The Noveltic Effect

For those of you who believe that a YZ blog should focus exclusively on YZs, this post may come as a bit of a shock. The YZ range erupted into a society which was desperately trying to forget the blood-soaked years of World War 1. A society where those who could afford to do so wanted only to party. They wanted frivolity, they wanted to be amused. YZ products were frivolous, they were amusing. They were an expensive, unnecessary luxury. But they were far from being the only game in town. In the 1920s and 1930s YZ-type novelties abounded. Who made them we’ll almost certainly never know but, to judge from the number which continue to appear in antique shops, charity shops, secondhand shops, boot sales and antique fairs, they were clearly made and sold in large numbers and by a number of different manufacturers. Most were amusing and fun, though few were quality items.

                (These bookends are strangers to the concept of right angles)

For many years I have bemoaned the fact that non-YZs were almost completely overlooked as collectable items. While YZs were being snatched up for, often, hundreds of pounds, their non-YZ cousins persuaded few people to part with their money and, if they did, it was done grudgingly and sparingly. A sort of booby prize for those who couldn’t, or wouldn’t, pay the inflated prices YZs commanded.

Recently though things appear to have changed. Here are some of the recent prices realised on ebay for non-YZ pieces:

£311.99 (99p???) and £550 would be very good prices for YZs; for non-YZs it’s bizarre. I can only assume that the presence of Faturan in those two pieces led to the excessive prices realised. (For an in-depth analysis of Faturan see ‘An investigation into a mythical material’ by Ian Holdsworth and Ibrahim Faraj.)

I can almost understand why the bookends fetched £75 – they’re very YZ-like in concept – but those for £120 simply don’t compute. Did the buyer believe them to be YZ?

Now to the two Noveltic pieces. In August 2012 I wrote on this blog:

‘Take the Noveltic range as an example, though ‘range’ is a rather charitable description – there seems to be only one design, the only variation being the very occasional use of bamboo rather than an oak bar for the match holder and striker.  Variety apart though, Noveltic birds show a good degree of craftsmanship (note the way the beak feathers - no pun intended - gently into the head rather than being merely a stuck on accessory) and they have a humour and a personality all their own (wonderfully doleful eyes that seem to plead with you to take them home).So what are they worth?  I would argue, considerably more than they currently sell for.  At the time of writing, on eBay, there are three on offer.  At £9.99 (no bids), £19.99 (no bids) and at £29.99 (Buy It Now – apparently no interest).’

Last December a Noveltic bird, owned by a Seattle resident, in the US, sold for about £90. If the buyer lived outside America there was also an International Shipping charge of about £50. So a possible purchase price of £140 for a Noveltic bird. £90 or £140, it’s a lot of money for Noveltic. This February a Noveltic bird, not in excellent condition, sold for £50.

Has the tide turned? Are non-YZs now considered collectable in the UK? I hope so – they deserve to be. I’m told that non-YZs have, for some time, been collected in America, where they are apparently known as ‘knock-offs’. Not all knock-offs are cheaply and poorly made. Some rival YZ in the quality of craftsmanship and in the richness of the materials used in their construction.

I end with an image of a really beautiful example. I’ve no information about its origin though it looks to me to be French.

 

Wood That It Were YZ

Something occurred to me the other day - something of which I've been aware for very many years but which I've never consciously considered as a way to assess YZness. Potential YZ buyers may find it useful, particularly those with little or no experience of examining the pieces.

 

If a YZ ashtray has the tray made of oak, it's very, very, very, very unlikely to be YZ. That also tends to apply to all other YZ pieces (but omit 'very,very,very').

 

That shouldn't be too surprising. YZ sales were built on four things: the humour and functionality of their design, the novelty and attractiveness of the recently developed brightly coloured resins, the perfect craftsmanship of their  construction - and the exotic quality of the materials used. Oak simply wasn't considered exotic enough.

 The eyes have it! The eyes have it!

I was looking through the ‘Is it YZ? Or isn’t it?’ article on the website a couple of days ago and realised that the section on eyes could use a bit of clarification if it’s to be of use to a newcomer thinking of buying into the world of YZ. It lacks the way to recognise a painted eye (as used in most non-YZ pieces).So here are images the two types.

The iris colour of YZ eyes is provided by a layer of coloured glass beneath the black glass of the pupil. Since coloured glass doesn’t discolour, those eyes remain bright and vibrant today, nearly a century after their manufacture.

 Non-YZ eyes though have a painted iris. Over time, that paint tends to degrade, becoming faded and blotchy.

The difference between the two is usually fairly obvious. If the eyes are painted, the piece isn’t YZ, no matter what the seller may tell you.

Know Your YZs

I put a new page on the website a couple of days ago, entitled ‘YZ Buyers Beware’, concerning a worrying trend on ebay. I’ve long been angered by incorrect auction headings and descriptions of YZ pieces on ebay, as well as non-YZ  pieces being indicated as possibly being YZ. (See the post from April, 2013 as well as ‘Is SomebodyTrying To Con You?’ on the website.) But ebay sellers are now further pushing the boundaries by asserting that pieces which are clearly non-YZ – and often pretty poor examples of them – are definitely YZ. That assertion is usually accompanied by a sprinkling of words to (hopefully) bolster that assertion – e.g. ‘Henry Howell’, ‘Dunhill’ and ‘Faturan’. 

There’s a page on the website – ‘Is it? Or isn’t it?’ – which should help inexperienced buyers to identify genuine YZ pieces but I’m always happy to help. Just email me the ebay item number, using the contact form here. 

That said, don’t be deterred from buying non-YZ if you like the piece – some are exceedingly well-crafted, sometimes matching YZ’s workmanship. I have a large non-YZ collection, none of which I bought thinking them to be YZ and all of which I thoroughly enjoy having around.