The Tenby and District Arts Club held an antiques valuation evening last Friday, ably hosted by Nigel Hodson from Peter Francis of Carmarthen. Members and visitors brought their treasures, set them out on tables at the front and waited in anticipation.

Nigel has been an auctioneer for 40 years, starting in Wolverhampton measuring and selling houses, and assisting in the auction sale room for 12 years. He learnt his craft on the job, suddenly being asked to stand in for the auctioneer, and never looking back! He went to Ross-on-Wye to work for the Halifax auctioneers. When this was shut, he moved to Peter Francis in Carmarthen, then part of the Halifax. The Halifax later pulled out, and Nigel, along with Peter Francis and another partner, bought the firm. For the last few years, Nigel has run the business on his own, and presently they handle 20,000 lots a year.

Peter Francis now have a purpose-built saleroom in the old Post Office Saleroom in Carmarthen and no longer do sales in church halls. All their sales are now live on the internet, meaning they get bids in from around the world, and use specialist shippers to send things out. This has meant that furniture, especially large solid furniture which is difficult to ship, is now good value to invest in as prices have gone down, whereas many smaller items have increased in value as the market has grown.

The first item selected from the table by Nigel Hodson was a soft toy rabbit, which he thought was English and probably worth £20 - £30. Next came an orange pressed glass dish, known as carnival ware as it was given as prizes at fairgrounds, and worth about £20. The blue and green ones are more desirable.

Some silver items came next - a monteith bowl, originally designed for ice and for cooling wine glasses by hanging them over the edge, was engraved as a golfing trophy and had the correct hallmarks - a lion, the mark of the assay office, the company and the date, was £500 if melted down, but £1,200 - £1,400 as it was.

Nigel displayed a mid 18th century mini candlestick which he had sold for £900 25 years ago, only to find that the hallmark had been taken from another item and it was worthless! He had kept it ever since as a warning to himself!

A couple of match cases turned out to be nickel-plated, reducing their value from £100 to £30 - £40. A buttmarker was considered next - this was used in grouse shoots for participants to draw their pen, or position on the shoot. If silver with ivory pegs, these could be worth up to £600. An inkwell of cut glass with a silver plated top looked to be worth about £100, until it was noted to be from Asprey's of London, jewellers of repute, and the value rose to £150.

A china plate was Royal Doulton (they became royal in 1902, so if a plate just says Doulton, it is older than this) from the 'Under the greenwood' series which was about Robin Hood. Before 1891, china was not marked with the country of origin. After 1891, china was marked 'England', and from the mid 1920s, 'Made in England'. This plate had been used in the oven and was badly crazed, and had a small hairline crack, so was worth £20.

A brass tobacco box was one of those given to soldiers on the front in 1914 by Queen Mary, and had its original packet of tobacco, cigarettes, photo of Queen Mary and even some ammunition. It was worth £100.

A 1950s French glass engraved intaglio clock with a small movement was worth £3,000 to £5,000. A gilded French carriage clock in its original case was 100 years old and worth £100. Two fox head stirrup cups, which were handed to you on your horse before hunting, were considered. The 19th century creamware pottery one was worth £200 - £300, while the majolica one was worth about £100.

A dragon dog netsuke, a Japanese toggle, looked as if it was ivory, but Nigel was unsure that it was. If it was ivory, it would have to have been made before 1947, otherwise it would be illegal to sell it.

Several other items were considered, including a meerschaum pipe, a Mah Jong set, a china piano doll, some jugs, and a Capodimonte statuette, some board games, postcards, sovereigns, and watches - apparently if you have a solid gold Rolex, it is unlikely to be fake, but otherwise even the Rolex dealers can be tricked!

Even after this mammoth session, Nigel was available at the end for a chat over tea and coffee. He certainly gave everyone a fascinating introduction to the world of antiques.

This (Friday) evening, Yoriko Omae will talk about her home, Japan. This will start at 7.30 pm at St. Johns Church Hall, Warren Street, and will be £2 for members and £4 for non-members, including light refreshments at the end. Everyone is welcome to attend.

A.D.