Gentle Friends,
In earlier posts in this thread, mention has been made of a special set produced by William Hocker that was scheduled to appear under my Christmas tree. In fact, it did appear and I have already begun to enjoy it.
I have finally found the time to photograph this Hocker "Mystery" Set. From earlier disussion, you may remember that my wife purchased a Christmas gift for me at OTSN last September. And, at the time, I was instructed to "forget" the present existed. Of course, I did as I was told. ^&grin
A little background regarding the purchase of this item might be helpful to you. In late August, I received a phone call from a dealer friend of mine. This particular dealer tends to specialize in pre-owned Hocker and pre-owned Imperial sets. He informed me he had just purchased a very nice Hocker collection and there was an item in it that he thought might interest me. Once he described the item, there was no doubt it interested me. Further, he quoted me a very competitive price if I would commit to purchasing the item prior to the Chicago show.
Knowing the item was expensive, I needed to check with my wife, Diane, before making any final decision. I suggested to Diane this item would be an outstanding Christmas present for me and she readily agreed to the purchase of it provided I would forget about it until Christmas Day, which I was only too glad to do. ^&grin
I called my dealer friend and committed to the purchase of Hocker set #128, The Imperial Durbar Pavilion. Mr. Hocker has discontinued producing this set except under very special circumstances. The set is extremely difficult to make. Consequently, only a few of them exist. The Pavilion continues to appear in his catalog, but it is indicated it is no longer available and no current price is listed. However, he indicates he will "consider" making it if specific conditions are met. These conditions require a very large and expensive purchase from him. Very few collectors are able to meet his requirements and, even if they do, he still may not make it.
In direct conversations with Mr. Hocker, I have never heard him simply refer to the set as "the Pavilion." Always, he has referred to it as "the dreaded Pavilion" and his eyes will generally roll in his head when he makes the reference. In short, he really, really dislikes making this set because of the difficulty required for its construction.
The set is composed entirely of metal. No plastic or foam is used in its construction. The various metal pieces must be cut to extremely exacting measurements and standards or the set will simply not come together properly and he must start again from scratch. Painting the Pavilion is also a significant challenge requiring the utmost in skill and in extreme patience. The painting also requires a specific humidity range for the paint to adhere and dry properly. It takes him several months to complete its construction from start to finish. As he clearly states, the item is difficult to make.
The set was first introduced into his catalog in 1995, seventeen or eighteen years ago. Since that time, he has only produced a total of sixteen of these Pavilions. With only sixteen sets in existence, the Pavilion is a significent rarity and it is most difficult to find. I have only seen one other Pavilion appear in auction (live auction, not eBay) and it went for very big bucks, a much greater sum than that which I was required to pay. So,...
My wife bought the set for me and we had to store the set out of my view from September until Christmas Day. It was best I forget about it for such a length of time or the temptation to display it with my other Hocker Imperial Durbar sets would have been too great. ^&grin
Now that the waiting is concluded, you may view my very special Christmas gift below. I hope you enjoy seeing it.
Happy New Year to all of you!
Warmest personal regards,
Pat
In earlier posts in this thread, mention has been made of a special set produced by William Hocker that was scheduled to appear under my Christmas tree. In fact, it did appear and I have already begun to enjoy it.
I have finally found the time to photograph this Hocker "Mystery" Set. From earlier disussion, you may remember that my wife purchased a Christmas gift for me at OTSN last September. And, at the time, I was instructed to "forget" the present existed. Of course, I did as I was told. ^&grin
A little background regarding the purchase of this item might be helpful to you. In late August, I received a phone call from a dealer friend of mine. This particular dealer tends to specialize in pre-owned Hocker and pre-owned Imperial sets. He informed me he had just purchased a very nice Hocker collection and there was an item in it that he thought might interest me. Once he described the item, there was no doubt it interested me. Further, he quoted me a very competitive price if I would commit to purchasing the item prior to the Chicago show.
Knowing the item was expensive, I needed to check with my wife, Diane, before making any final decision. I suggested to Diane this item would be an outstanding Christmas present for me and she readily agreed to the purchase of it provided I would forget about it until Christmas Day, which I was only too glad to do. ^&grin
I called my dealer friend and committed to the purchase of Hocker set #128, The Imperial Durbar Pavilion. Mr. Hocker has discontinued producing this set except under very special circumstances. The set is extremely difficult to make. Consequently, only a few of them exist. The Pavilion continues to appear in his catalog, but it is indicated it is no longer available and no current price is listed. However, he indicates he will "consider" making it if specific conditions are met. These conditions require a very large and expensive purchase from him. Very few collectors are able to meet his requirements and, even if they do, he still may not make it.
In direct conversations with Mr. Hocker, I have never heard him simply refer to the set as "the Pavilion." Always, he has referred to it as "the dreaded Pavilion" and his eyes will generally roll in his head when he makes the reference. In short, he really, really dislikes making this set because of the difficulty required for its construction.
The set is composed entirely of metal. No plastic or foam is used in its construction. The various metal pieces must be cut to extremely exacting measurements and standards or the set will simply not come together properly and he must start again from scratch. Painting the Pavilion is also a significant challenge requiring the utmost in skill and in extreme patience. The painting also requires a specific humidity range for the paint to adhere and dry properly. It takes him several months to complete its construction from start to finish. As he clearly states, the item is difficult to make.
The set was first introduced into his catalog in 1995, seventeen or eighteen years ago. Since that time, he has only produced a total of sixteen of these Pavilions. With only sixteen sets in existence, the Pavilion is a significent rarity and it is most difficult to find. I have only seen one other Pavilion appear in auction (live auction, not eBay) and it went for very big bucks, a much greater sum than that which I was required to pay. So,...
My wife bought the set for me and we had to store the set out of my view from September until Christmas Day. It was best I forget about it for such a length of time or the temptation to display it with my other Hocker Imperial Durbar sets would have been too great. ^&grin
Now that the waiting is concluded, you may view my very special Christmas gift below. I hope you enjoy seeing it.
Happy New Year to all of you!
Warmest personal regards,
Pat
