BIDSTON HILL, One Of My First Miniatures

[Bob WilsonParticipant @bobwilson59101]

I began building miniatures in the early 70s and one of the first two or three was the four-masted barque BIDSTON HILL, shown here. Built to a scale of 32’=1″. I thought it was quite good at the time and wanted £20 for it. In the end, I had to be content with £16. It then disappeared from my life and was virtually forgotten about. Ten days ago, someone drew my attention to a model of BISTON HILL on Ebay with a starting price of £100. Sure eneough, it was the same model.
I watched it over the last ten days and it had 16 bids and was sold last night for an amazing £376! That was two months wages for me back in 1972!

I wrote an article about it for MODEL BOATS that appeared in the October 1972 edition.

Bob

 

[Bob WilsonParticipant @bobwilson59101]

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Nice story, Bob

 

Bob

[Bob WilsonParticipant @bobwilson59101]

It was in the Marine Antiques section!   Bet it wouldn’t have sold if they knew it was built in 1972!

Bob

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

It must be nice to see your old models ‘surfacing’. I often wonder what happened to the few of mine that I sold.

 

Colin

[Bob WilsonParticipant @bobwilson59101]

Thanks Colin,

They do surface from time to time and you are right, it is interesting, and I don’t mind the present prices that they realise, because I am not benefitting from them in any way, so conscience does not come into it!  .   But I do find it quite incredible that people will pay such sums for what is really (if we are quite honest) not very good at all, just because they think they are “sailor-made, 19th century.     In 1972, if the BIDSTON HILL had sold for £30, I would have actually felt guilty.! 

 

What is annoying is the fact that what I am producing now, often goes for less than the minimum wage, and it has worn me down to such an extent that I have almost given up.

 

Not all that long ago, a London maritime dealer told me that he resented the fact that I was flooding the market with modern models that were not genuine “sailor made!”    I replied that I had spent 32 years at sea, only to be told that “doesn’t count” because it was not in sailing ships!

 

Bob

 

 

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

That must be very frustrating Bob, especially given the fact that the ‘sailor made’ models of the type he was extolling are likely to be both out of scale and inaccurate as well. I suppose it is a question of what the customer holds to be of greater value, something genuinely antique which is of indifferent quality or something up to date which is an accurate representation of the original backed up by thorough research. But that’s the art world for you, a name on the painting has a much greater bearing on its value than the intrinsic merit of the work itself.

 

As you know I collect 1:1250 model ships but I buy on the quality of the moulding not on any supposed ‘historical value’. I like to have something on the wall that I can admire as representing the real ship rather than some ill moulded ‘blob’ from the 1930s purporting to be the Queen Mary which is supposed to have rarity value.  I don’t expect my models will lose value but nor do I see them as an investment. I just buy those which appeal to me and give me pleasure to look at. I would imagine that your customers feel exactly the same.

 

Colin

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