Suffolk Bitters Bottles

Figural bottles were often used to package medicines as well as alcoholic beverages in the 19th and early 20th centuries. A cabin-shaped bottle with the embossed name, “E.G. Booz Whiskey,” led customers to use the word Booze for drink, a slang term still in use. But how did a pig-shaped bottle become one of the […]

Vally Wieselthier for Wiener Werkstatte

Artists often create works in many different mediums—ceramics, painting, sculpture, jewelry and even metal work. After World War I many artists traveled to different countries and schools to learn new “looks” and techniques. England, France, Germany and Scandinavia were leading art centers. Vally Wieselthier (1895-1945) was famous in Germany by the 1920s but almost unknown […]

Biscuit Box or Cookie Jar?

The English spoken in England can sometimes confuse an American because the same word can mean different things in the two countries. Almost every tourist learns that in England a “lift” is an elevator. But who has been warned that an English “biscuit” is what an American calls a “cookie,” and that an American biscuit, […]

Halloween Pumpkin Toys

Halloween is becoming one of the most popular holidays for collectors. Of course, children still dress in costumes and go door to door for treats, but the holiday’s collectors are more interested in the “trick or treat” bags or decorations that are created each year. Carved pumpkin jack-o’-lanterns are being replaced by plastic, foam or […]

Identifying Porcelain

Experts can identify antique dishes in many unexpected ways. There are several ways to tell if a dish is pottery or porcelain. If your dish is chipped porcelain, the chip is shell-shaped. Pottery is opaque; you can’t see light through it. Light does shine through a piece of porcelain. Pottery breaks in a line. Porcelain […]

Toy Refrigerator

Children’s toys are often miniature copies of full-sized objects in the house. They like to imitate mom and dad’s work. A recent Bertoia auction sold the toy icebox with its original pristine box for $1,440. The Gurney toy refrigerator made by Arcade is only 5 1 /2 inches high. It is a copy of a […]

Modern Italian Nesting Tables

A table has three or four or more legs and a flat top. But some modern designers can make furniture that is almost unrecognizable but still serve the same purpose. Cottone Auctions had a recent sale featuring a collection of modern furniture, including pieces by Gianfranco Frattini (1926-2004). He is best known as an Italian […]

Egg Cup Frame

Many of us have used an antique egg cup to hold a boiled breakfast egg, but few have ever seen an egg cup frame with six egg cups and spoons made of sterling silver over 200 years ago. New Orleans Auctions had many unusual serving pieces in an auction and the rare 7-inch-high by 8-inch-wide […]

Window Bench

Everyone knows what a bench is, but what is a window bench? Many homes in earlier centuries had windows set in alcoves in a large open room like a hall or living room. The bench was narrow enough, and the seat low enough, to avoid blocking the window. The typical French bench had curved or […]

Victorian Tea Caddy

It seems strange today that early wooden tea caddies (special boxes for tea) were made with a lock and key. Tea was a very expensive drink in the 1600s. It gave added energy and after the addition of sugar, milk and sometimes lemon, it had a pleasing taste. The earliest tea caddies in England were […]