Search this site:
Buying from this site:
Shipping or postage is quoted when you make your enquiry, so please provide us with your town of destination.
All items are guaranteed to be as described, or your purchase money will be refunded in full.
Prices:
All prices on this website are in New Zealand dollars, and include GST of 12.5%.
Payment:
We accept payment by credit card, cash, Paypal or New Zealand cheques (NZ cheques take 7 days to clear. Overseas cheques are not accepted).
 Click for more detail… C12058 |
Vintage Bone Tatting Shuttle Item number: C12058 Date:early 20th century Price: NZ$29.00 Tatting shuttle, made in bone. Measures 77 mm long by 17 mm wide (3 inches by just over 5/8 inch). There is a chip off the bone on one side (see photo extreme closeup). Both ends appear to still be well sprung. |
 Click for more detail… C12376 |
Treen Glove Darner, Early 20th Century Item number: C12376 Date:early 20th century Price: NZ$75.00 Very nice example of treen – a glove darner, double ended so you can darn either the finger or the palm. Unscrews for travelling. Probably Edwardian. Measures 14 cm long and the thick end is 2.5 cm diameter. Excellent condition. |
 Click for more detail… 8455 |
Acorn Thimble Holder, Mauchlinware Item number: 8455 Date:late 19th century Price: NZ$79.00 Thimble case with turned foot – Mauchlineware, the scene is Trafalgar Square. Measures 71 mm high and 29 mm diameter. Top screws off – there are signs of glue on the inside base – maybe there was once a small silk–covered pad on which the thimble sat. Underneath the foot is a small sticker saying “Patent No. 26392”. Condition is very sound – no splits or breaks, but the very top surface of the dome is a little dirty – probably the result of being displayed for years without a lot of dusting being done..... |
 Click for more detail… 8993 |
Victorian Needle Case, Turned Bone and Metal Item number: 8993 Date:late 19th century Price: NZ$85.00 Late 19th century needle case, made in turned bone with silver plated end caps. Case measures 82 mm long and 7.5 mm diameter (3.1/4 inches by 5/16 inch). Excellent condition, except thread to screw is a little worn. |
 Click for more detail… 8960 |
Mauchlineware Needle Book, Penmaenmawr Item number: 8960 Date:late 19th century Price: NZ$120.00 Quaint little Victorian needle book, with Mauchlineware covers – the front cover is a scene of Penmaenmawr. The spine is dark burgundy velvet with a brown tape loop. Inside is blue silk with two little pockets for holding packet needles. In one pocket is an old packet entitled H.Milward & Sons Best Nickel Plated Crewel Needles. No. 4/8. Inside this there are only two needles, both of different sizes, presumably not original to the packet. Case measures 75 mm by 74 mm and 15 mm thick. A few scratches to the wood of the cover and scene (see extreme closeup photo), but inside is excellent. |
 Click for more detail… 8959 |
Bone Tatting Shuttle, Vintage Item number: 8959 Date:early 20th century Price: NZ$36.00 Tatting shuttle, made in bone, measures 76 mm by 17 mm. Excellent condition. Early 20th century. |
 Click for more detail… 8930 |
Wooden Needlecase, Bulgaria Item number: 8930 Date: early 20th century Price: NZ$52.00 Quaint little decorated turned wood needlecase, with “Bulgaria” around the base. Made in a minaret style. Top unscrews. Measures 89 mm long and 23 mm diameter. Excellent condition. |
 Click for more detail… 8833 |
Bone Pillow Lace Bobbin, 19th Century Item number: 8833 Date: mid to late 19th century Price: NZ$48.00 English 19th century pillow lace bobbin – turned polished bone, with red and green stain inside the grooves. The spangle includes two seed beads and two square cuts. Fine size bobbin, measuring 85 mm long not including the spangle, and with a shank of 5 mm diameter. Very good condition. |
 Click for more detail… 8832 |
Pillow Lace Bobbin, Turned Stained Bone and Brass Wire Item number: 8832 Date: mid to late 19th century Price: NZ$38.00 19th century English pillow lace bobbin, made in turned bone with red staining and inset brass wire binding. Measures 93.5 mm long not including the spangle, and has a shank 8 mm diameter (just under 3.3/4 inches by 5/16 inch). It has a chip off the head, otherwise in excellent condition. |
 Click for more detail… 8831 |
Pillow Lace Bobbin, 19th century, Turned Bone Item number: 8831 Date: mid to late 19th century Price: NZ$35.00 Narrow 19th century English turned bone pillow lace bobbin. 88 mm long not including the spangle (3.1/2 inches). Shank is 6 mm diameter (1/4 inch). Very good condition. |
 Click for more detail… 8830 |
19th Century Pillow Lace Bobbin, Turned Stained Bone Item number: 8830 Date: mid to late 19th century Price: NZ$48.00 Pretty 19th century English pillow lace bobbin. Polished turned bone, with pink staining decoration. Measures 97 mm long not including the spangle and has a shank of 6 mm diameter. Very good condition. |
