The YZ Blog

A Little Knowledge Is A Misleading Thing

For a long time now, I have been mildly irritated by the misleading information frequently used to describe YZ-type items on, particularly, eBay, but also on the websites of supposedly reputable dealers.  I use ‘YZ-type’ to mean items made of similar materials and in a similar style to those made by Henry Howell & Co. Ltd., not to indicate the quality.  I am now moving from mild irritation into a state of barely suppressed anger. 

At present, YZ products command an impressive monetary premium over their non-YZ counterparts and that seems to influence the sales descriptions to a point where they occasionally border on the fraudulent.

Here are some recent descriptions which are, at best, exceedingly wishful thinking:

"The bookends have no maker's mark, but were probably made by Henry Howell & Co. who made all sorts of items with mounted Nut Birds including ashtray, smoker's companions, and bookends. A lot of these items were commissioned by Alfred Dunhill to sell in their retail outlets."

Terrific!  That's like selling a painting with the information that 'The painting is not signed but it was probably painted by Rembrandt who did a lot of paintings'.
No, they are not probably made by Henry Howell & Co!  They are not even possibly made by Henry Howell & Co!  They have as much in common with HH products as my dog does - somewhat less in fact, since my dog lives surrounded by genuine YZ products.
And dragging in Alfred Dunhill to, presumably, provide some spurious justification for the claim merely adds to the impression of sharp practice.  Incidentally, that piece of 'information' is not even correct - Alfred Dunhill did not commission YZ products from HH, Dunhill acted merely as a convenient temporary (1925 to 1927 only) retail outlet for the company in order to test out, promote and establish the YZ brand.

Pig-ignorance is not a sin so why not simply say, 'I haven't a clue what YZ products look like and, since it is unmarked, I leave it to the prospective buyer to decide if this item is in fact YZ, made by Henry Howell & Co and possibly retailed by Alfred Dunhill'.

That ticks all the right search boxes - YZ, Henry Howell and Dunhill - so it'll still attract the attention of YZ-hunters.

"We offer this delightful Art Deco Dunhill Nutbird ashtray made by YZ and dating from the 1930’s. While these pieces are often marked to the base this example has an original brown velvet pad attached. Made by YZ for Dunhill although no apparent makers marks as shown but possibly under the velvet"

This surely contravenes Trade Description regulations.  Of course it isn't YZ and of course it was never made for Dunhill.  The date's right though - although it's just as likely to be from the later 1920s as the 1930s.  Good move not to check under the velvet - no point having to admit that there is definitely no maker's mark.

"DUNHILL YZ BIRD MADE BY HENRY HOWELL1930s 40s.VERY RARE ASHTRAY."

 Wrong!!  Not Dunhill, not YZ, not Henry Howell, not very rare and a very neat trick if it's 40s - HH went out of business in 1936.  Great idea though to make the image so small and so out of focus that it's difficult to see exactly what you're being conned into buying.

And, finally, how to do it (almost) right:

"Henry Howell made these for Dunhill and they are sometimes marked, this one is not but is of excellent quality, I cannot say for sure it is one of Howells."

Assuming that 'Henry Howell made these for Dunhill' is intended to mean 'Henry Howell made birds in this style which were sold by Dunhill', then this description's fair enough.  No, it isn't one of Howell's.  It's Noveltic and yes it is of excellent quality.  I suspect that the Noveltic mark is actually there, maybe just well-worn - I've never come across an unmarked one - but maybe not.