To insure my lion? Photo

[ebonylion]

I've name changed
My grand dad got this lion a long long time ago. I am thirty and I used to sit on it when I was a child. When he died 15 years ago, I got this lion. It is a really loved and treasured trinket. He is made from ebony. My nanny always tells me that it is very valuable. She is now coming to the end of her life and I am feeling devastated about the end of those links we have 🥹🥹
I've got a few trinkets from her over the years and I suppose insurance would defeat the purpose because I couldn't replace it.

My husband said that these things are precious for so many reasons but that people often miss them off their insurance and then they are very sad when they can't get something to replace it, especially if it was expensive or rare to replace in the first place. He said this could be genuinely very valuable and best to insure? I am shy to ask the insurer as know nothing about these type of things. Insurance due for renewal and I want to add some purchases we have made in the last few months to it.

Thank you

No idea where I would get a replacement lion and if it would be replaceable..

*will not respond to comments that I'm being unreasonable to have such a funny lion 🦁 or that I tricked you here with something that sounds like a real pet

I thought ebony was really expensive?

This is the most obvious solution...

I can’t help with his value but I found him a life Partner :D

It still looks smaller than your skirting boards ?

yes get it valued at an auction house not an antique shop .

That is so sweet! He does look a bit lonely.😻

FWIW my own granny spent a lot of her life collecting antiques, and much of the latter part of her life pointing at objects around the house and declaring "it might be valuable, you know!"

Turned out a lot of it wasn't half as valuable as she thought, and a totally innocuous item I nearly took to the charity shop turned out to be worth £500.

Ebony lions on Etsy range from £50 to £500 depending on age and size.

Agree with those who say get a valuation first, then insure.

Looks lovely by the way.

Just put up a sign above it that says

"Grr. Keep off! I will not take it lion down if you damage me!"

I don't know what other lies your husband has been telling you, but based on the wipe picture, that's not 30 inches! 😂

I like it though.

Use a google image search and you’ll find similar items.
Or look up independent antique dealers and take the lion to a few, explaining that you want to know more about it.
My opinion as a collector of many years is that the lion is from the 1940’s and is a fairly common souvenir from the far East and is worth about 50 pounds.
Ebony is a very valuable timber but antiques are governed by supply and demand.
A quick google shows that I could have a whole family of lions by the end of the day and I don’t imagine they are huge sellers hence the low price.
it’s obviously very precious to you but memories are not bound up in things.
Enjoy your lion but skip the insurance as it’s not worth it.

Please don't use antique shops for a valuation - there's just too much of a vested interest, especially if they hope to secure it to sell

Many auction houses offer free valuation days, which while not perfect is often a better bet

I now have that 'Ebony and Ivory' song rattling round my brain!

Think of 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight' instead.

This thread is EXCELLENT. Making me smile in its sentimentality and randomness and scale pictures.

Love your lion.

Agree, money isn't going to replace the feeling you have about it, so, unless it is worth a fortune, it doesn't need insuring. Although I understand why you are thinking of it, trying to protect the memory.

That looks like a very crude copy. There’s no finesse to it. OP’s lion is stunning.

It might be valuable or your relatives might be lion.

Gosh isn't that the truth!
There are many items my elderly mother insists are worth a lot of money. Rest of us quite sceptical.

A few years ago, due to a house move, we actually got a fair number of these thing valued. You guessed it. Nothing above a couple of hundred and most of it 50 or 60 quid.

She allowed loads of it to go to sale but still hangs on to a couple of things convinced she knows better.

Lion is lovely - but we need to see a teddy sitting on him to get the scale.

That is either a bloody massive packet of wet wipes or you are a family of borrowers. I don’t think my 6mo nephew would fit on something that size

Put a biscuit next to it.

Please