 Click for more detail… 8829 |
Turned Bone 19th Century Pillow Lace Bobbin Item number: 8829 Date: mid to late 19th century Price: NZ$35.00 Turned bone bobbin, measures 89 mm long, not including the spangle which has pink and clear glass square cut beads. It has a 6 mm diameter shank (3.1/2 inches by 1/4 inch). The head, long neck and shank of this bobbin are quite fine. The brass binding wire is a bit loose, not sure if this was intended or not, since each end is still secured. |
 Click for more detail… 8828 |
Pillow Lace Bobbin, 19th Century, Carved Bone Item number: 8828 Date: mid to late 19th century Price: NZ$40.00 Very nice turned bone 19th century pillow lace bobbin – it is bound with brass wire and has a spangle of pink and clear square cut beads, with the bottom bead being teal blue glass with dots of colour on it. Bobbin is 97 mm long not including the spangle (3.7/8 inches) and the shank is 8 mm diameter (5/16 inch). It has a chip of bone lengthways off the head, but otherwise is in very good condition. |
 Click for more detail… 8826 |
Thread Holder 19th Century Carved Bone Item number: 8826 Date: mid to late 19th century Price: NZ$88.00 Antique sewing collectible, thread holder, carved bone with a top that unscrews. Spindle to hold the thread, and a hole in the side for the thread to come through. Tiny, measures 28 mm high and 20 mm diameter (1.1/8 inches by 3/4 inch). Excellent condition, very pretty. 19th century. |
 Click for more detail… 8850 |
Bone Large Sewing Implement, 19th Century Item number: 8850 Date: late 19th century Price: NZ$98.00 Possibly turned whale bone by the amount of grain in this item – don’t exactly know what it is. It is a tube which unscrews in the middle, with six holes in both ends. Maybe separates wools when knitting multiple strands?? It measures 16.5 cm long and 2.8 cm diameter (6.1/2 inches by 1.1/8 inches). Nice incised and stained black lines around centre opening, and around the edges at either end. The ends are shaped, with the centre hole being in a slightly raised–edge hollow. Excellent condition. 19th century. If anyone knows what it is, please let me know! |
 Click for more detail… 3662 |
Victorian Sewing Awl or Stiletto Item number: 3662 Date: late 19th century Price: NZ$25.00 Victorian sewing awl with turned bone handle and plated steel stiletto. Item measures 100 mm long, handle is 7 mm diameter. Slight bend to the steel at the tip. Some insect damage to bottom of the bone handle, otherwise very good condition. |
 Click for more detail… 8652 |
Sterling Silver Thimble Item number: 8652 Date: early 20th century Price: NZ$79.00 Little sterling silver thimble with border pattern to bottom edge. No maker’s marks, just “Sterling. 8” ( the eight being the size). Measures 17.5 mm high and 16 mm external base diameter. Slightly out of round, otherwise excellent. |
 Click for more detail… c10896 |
Mauchlineware Needle Case Item number: c10896 Date: late 19th to early 20th century Price: NZ$185.00 Mauchlineware cylindrical needle case - quite a large one, measuring 14.2 cm high and 3 cm diameter (5.5/8 inches by 1.3/16 inches). The decoration is Ryde Pier, Isle of Wight. Circa late 19th century to early 20th century. Some marks on rear, either original to the wood, or ink stain. Otherwise, excellent. |
 Click for more detail… C10729 |
Victorian Glass Wheelbarrow Pin Cushion Item number: C10729 Date: late 19th century Price: NZ$85.00 Moulded glass pin cushion, late Victorian period (late 19th century) in the shape of a wheel barrow. Measures about 82 mm high and 120 mm long. Minor fault – small chip of inside edge of rear leg of barrow. Quaint object. |
 Click for more detail… C10048 |
Shoe Pin Cushion, Victorian Brass Item number: C10048 Date: early 20th century Price: NZ$78.00 Delightful little Victorian brass shoe – it has been a pin cushion, but the cushion bit is now missing – easy enough to make a new one. Nice detail, right down to the hob nails underneath the boot. Measures 5 cm high and 9 cm long. Some lifting to the brass on the upper, and possibly an old repair to the heel. A real cutie. |
 Click for more detail… 0485 |
Ivory 19th Century Tape Measure Case Item number: 0485 Date: mid to late 19th century Price: NZ$65.00 A little 19th century ivory case that would have contained a tape measure — it has a small spindle in the top which unscrews. (The top of this spindle is broken.) Case measures 4 cm high and 2.5 cm diameter. Fabulous little sewing collectable. |
 Click for more detail… 4305 |
