Good day to you all there readers of my blog I hope all is well with everybody and let’s here it for some actual sun that has popped out here on the south coast of the UK.

We do have some warm weather here but it never lasts and the beaches near us become packed with everybody from tanners to jet skiers and everything in between, cor don’t I sound English harking on about the weather it’s only because getting sun here is becoming rarer than snow.

So bulldogs Olde bulldogs to be more specific.

A long time ago in the early 1800s there was the original English bulldog with various sub breeds that were bred from the original like the Sussex and Victorian bulldog amongst others, these bulldogs were taller slimmer more muscle mass and the original longer tails.

These types of bulldogs were used on rural farms all over England and parts of Europe as it was good at herding protected the farm space and was strong enough to pull bails of hay and small metal farm machinery pieces.

Period dates

If you want to take your collecting back to a time where bulldogs looked much more different than they do today, then I have a few gems in the collection that depict this form of bulldog that I can show and the pieces I’m showing are from the dates shown and not reproduction pieces so may show signs of wear and tear but are still beautiful objects that I adore.

Cruet and stopper

Let’s start with the most recent piece to turn up lately, and a massive thanks to the picker Edward Henlowitch, as I had done a swap with him and received some nice pieces in return.

I’m not sure if this first piece is art Nouveau or Art Deco I think it comes under the first as Art Deco is all about straight lines and triangles etc anyway isn’t it just Devine, a small Crystal cruet jug with eye catching silver lining and I’m guessing Georgian in date as there are no hallmarks to be found and is a stunning addition to any collection, sitting proudly on top is an old style seated bulldog and if viewed closely enough it’s amazing that you can still see the patina on the bulldog as if it had real fur.

The piece maybe missing a small chain I’ve seen similar cruets that had the stopper connected or it could be a marriage of two different pieces but there’s no getting away from how desirable this piece is to many a bulldog collector.

One of our biggest fans

When we think of fans (the hand held kind) most people think and associate this clever invention with Asia where it remains a popular necessity in many hot counties around the world and used even till this day, this piece even though shipped from the states I believe is originally European in Origin, partly due to the wood used at the ends of the fan.

Dark wood can mean Black Forest and the pieces patina is darker than the more modern treen colour, each end has a hand carved bulldog head with tiny ears and glass set eyes that peer up at you when the piece is closed.

The piece is dated from 1870 and apart from a couple of nicks the piece has done very well considering its age and whether it was used or not.

Heads up again

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I do remember showing these next pieces before but I’m showing them again as they very much go with this blogs old style bulldog theme.

You can plainly see that the bulldogs here made in the 1860s are nothing like their more modern counterparts and I certainly don’t see wiggles when I look at this type of bulldog breed.

The objects use helps to date or research the piece the bigger ones are old tobacco holders/humidors and the smaller heads are inkwells that would of been used with a quill and this helps to establish an age as the use is well outdated these days and no one uses inkwells and humidors anymore.

They look amazing no matter their age but for the purposes of a collection the older the better.

Exquisite cane

Next up is this absolutely stunning hand carved wooden cane from Lyons in the USA a gentleman’s accessory company that stopped trading in 1919.

I won’t lie and say this piece is perfect and I was in two minds about acquiring it and the reason for that is the length of the cane has been stripped of its finery.

Sacrilege one auction house said and I agree but maybe whomever owned it needed the money at the time who knows but just look at the carved head I think exquisite for a hand carved piece and I’ve not come across an American cane top before with so much detail.

The person whom I got this from did say he doubts another is around these days making this piece extremely rare and the more I look at it the more I love it.

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Its doesn’t always mean beans

You will have to forgive me on this next piece I had not done my research at first and naïvely thought this company was the same as that delicious red sauce company that we all know lol so Heintz Art Metal Shop used the letters HAMS in a diamond as a mark.

Otto Heintz (1875-1918) took over the Arts & Crafts Company in Buffalo, New York, in 1903.

By 1906 it had become the Heintz Art Metal Shop.  It remained in business until 1930.

The company made ashtrays, bookends, boxes, bowls, desk sets, vases, trophies, and smoking sets of bronze with the silver decoration applied by a process patented in 1912.

The best-known pieces are made of copper, brass, and bronze with silver. In 1902, Otto Heintz designed and manufactured copper items with colored enamel decorations under the name Art Crafts Shop.

