While collectible corkscrews are typically functional items made of wood, steel or brass, they can be decorative and made of more valuable materials, such as gold, ivory or, most often, silver. The best silver pieces typically date from the 18th or early 19th centuries and are smaller "pocket" corkscrews that were used by travelling gentlemen or for desk display. The travelling corkscrew was usually protected by a sheath and often folded. This protected both the corkscrew's delicate "worm" from damage and the carrier from injury. While the handle, shaft and sheath may be silver, the working corkscrew itself will be still made of hardened steel. Such silver pieces are typically Dutch, English or sometimes French and are sought after by corkscrew collectors. As the corkscrew collector will usually outbid the general silver collector, many of these pieces are gravitating to the specialist corkscrew auctions conducted by CollectorCorkscrews.com.
The 18th century Dutch sheathed pieces are always in demand. They tend to have detailed figural designs and often incorporate a smoking function such as a pipe tamper or pricker. The handle may be a stylized lion or fish. The English silver pieces from the same period tend to be simpler in design and perhaps more elegant. An example is the Georgian silver folding bow corkscrew hallmarked for London 1784. The most typical English silver piece of this era is the "T" style sheathed pocket corkscrew marked Samuel Pemberton with an ivory handle. An example sold at a previous sale for $1,262. The 18th century English silver pieces may be combined with some other function valued by the travelling gentleman. These English combination items are of high quality but were plain and functional rather than decorative and usually unmarked.
In recent CollectorCorkscrews.com auctions, there have been several silver nutmeg graters with a nutmeg housed in the corkscrew handle. An 18th-century unmarked English nutmeg grater sold in the previous auction for $3,950. An older English piece incorporating a tinderbox attracted a lot of interest and sold for $6,000.
French silver pieces are less common but can be of the highest quality. In a recent sale, an 18th-century French gilded silver bow with its richly decorated handle sold for $5,600. During the 19th century, hand-craftsmanship was generally replaced by the machine. By the late 19th century, American silver examples had emerged, and some good examples can still be found in the marketplace for reasonable prices. One particularly well-designed piece is the 1888 U.S. patented roundlet of Leroy Fairchild with an ingenious closure mechanism and high quality machining in a range of patterns. A Fairchild "pineapple" pattern recently sold for $500.
While silver is the usual medium for decorative corkscrews, at the top of the market a gold piece will occasionally appear and command very high prices. Two gold and agate pieces in a recent sale, both probably French and early 19th century, reveal a marked contrast in style. One is much more elaborate and expensive than the other. (One with detailed gold cagework sold for $21,000 and one with a gold sheath and faceted agate handle brought $5,500.)
CollectorCorkscrews.com, operating since 2008 by volunteer corkscrew collectors, has sold over 7,000 corkscrews for around $5 million. The next online auction sale opens Friday, April 17.
For more information, visit www.collectorcorkscrews.com.