On Friday, September 27 Hansons Auctioneers will sell the Judith Howard Collection of mourning jewellery, Valentines cards, greetings cards and ephemera. Here, antiques expert and familiar face from TV Eric Knowles offers his take on an extraordinary woman – and an extraordinary collection.
In truth, I cannot remember when I first met Judith Howard (nee Bolingbroke) but it was probably not long after I was offered the job of head of the Ceramics Department at Bonhams in 1984.
She was without question the veritable ‘Femme Formidable’ in so far as being a no-nonsense type, incredibly opinionated whilst wickedly funny and well up on the most recent social gossip to such an extent that, had they known, both Nigel Dempster and William Hickey would have had sleepless nights.
I was soon to discover that here was a young woman with a truly encyclopaedic knowledge, not just regarding ceramics and glass but so much more as this auction catalogue is a firm testament to.
In short she was my type of girl, albeit when talking about Judith I must make it clear that she always came ‘en famille’ with husband Alvin and daughter Charlotte in tow and to my mind they became Melksham’s answer to the Three Musketeers.
Whenever they came to view or attend a Bonhams auction all four of us would head off after the sale and ‘do lunch’ at the ‘Zia Theresa’ down the side of our local corner shop – Harrods.
During the 1950s her mother used to take her to the V&A to draw and she soon fell in love with the place and chose to leave school after A-levels to work there – apparently the North London Collegiate School took a dim view of her decision.
At that time the museum did not take non graduates for her sort of role but the director was willing to make her an exception on the understanding that she took a part-time degree in Fine Arts at London University which she achieved.
Initially she worked in the Textile Department for three or four years prior to being transferred to the Ceramics Department where she was given specific responsibility for the Sevres porcelain and English glass.
What I find truly remarkable is the fact that her three other lady colleagues included Aileen Dawson, late of the British Museuml; Gaye Blake Roberts, long time curator of the Wedgwood Museum and archive, and finally Rosalind Saville DBE, late of the Wallace Collection and a fellow specialist in all things Sevres
In 1971 she met Alvin Howard and following what must have been a whirlwind romance they married in 1972 whilst the following year she left the V&A to follow a career that embraced dealing, collecting and serious research.
Judith was soon in demand at a time when the growing interest in antiques in general began to boom so it was no surprise that in 1974 she was asked to appear as the expert on Going for a Song alongside the inimitable Arthur Negus.
Twenty-five years later she appeared together with her daughter Charlotte on the BBC TV lunchtime remake of Going for a Song presented by Michael Parkinson, whilst ably abetted by this writer as the adjudicating expert.
As recently as 2014 our media paths crossed again when Judith appeared on BBC TV once more, this time rising to the challenge to attempt to become this nation’s ‘Antique Master’ but had to settle for runner up by the narrowest of margins.
What I did not know until quite recently was her family background that was to prompt her captivation with both mourning jewellery and ephemera and which was the result of her family running two related businesses in the 19th and 20th centuries.
The first at Norwood was a stationery supplier selling an extensive range of cards that were to form the core of her collection. The other was Bolingbroke and Son who were monumental stonemasons at Brookwood cemetery for the London Necropolis Company at a time when death was far more prevalent whilst cloaked in Victorian protocol.
All the above has led to this fascinating auction, the likes of which we are unlikely to ever see again, and knowing Judith as I did, possibly her only regret would be that of not being able to leave just a few bids.
Eric Knowles FRSA
Click HERE to browse and bid on the Judith Howard Collection.
