Mr. Pickwick Bookend

13y ago·Decorative Arts

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1 Comment

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Item Details

Description

This is a "MR PICKWICK" bookend. I purchased it as a single item from a thrift store and I did not see the second anywhere, as these usually come in pairs of two.

I'm not sure what it's made of. I found an antique bookend website (located here: http://www.antiquebookendcollection.com/malesmotif/indexmalesmotif5.html) with 3 different types of character bookmarks that look somewhat similar to the makeup of this item as far as the materials it may be made of. They are the 4th, 5th and 6th item from the left at the very top of that page. One is Plated White Metal (which to me, looks closest to what I have and has the same artwork background, but with a different book character than mine), one is Plated Cast Iron and one is Copper Plated White Metal. I feel that mine looks exactly like the background and artwork of this one one: http://www.antiquebookendcollection.com/malesmotif/slides/mr%20pecksniff.jpg

However, that one is Mr. Pecksniff...another character of the book. My character is Mr. Pickwick, and I have searched the entire internet (Ebay and completed listings, auction sites, Google, etc.) and I cannot find a single one with my Mr. Pickwick character on it. Mine also only has "JB" on the back...I see no stamped production number like a lot of them have.

It feels rather heavy...probably 2-3 pounds. It is 4.5 inches tall and about 3.5 inches wide across the widest back piece.

It has a lot of "darker" areas and then some lighter golden colored areas. Yet on the sides, it looks silver-like...as if a cast iron or metal back or something. But the character itself (which is apparently separate and held on by the screw seen in the photograph of the bottom) looks more golden colored. Some areas may have turned to a darker color due to aging or just the type of metal that was used. I also see what may be little wear marks or chip marks that have this blueish-green corrosion-like stuff covering them. These are very small, however. A few are visible and mostly it is on the character itself and can be seen in the picture of the front.

I put "Good" condition because it seems like it is in a pretty good condition considering how old it is. But if you have any info on what this would be considered, that would help. On the inside of the bottom there is some corrosion, as well.

Can anyone tell me who "JB" is? I saw on the website that I listed that this is considered a "rarity 4" but I have no idea what that is or how it is measured.

Any help would be greatly appreciated as to the actual worth if I did decide to sell it at some point. Thanks!

Condition

Fair