Gustavsberg Creamer

Q: I have a 1970s Gustavsberg Tahiti creamer designed by Stig Lindberg and would love to get it appraised or at least know its value. Apparently, this pattern is very sought after and I can’t find any that have sold singly. I did find the cups and saucers and some full sets. There is a […]

H & H Silver Mark

Q: I have a silver bowl marked “H & H” with an anchor, a lion, a capital “L” and a profile of a head wearing a crown. Can you tell me who the maker is and its age? The bowl is about 2 3/8 inches high and 4 1/8 inch in diameter. It has a […]

On the Road – Hawaii

Maui, Hawaii — the land of golden sunsets, volcanic mountains and tropical weather. Who wouldn’t want to visit in winter? We went to Maui for a family event and had extra time to enjoy the beaches, nature and even fit in some collecting time. On our first day, we woke up early and drove 10,000 […]

Tin Toys

Tin toys have been made since about 1825. Mechanical tin toys and trains are popular with collectors and often sell for high auction prices. After offset lithography was invented in 1875, as many as 12 or more colors could be applied to the metal sheets before cutting and assembling the parts of the toys. Toys […]

Collectible Pot Lids: Graphics and Colors Are Key

Pot lids are the covers of small ceramic containers that used to hold salves, balms, hair gels, shaving and cold creams. They were made from the 1840s to the 1910s, originally in England, and later in America. A recent Glass Works auction in Pennsylvania featured about 35 American pot lids. Prices ranged from $144 for […]

Watch Out For Old Tips

Dear Lee, Our new ovens are microwave and convection, computers and printers have replaced typewriters, and experts can learn the age of the canvas and paint of a 17th century painting. But information posted online years ago is still out there, even if it is now updated or wrong. So, here is a list of […]

A Touch of Modern, Danish Style

One of the most prominent names in modern furniture design is Finn Juhl (1912-1989), who designed furniture with clean lines and usability. A recent sale by Wright of Chicago included several iconic Juhl chairs and tables. Because it represents the best of Danish Modern, Juhl-designed furniture is very collectible. Juhl introduced midcentury Danish Modern design […]

Judith Leiber Purses: A Marriage of Sparkle, Imagination

Handbags by designer and businesswoman Judith Leiber (1921-2018) are unique in both shape — often mimicking animals, toys, food items, and even buildings — and whimsy. Most were made with a rigid metal shell, often encrusted with Swarovski crystals, rhinestones and semi-precious stones. A selection of Leiber’s small conversation-piece purses, called “minaudières” meaning “to be […]

Peppermint Pigs

A peppermint pig is part of a Christmas – New Year’s tradition that started in Saratoga Springs, New York, in the 1880s. It’s part of the holidays now in many places and the peppermint candy pigs and the nickel-plated hammers needed to break the pigs are now available in giftware catalogs and online. The tradition […]

Rare Silk

The rarest silk in the world is not from a silkworm, but from the secretion of a rare endangered clam called a pen shell. The secreted filaments are called byssus, a fiber that is amber with a golden sheen, finer than human hair and very warm. It was used in antiquity and the early Chinese […]