40-45 per figure on Ebay. The second edition, a blue version, was produced in a limited edition of 250, and sells for £200-300 per figure. Interestingly the 3rd version (green) was also produced in a limited edition of 250 but has not been seen by the author on Ebay.

As well as limited editions prototypes and one off variations occasionally come onto the market. Genuine examples generate high prices on Ebay, recently a prototype of Father Bunnykins, which usually sells for £15-£20, sold for £700.

Bunnykins are great to collect and whilst the prices are low they make a good investment. The low prices currently being seen on Ebay are not sustainable in the long term, and it is likely that the number of figures on the market will reduce in the near future prompting a rebound on the prices. So, buy them now whilst they’re great value!

Contact Lance@bunnykinscollector.co.uk, http://www.bunnykinscollector.co.uk

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lance_Field