The history of antique dealing (in it’s modern form at least) can be traced to the opening decades of the 19th century, and as part of the research project on the history of antique dealing we occasionally come across material dating from this very early period. There are examples of very rare sales catalogues produced by some of these early dealers – those that made it to the SOLD! exhibition at The Bowes Museum back in 2019 may remember we had on display some key examples of this rare material – a catalogue produced by the curiosity dealer and bookseller Horatio Rodd, who traded from Great Newport Street in London in the 1830s and 1840s, on loan from the collections at The National Art Library at the Victoria & Albert Museum.
We have not managed to discover any early 19th century dealer catalogues (we are looking though!), but what did appear last week was an early 19th century copper trade token (26mm diameter) produced in 1839 by the well-known ‘curiosity dealer’ William Till (d.1844). Such tokens were produced from the late 18th century as a result of the coin shortages in Britain, but many traders continued to produce tokens as a form of advertising, as well as continuing to be used for payment for goods etc throughout the 19th century.
I’m guessing that Till produced this token to advertise his business, and for collectors of modern coins, but perhaps it could also have been used to buy things from Till’s shop. Till was perhaps one of the most famous dealers in ‘ancient & modern coins’ in the period; he is recorded as ‘curiosity dealer’ at 17 Great Russell Street, London by 1832, and wrote an important work on ancient coins, An Essay on the Roman Denarius published in 1838. He was also one of the first members of the Numismatic Society, founded in 1836. Below is the verso of Till’s token, indicating his business as a ‘Dealer in ancient & modern coins, medals and antiques etc’.
Till produced several versions of his token during the 1830s – in the above example he has included an emblem which seems to mirror the Arms of the Medici family, the enormously wealthy family based in Florence in the 15th and 16th centuries, founders of the Medici bank; the 6 balls in the cartouche in Till’s medal mimic the 6 balls in the Medici crest – Till seems to use it as a visual pun.
Curiously, a few years ago we also found another copper trade token produced by a ‘curiosity dealer’. This one produced by the dealer Robert Heslop, who traded from 62 Whitecross Street, London during the 1820s and 1830s. Heslop’s token, (also 26mm diameter), is said to very rare and to date from c.1795; it shows the famous 17th century contortionist Joseph Clarke, said to be the most extraordinary ‘posture master’, beneath the words ‘CAN YOU DO SO’.
The verso of Heslop’s token gives his address at 86 Chiswell Street, London and, like that of William Till, highlights Heslop’s trade – this time as a dealer in ‘Natural Curiosities, Paintings, Coins..’ and supplying ‘colours for artists’. It was very common for ‘curiosity dealers’ in the period to be involved overlapping markets and practices.
Heslop’s token was also on display at the SOLD! exhibition at The Bowes Museum. And if you are interested in 19th century antique & curiosity dealers, you can find out more about them in my Biographical Dictionary of 19th Century Antique & Curiosity Dealers – it’s available FREE online at White Rose Depository.
Mark
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