Victorian Wool Work Tapestry, Framed Item number: 4305 Date: mid to late 19th century Price: NZ$345.00 A Victorian period tapestry — late 19th century. The subject is large roses, surrounded by a border of leaves. Possibly made to be a stool seat or table screen panel. The roses are given texture by using finer and coarser stitches and wool. Generally, the pattern is worked in thicker wool, and the background in fine. There is a part of the black border where for some reason brown has been used. Oval panel measures 42 cm by 32 cm. The whole measures 66 cm by 52 cm. Very good condition overall — possibly some fading to roses’ colour. Beige mount, gold frame. |
 Click for more detail… C1807 |
Treen 19th Century Sewing Clamp Item number: C1807 Date: mid to late 19th century Price: NZ$160.00 A treen sewing clamp from the Victorian era, made of pale turned wood with a pin cushion top and a bracket attached to ita side. The pin cushion has lost its stuffing, but otherwise this item is in very good condition. Measures about 18 cm high × 5 cm diameter. |
 Click for more detail… C5861 |
Sterling Silver Pin Cushion and Trinket Box Item number: C5861 Date: 1912 Price: NZ$189.00 A serpentine-shaped sterling silver pin cushion, on which the lid lifts to reveal a silk-lined trinket box. English. Maker’s mark: A C Co. Hallmarks for Birmingham 1912. Measures 11 cm wide and 7.75 cm deep. Height is approx 5 cm. The pin cushion has been re-covered. Condition of the silver is very good. The inside of the trinket box shows a little patch of wood where the fabric of the hinge is joined. Bottom of whole item is loose, but this is fairly normal and can easily be strengthened with a little glue. Trinket box/pin cushion can be lifted out of the silver surround, and is velvet on the outside. A pretty little item. |
 Click for more detail… C8585 |
Edwardian Long Pin Cushion and Trinket Box Item number: C8585 Date: circa 1901–1910 Price: NZ$75.00 Silver plated long box with hinged lid — lid is a pin cushion, and inside is for jewellery or hair pins. Once it was silk inside and purple velvet outside — now the inner silk is still intact, but has faded and is showing signs of wear. Outside, the velvet has faded and lost all its nap. Sawdust stuffing can be seen through the top. The silver plate is still in excellent condition. This item dates from circa 1900–1910. It measures 15 cm long and 6.3 cm wide. It stands about 6.5 cm high. |
 Click for more detail… C9105 |
Victorian Hoof Pin Cushion Item number: C9105 Date: mid to late 19th century Price: NZ$85.00 Cow’s hoof pin cushion, circa late 1800s. Top has a heart shape in metal pins with collars. The brown velvet is a replacement, and rather coming away at the sides. Underneath is the original red velvet, rather age weary, but personally I think nicer than the brown. The pins would pull out and it could be reinstated back to the original covering. I’d do it, but I’m selling this on consignment, and the owner may not like it being fiddled with — however, the next owner could choose which cover is best. Whole pincushion measures 7.2 cm high by 11.2 cm deep by 8.4 cm wide. It has a wire loop at the back, so could be hung against a wall. |
 Click for more detail… C7872 |
American Treen Pin Cushion, Bucket Item number: C7872 Date: early 20th century Price: NZ$55.00 A treen pin cushion, a turned wood little bucket, with Big Tree, California on it. Pin cushion part is bristles, very tight together. Darker lines form decoration around the pail. Measures 6.5 cm high, not including the handle. Top is 6.6 cm diameter. Excellent condition. |
 Click for more detail… 2282 |
Crochet Covered Vintage Pin Cushion Item number: 2282 Date: early to mid 20th century Price: NZ$20.00 A large vintage home-made pin cushion, made in red satin with a crochet outer cover — gives an effect of a small pillow. Frilled crochet around the edges. Measures approx 14 cm square. Excellent condition. |
 Click for more detail… C5746 |
Pillow Lace Bobbin Item number: C5746 Date: late 19th or early 20th century Price: NZ$65.00 A late 19th century, or possibly early 20th century pillow lace bobbin — made in turned wood. It has a hole drilled through the end if you wanted to put weights on it (these were usually coloured glass beads strung on a loop of fine wire). Measures 88 mm long and 6 mm diameter at its widest point. Excellent condition. |
 Click for more detail… C8578 |
Lacemaker’s Bobbin with Spangles Item number: C8578 Date: late 19th or early 20th century Price: NZ$39.00 Pillow lace bobbin, East Midlands, England. Late 19th or early 20th century, still with some thread on it. The spangles are on copper wire, and have a large yellow horn bead, with the other beads being glass. Bobbin measures 9.5 cm long without the spangles ring, 6 cm diameter at its widest point. Stain on the wood, otherwise excellent condition. |
 Click for more detail… C8579 |
