Couple's 30-year hobby was inspired by buying what they first thought
was a plant pot
Wisely, Rainham schoolmaster Eric Rotherham never smoked and he lived to the ripe old age of 89 But a chance find at a local village fair set Eric and his wife Evelyn off on a hobby that was to keep them both engrossed throughout their married life.
They collected antique tobacco jars and ultimately, their collection filled a spare bedroom, several display cabinets and even their garden shed.
Both keen gardeners, they had visited the village fair in search of plants, but on a bric-a-brac stall they spotted what they thought was a plant pot, modelled with the Devil's head. Missing its lid and costing only pennies, it proved to be their first in a 30-year series of purchases. The collecting bug had bitten.
Further research stimulated Eric's interest in tobacco jars and he and Eve travelled across the United Kingdom, into France and even North America to seek out unusual items for their collection. They were primarily interested in figural jars made in pottery at the end of the 19th century principally in Austria and Eastern Europe, but soon their collection expanded to incorporate jars in a variety of materials and forms.
Such was Eric's interest in the subject that he gave many talks to local societies and groups. The couple retired to Faversham in 2000. Eric joined the Society of Tobacco Jar Collectors and started to write a book on the subject, a project which sadly was unfinished when he died last year.
Now Mrs Rotherham, 87, has decided to give other collectors the opportunity to enjoy owning the charming and often amusing jars that she and her husband hunted down over the years. More than 80 of them, together with associated smoking memorabilia, will be offered in the important Spring sale of antiques, fine art and collectors' items at The Canterbury Auction Galleries on Tuesday March 16.
Most valuable single pottery jar in the collection is a MacIntyre Moorcroft example, the bulbous body tube-lined with the Poppy design, which is estimated at £200-300. The most charming, however, are those continental examples, modelled as characters and animals. They come from such centres as Germany and Austria and are made from bisque porcelain and terracotta. Turkish soldiers stand or sit next to Kaiser Wilhelm I; a matron taking snuff; "Presents" from Bognor and Herne Bay, tourist souvenirs modelled with black children; the heads of sheiks, sultans and bearded fishermen; a daschund emerging from a top hat, a crying pig; an elephant with his driver and an example of that first Devil jar, this one complete with lid, all of which carry estimates varying from £60 to £150.
However, the most valuable object in the collection is a late 19th or early 20th century "Black Forest" carved wood smoker's companion, carved in the form of a standing bear holding an oval table, fretted and carved with floral and leaf ornament. It was a must-have for Mr and Mrs Rotherham to add to their collection: the bear's head hinges open to accommodate a tobacco jar! It is estimated at £600-800, while a Black Forest tobacco jar and cover, carved in the form of a bear's head with glass eyes and wearing a heavy collar is estimated at £200-300.
Eric Rotherham was born, ironically enough, in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, but moved south when his father found work in the docks after the First World War. Eric attended Dover and then Gillingham Grammar Schools and would have gone to university had the Second War not intervened. He was prevented from seeing active service by injuries he received in a motorcycle accident, but he joined the RAF as a draughtsman.
On demobilisation, he gained his teaching qualifications at Goldsmiths College and joined the staff at Rainham Secondary Modern School, and subsequently The Howard School, teaching maths and physical education. He completing 50 years' service to the profession.
Eric and Evelyn married in 1947 and started collecting tobacco jars in the 1970s. By the time they had finished, they were ranged on shelves in their home three and four deep. Their collection will be sold as part of the usual eclectic mix of antiques, fine art and collectors' items in this first important sale of the year at The Canterbury Auction Galleries.
Viewing is on Sunday March 14 from 1-5pm; Monday March 15 from 10am-7pm and on the morning of the sale from 8.30. The sale starts at 10am. For further information, please contact the auctioneers on 01227 763337 or go to
www.thecanterburyauctiongalleries.com.