Hidden treasures – cracking finds in the kitchen

What’s lurking in your kitchen? Don’t worry, this isn’t the start of an ad for some new-fangled kitchen cleaner, but it is time you took another look at some of the kitchen paraphernalia you’ve collected over the years.

Because in that clutter, tucked away at the back of cupboards and the bottom of drawers, there could be hidden treasures worth a surprising amount of money.

Certain kitchen collectables, as these hidden treasures are better labelled, are highly sought-after. Find a rare Minton, a Titcomb teapot or a Clarice Cliff cruet and you could be looking at some serious money.

Collector Mark Hempshell says all sorts of everyday kitchen items can be classed as collectable, from plates, mugs and bowls to decorated pots, egg cups and tea and coffee pots.

Many collectable kitchen plates start out as simple dinnerware, but when china is passed down through generations, it gains value, especially if it remains in good condition.

China from old hotels, restaurants and cruise ships is highly sought-after too. These collectable pieces will often have a stamp on the back indicating where they were used. Provenance is key here. A plate with a story to tell will be highly desirable to collectors.

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So what should you look out for?

One of the most valuable and sought-after pieces of kitchenalia at the moment is anything made of brass or copper. Old jelly moulds and ornate fish kettles are especially popular and can fetch a few hundred pounds each at auction.

Jan Braunstein, an antiques collector who has a penchant for kitchen collectables says moulds are highly sought-after. She says anything in brass, tin or other metals – especially ones in the shape of animals or fish - are worth keeping an eye out for.

Cracking finds

But the treasures don’t stop there. Find a rare and sought-after egg cup and you’ll be off to a cracking start. So-called ‘whistle’ eggcups pre-dating the second world war and largely made in Germany for the British market, are now very scarce. Find one lurking at the back of your cupboard and you could be looking at close to £300 at auction.

Find one of the honey pots designed by Clarice Cliff, probably the most prolific and possibly also the most important of the art deco ceramicists, and you could very well be looking at a three figure sum too.

Antiques expert Mark Hill says you don’t even have to go far back into the last century to find valuable kitchen collectables. Take the 1994 limited-edition Anna G corkscrew by Alessi. It sells for up to £150 today.

Just your cup of tea?

Teabags and a penchant for skinny lattes may have rendered the humble teapot somewhat redundant of late, but there’s a real thirst for them among collectors.

Find a rare, old teapot at the back of the cupboard and you might very well need a cup of hot, sweet tea to treat the shock when you see how much they can fetch at auction.

An early 1939 to 1945 Royal Doulton Bunnykins teapot, designed by Charles Noke and in prime condition, sold for close to £700 in 2007.

Names to keep an eye out for are the seventies avant-garde potters, Richard Parrington, Roger Michell (correct) and Andy Titcomb.

Find a distinctive ‘elephant’ teapot made by Andy Titcomb and you could be looking at over £300, and if you come across a David Leach signature teapot with fluted sides and a tenmoku glaze (a dark finish that resembles oil spots) you’ll be looking at closer to £500.

A thing of beauty these do not have to be, as Londoner Angela Green found out when her rare novelty teapot, the Delage Car, made by Richard Parrington in the seventies, sold for over £500.

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No accounting for taste

And it seems that when it comes to collectable teapots there’s no accounting for taste.

She may be largely confined to the history books now, but former Prime Minster Baroness Thatcher is a huge hit with collectors.

Fans of the iconic Spitting Image TV series could have picked up a Luck and Flaw Maggie Thatcher teapot, made by Carlton Ware in the eighties for £20. But these days these Maggie teapots are a rare find. Perhaps their owners don’t want to part with them, but if you do you could get up to £200 at auction.

Of course though there’s one tale to top all those. With its bright colours and cat and mouse theme, the pot may not be everyone's cup of tea. And with its cracked handle and damaged base, which had been glued back together, it might not have been in tip-top condition either, but that didn’t stop this rare antique Minton teapot, dating back to 1876, selling at a staggering £32,400 at Christie’s auction house.

Cornishware….from Cornwall?

Finally, let’s not forget Cornish Ware. It’s one of the most iconic kitchen collectables, and with its mixture of rough-textured and smooth-glazed wares, it has a style and an appeal that fits well in modern kitchens.

The name to look out for is Troika Pottery, each one marked with the initials of the caster who made it, the decorator, or even the fettler on very early pieces.

Based at St Ives and started in 1963, Troika was sold in huge numbers. Its popularity declined after the pottery closed in 1983 and cheap imports flooded the market, but the good news for anyone who owns some today is that it’s back in fashion and rising in price, with collectors paying as much as £150 to £285 a piece. 

But just make sure what you’re looking at is real Cornish Ware, from Cornwall.

Ironically, the most iconic of these styles, the hugely popular and very eye-catching blue and white stripes, that evoke the Cornish seaside and adorn many a kitchen, are not actually Cornish at all.

They were in fact made at the TG Green pottery in South Derbyshire, which has no link with its Cornish counterparts. The range though is called Cornish Blue, so you can see where the misunderstanding has come in.

Sadly a piece of TG Green pottery won’t fetch as much as a Troika, but on the plus-side they still make a pretty addition and are very usable in any kitchen today.

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