Lacemaker’s Bobbin with Spangles Item number: C8579 Date: late 19th or early 20th century Price: NZ$42.00 East Midlands pillow lace bobbin with bead spangles. Late 19th or early 20th century. The spangles are all glass beads except for the smallest black bead, which is wooden. Bobbin measures 96 mm long and 7 mm diameter at its widest point. Excellent condition. |
 Click for more detail… 3721 |
French Pillow Lace Bobbin Item number: 3721 Date: late 19th or early 20th century Price: NZ$44.00 Old French lacemaker’s bobbin, still with its thread. Made in what looks like olive wood. Measures 10.5 cm long. Very good condition — it has the normal dings of age, but nothing serious. The sides of the bulb of these bobbins are slightly worn flat, where they constantly rub against the pillow. Late 19th to early 20th century. |
 Click for more detail… C5709 |
Five Large Weaving Spindles Item number: C5709 Date: early 20th century Price: NZ$60.00 A very decorative group of five large spindles containing coarse thread (or wool?) possibly for blanket weaving or carpet. Early industrial items. Each spindle measures 21 cm long. One has “Durah reg Bal…” stamped on it, but I can’t read the rest. |
 Click for more detail… C8549 |
Three Edwardian Buttons, Photos of Women Item number: C8549 Date: circa 1901–1910 Price: NZ$185.00 Three celluloid-fronted man’s buttons, with photos of women on them. And I don’t think they’re photos of his mum and his sisters either. These must have been the buttons of a single lad-about-town in the Edwardian period, circa 1901–1910. Each measures 13 mm diameter. The backs are gilded metal with loop. Excellent condition. |
 Click for more detail… C8548 |
Small Satsuma Button Item number: C8548 Date: early 20th century Price: NZ$35.00 Exquisite little button, Satsuma porcelain, with gilded outlines. Measures 14.5 mm diameter. Very minor roughness on rear rim, otherwise perfect. 1920s–30s. |
 Click for more detail… C8181 |
Livery Buttons, Crested, Six Item number: C8181 Date: late 19th century Price: NZ$150.00 Six old livery buttons — worn by servants on their livery, and bearing the crest of the household (Lion Rampant over bar in this case). Fronts are silvered metal, and the rear of the buttons are coppery looking. They are stamped with the maker’s name: “R.E. Hayward, 21 Bouverie St, London”. The buttons are 26 mm diameter and have loop backs. We have six smaller identical buttons for sale elsewhere in this category. Excellent condition. These buttons came out with one of the first Wanganui families here in New Zealand, who intended to recruit household servants from amongst the local population. However, the local population, mostly Maori, were not interested in this type of employment, and the buttons were never used. |
 Click for more detail… C8643 |
Six Old Livery Buttons, Crested Item number: C8643 Date: late 19th century Price: NZ$90.00 Six old livery buttons — worn by servants on their livery, and bearing the crest of the household (Lion Rampant over bar in this case). Fronts are silver plate, and the rear of the buttons are coppery looking. They are stamped with the maker’s name: “Nortzell & Son, London”. Buttons are 16 mm diameter and have loop backs. We have six larger identical buttons for sale elsewhere in this category. Excellent condition. These buttons came out with one of the first Wanganui families here in New Zealand, who intended to recruit household servants from amongst the local population. However, the local population, mostly Maori, were not very inclined to be servile, and the buttons were never used. |
 Click for more detail… C7255 |
Cased Set of Venetian Glass Buttons Item number: C7255 Date: early 20th century Price: NZ$225.00 An early 20th century cased set of six Venetian glass buttons — circa 1905–1920. Buttons have brass loop to rear, and separate rings. Toffee-coloured glass, with a central strip of metalic gold. Bottons measure 12mm diameter. Excellent condition. |
 Click for more detail… C5502 |
Vintage Pair Steel Scissors Item number: C5502 Date: 1930s–50s Price: NZ$36.00 Pretty design to the handle of these scissors. They measure 14 cm long. Probably date from 1930–1950s. Very good condition. |
 Click for more detail… 1848 |
Silver Sewing Scissors, Edwardian Period Item number: 1848 Date: 1906 Price: NZ$105.00 A pair of scissors, sterling silver handles and steel blades. Hall marked for Birmingham 1906, in the Edwardian period. Maker’s mark appears to be H.M.K. Very good condition. |
 Click for more detail… C10020 |
Vintage Coat Buttons, Rust Coloured, ×11 Item number: C10020 Date: 1950s or earlier Price: NZ$35.00 Eleven hard plastic or possibly vegetable ivory coat buttons — two of them are a slightly different colour. They measure 4 cm diameter, and are all in excellent condition. Circa 1950s or earlier. |