Some pieces had a colored patina of green, tan, brown, or red. Similar pieces were made by Smith Metal Arts and were marked Silver Crest.

Some pieces by both companies were unmarked. I’m happy to say mine is marked not just for my reference but for anyone searching out this kind of antique collectible and wish to compare stamps.

I do not know if the bulldog was a popular pattern used and if not then it makes this piece just that little bit more special to many a collector.

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Keeping things dry

I cannot date this next piece to its actual date of manufacture but going by the wooden bulldog head handle and wooden shaft, I would estimate the early 1900s when carving the old style bulldog was still popular, when I showed this piece on google plus I got a reply from a gentleman whom said he could remember he’s nan actually carving these pieces and other animals all by hand and I think the best part of what he said was it bought back memories of him and his siblings using these carvings as toys.

The umbrella is in good condition the cloth part has lasted yet I doubt it would be water proof now and the mechanism is still ok yet it’s not something I will pushing back and forth.

I would hate to damage it in any way so have only opened it for the purpose of the blog, I think the colours are still quite vibrant for its age and lucky for me it doesn’t need replacing as I’m not sure the restoration folks I know have recovered brollies before.

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Franz Bergman says it all in this next fine example you can see plainly that dogs head and height are totally different to today’s bulldog.

Franz and his father Fritz made some of the worlds finest bronzes many cold painted like the one pictured and the other two, I’m happy to say are samples that should never of left the factory floor and the morbid and sad part to the Bergmanns legacy, is that so many of their pieces were melted down during the European wars.

It’s unknown to actually how many pieces both father and son produced before the world of porcelain turned up and diminished the bronze industry like never before.

If your a collector then you will know many of the rare pieces that bare the Austrian stamp would be mostly of the old style of bulldog as can be seen in the top picture of the bronze dog by the post.

1800s stunning porcelain

Before I post the most evidential piece we have here on how the bulldog was seen and back to Austria again, we have these a selection of ceramic beauties some dating back to before 1900 and before the days of the now known Keramos porcelain factory.

Easy to see the pieces are looking more like the old bulldog than again it’s more modern counterpart with the same longer legs smaller almost cropped looking ears and a little more fearful, which I suppose until the outlawing of blood sports it’s how the breed was depicted.

I think any collection is deserving of a piece like the ones depicted and they don’t have to be really old but they do help to tell the story of the bulldogs origins before the birth of the now English bulldog.

These days and for a few decades now pieces have and are depicting of the newer version of the bulldog and some may not know of the Origin so I hope the blog helps to show through the pieces shown how different the bulldog was say 150 years ago now till the later day squishy faced cute bulldogs that we all love and adore.

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Check out that cute face

Finally I’m re showing the bronze inkwell dated to around the Victorian days.

I think personally if you can imagine the head on a body it’s the best depicted piece we have here at Collectibulldogs, all our other pieces even though a bit snarly don’t come close to the way the artist wanted you to see the bulldog in the days when this piece was made.

I could never see the bulldog being this Fierce looking but history proves otherwise with many a dated old bulldog figurine showing copious amounts of energy and a full set of sharp teeth with the trademark fang like teeth making it just that little bit more fearsome looking.

Collectibulldogs wishes to apologise to anyone that felt in any way effected by this blog it’s not a blog on blood sports or shows anything we feel here shouldn’t be seen.

For those new to the blog please note we have an amazing collection in the main website www.collectibulldogs.com where you can find a vast selection of bulldog antiques and collectibles to muse.

Before I go I know the translate snippet does effect load speed but as I have a world wide following I feel it’s essential so to those on mobile devices with the patience to wait for my site to upload THANK YOU, right I’m off thank you for reading my blog and to all happy collecting folks.

Quick note

I would like to welcome a lovely young lady to the Collectibulldogs team.

Alice is studying at university and has a very strong interest in collections and psychology behind the people that put them together.

I am hoping Alice can help out with various tasks I undertake myself I hope Alice will advertise on the behalf of the collection and I believe we have a lot to teach each other.

Alice will be hoping to study collections in her next year of studying and I also think that this intrigued lady will become a great contact in years to come should she wish to curate or do museum work.

Thanks folks.