Estimated value of Victorian hankies saved from a skip by north Derbyshire man is not be sniffed at!

A selection of the 24 hand-engraved handkerchiefs that were stored for 43 years in a Derbyshire home by a man who saved them from a skip in Greater Manchester.

The 24 hand-engraved hankies depict key events in the life and times of Britain and Victorian England. They have been dated around 1870-1901.

This historic collection has been preserved for posterity by a retired engraving department manager living in Derbyshire. Four decades ago he was working in Greater Manchester and tasked with clearing out a store where he found the handkerchiefs among a pile of rubbish. The bundle was in a brown paper parcel tied with string. He was ordered to toss the hankies into the skip but decided to hang onto them instead.

For the last 43 years the hankies have been wrapped up in a wardrobe in a spare bedroom in his home. They have never been displayed or used in any way other than to occasionally show friends. Two of the vendor’s favourites are ‘Our Empire’ and ‘Defence not Defiance’.

The man says that the engraving and printing workmanship of the hankies cannot be bettered today. They were printed from hand-engraved rollers. The images are technically perfect.

Most were made as souvenirs to mark important events such as Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897 and Glasgow’s International Exhibition in 1888 and 1901.

The designs display strong military and political influences. One features a map of the British Empire in 1886 and another depicts a ‘Bird’s eye view of Egypt showing the British fleet bombarding Alexandria and the city in flames, July 1882’.

Politicians and military leaders also adorn the handkerchiefs, some of which were made ‘in memoriam’. Leaders of the Conservative Party in the General Election of 1885 feature but there are also examples of foreign leaders including Italian revolutionary Guiseppe Garibaldi (1807-1882) and French lawyer and politician Leon Gambetta (1838-1882).

The owner of these special handkerchiefs believe now is the time that they should go to a new home rather than be stuck in a wardrobe in a spare bedroom. Notty Hornblower, owner of Derbyshire’s Hope House Costume Museum and consultant to Hansons’ auction house, estimates that the collection could achieve more than £700.

The hankies will go under the hammer in Hansons’ October 19-24 Antiques and Collectors Auction and October 27 Militaria sale.