List of items
Porcelain/China
- Large Canton ware bowl typically painted with Chinese domestic scenes mainly in greens and pinks
- French porcelain lidded bowl with gilt metal mounts, scrolled handles and feet, painted with flower & scrolls, Meissen type mark beneath
- Porcelain game service, comprising 10 meat plates, large serving dish, painted with game bird, gilded with elaborate scrolled rims. "Limoges", French, c. 1880
- Royal Crown Derby lidded vase of baluster shape with gilt relief floral decoration against a deep blue/green background. English, late 19th century
- Tall ewer shaped vase of deep blue with painted neo-classical frieze decoration. Marked J.S. Australia. Austrian
- Pair of satsuma vases depicting domestic Japanese scenes amid typical geometric gilt decoration. Each with wooden base/stand, c. 1900
Glassware
- Ruby glass vase with etched bamboo design, early 20th century
- Cameo-covered glass vase. White floral and leaf decoration on translucent blue ground. English, c. 1900
Silverware
- American silver gilt child's rattle in the form of a halloween pumpkin 'stg silver' c. 1900
- Silver christening mug, banded body, scrolled dragon handles, 4 monograms dated from 1813. Maker A. Rosch, New Orleans
- Eastern silver card case decorated with oriental scenes. Asian, c. 1890
- 4-piece sterling silver tea and coffee service embossed with scenes representing the 4 continents amid leave scrolls on scrolled cabriole feet. Richard Hennell, London, 1859
- Sterling silver ewer in renaissance taste, chased and decorated and inscribed "Presented to Mr SRH … 11 Oct 1893." James Dixon & Sons, Sheffield, 1892
- Silver box embossed with flowers and cartouch monogramed FEH. Gilt interior fitted with inkwell and pen stand. "Sterling & other metals". American? Late 19th Century
- Silver cigarette box wood lined with Heap crest engraved on top
- Heavily cut glass inkwell with leafy embossed silver mount. American, c. 1900
Furniture
- Oval walnut salon table on quadruped birdcage base inlaid with kingwood crossbanded borders to each surface, c. 1870
- Leather 4 fold screen with painted scene of Lady Richmond's ball before the battle of Waterloo. First half of 19th century
- Ladies writing desk in crossbanded mahogany, top with fold-out front section and mounted with cupboards inlaid with lozenge-shaped panels, single long drawer, square tapering legs, c. 1900
- Cross banded satinwood sewing table with domed casket top on slender square tapering legs painted in late 18th century English style of Angelica Kauffman, c. 1900
Paintings and artworks
- "Bunch of Buckskins", portfolio of eight coloured lithographs of American Indians & cowboys by Frederick Remington, 1901 in original folder
- Portrait of King George IV in style of Sir Thomas Lawrence. Portrait on glass possibly a transfer finished in oils, gilt and gesso frame. English, c. 1825
Miscellaneous
- 3-piece clock garniture in Napoleon III taste. Rich blue porcelain clock, inset panels of Louis XV-style pastoral scenes, floral bouquets and putti. Tazza urns similarly decorated, all on gilt bases. By Wm Litherland, Paris & Liverpool, c. 1870
- Cameo-carved conch shell of neo-classical medallion scene with leafy surrounds. Origin uncertain
- War medal 1939-1945 in box addressed to Mrs J. Manhajn, White House, Beacon Hill, Rubery, Worcs. English
- Ivory figure of leprechaun or elf, carrying spade and 4-leaf clover, c. 1920
- Cameo-carved shell piece depicting fisherman with net amongst the waves. Asian, c. 1890
- Carved ivory chess set representing hierarchical form of Chinese noble house, each figure mounted on puzzle ball & stand, all on ebonized tiered plinth with glass dome
- Oriental carved ivory group of a barge with elaborately decorated canopy, figures of rowers, guards, royalty, on wooden plinth. Asian, c. 1900
- Ivory figure of a Japanese girl in well-carved Kimono, holding a lantern. Artist’s signature underneath, c. 1900
- Shaped satinwood standing toilet mirror, frame painted with a frieze of roses, c. 1900
- Octagonal brass tray, elaborately engraved with Indian mythological figures
- Pair panelled and mother-of-pearl inlaid opera glasses, gilt metal base, marked ‘La Maire Paris’, purple velvet bag
- Heap family pedigree. In Special Collections (General), location no. 929.2 H434.H
- 1877 English threepence
- 1883 English threepence
- 1843 English farthing
- 1897 English farthing
- Hinged ivory ball, exterior carved with renaissance style lozenge and leafy motifs, opening to reveal nativity scene. German? c. 1900
- Ivory figure of a wood collector bearing a load on his back. Artist’s mark beneath, Origin uncertain
- Ivory brooch carved in the form of a rose bush, c. 1900
- Ivory figure group of a monkey, baby collecting crabs - legendary theme. Origin uncertain
About the Heap family
The family of Heap or Heape can be traced to the 12th century, and came from France originally. By the 18th century they were wholesale grocers and merchants living near Liverpool.
Joseph Heap (1762-1833) formed a rice importing company called Joseph Heap & Sons. Their ships were known as 'The Diamond H Line.'
Sydney Rankin Heap, to whom most of the items in the Collection belonged, was Joseph Heap's great-grandson. Some items were obtained by his father when he went to Burma for business purposes.
Some of the china and glass was bought by or given to Sydney Rankin Heap when, in 1893, he married Frances Elizabeth Heyworth who came from Chicago. Her grandfather had, at one time, lived in Liverpool and been a close friend of the Heaps. Sydney met Frances when he visited her family when on a business trip to Japan, and he married her on his return. During his time in Japan he bought various items. After they were married, they went on a grand tour of Europe as a honeymoon. They visited and bought items in Rome and Paris and perhaps other European cities. The cut glass in the collection is mostly American and the china is a mixture of American and English.
Sydney did not join the family business, but moved to Wales and bought Mellington Hall and its estate. They renovated the house, and shocked the locals by installing 5 bathrooms at a time when one was considered a luxury. He and his wife led an active and social life whilst farming some 2000 acres, a large farm for Britain at that time. At one point Sydney became High Sheriff of the county of Montgomery.
Sydney and Frances (Fassie) had 5 children. By 1957 the parents had died, Mellington Hall was sold and the contents divided among the children. Mrs Mannam (Isobel), the youngest, and her husband Dr John Mannam, formerly Manhajm, a mechanical engineer originally from Yugoslavia, came to live in Australia. They had no children. Much of their furniture and other valuables have been given to Flinders University. Dr Mannam added some items to the collection, including the Australian paintings.
Notes taken from a letter from Mrs D.R. Barnicoat of Dorset, niece of Mrs Mannam, March 1998 and Dr Mannam, October 2003.
