Jacob Petit Porcelain

Many small porcelain figures were made in France, Germany and England in the 18th century, and many were made to resemble the work of the German Meissen factory. Realistic figures dressed in the robes of an unfamiliar country or vases with scenes and additional raised floral decoration were best sellers even if the factory marks […]

Miss Liberty

Patriotic symbols like the Statue of Liberty, the American flag, the bald eagle and Uncle Sam are easily recognized today, but our first symbol, Miss Liberty, is almost forgotten. Before the Revolutionary War, the word “liberty” was the battle cry. And perhaps because a female figure was used to represent Liberty in ancient Greece and […]

Forgotten Furniture Uses

Sometimes it is difficult to understand antique furniture that has outlived its usefulness, like a linen press or a Hoosier cabinet. And people younger than 50 years old probably wouldn’t recognize a telephone stand, an ice box or a milk chute. But even more confusing is a round table, called a wine tasting table in […]

Sterling Meat Platter

Q: Please help me identify and price my sterling silver tray. It’s marked “Lord Saybrook International Sterling, W4-408-4.” It’s heavy and sits up on little legs. The design on the tray is a tree with impressed “valley” branches and a deep hole at the base of the trunk. A: International Silver Co. of Meriden, Conn., made […]

Iconic Designer’s Furniture Still Popular

A recent auction at Wright auction in Chicago included some iconic furniture designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. “Mies,” as he was commonly known, was a modernist architect, designer and director of the Bauhaus art and design school. His architectural achievements included the Seagram building in New York City and the Barcelona Pavilion (which […]

Bells Ringing in New Popularity

Savvy buyers realize that some bells from schools or churches can be reused in appropriate buildings, as seen by a recent sale at Apple Tree Auction Center in Newark, Ohio, in which a 1912 bronze schoolhouse bell, made in Pittsburgh, sold for $2,990. A cast-iron, 19-inch bell, used for either a school or church, brought […]

Details Set Porcelain Half-Dolls Apart

Half dolls made their debut at the Munich Arts and Crafts Guild exhibition in 1908 and remained very popular through the 1930s. Half-dolls, called tea ladies, were waist-up-only porcelain “dolls” that were attached to a base of wire or padding beneath fabric. They served as decorative covers for teapots, gooseneck telephones, pincushions, whisk brooms and […]

Abstract Jewelry Enjoying Resurgence

A recent Toomey & Co. Auctioneers sale in Chicago included unique pieces of jewelry from the Modernist Movement (1930s-1960s). Modernist jewelry is known for abstract and asymmetrical shapes, textures and colors. Many pieces contained gemstones and mixtures of platinum, gold, silver or copper. Modernist jewelry was originally made to sell for low, affordable prices but […]

Furniture with Multiple Names

Everything has a name but, in the antiques world, many things have more than one name. This table was offered for sale as a “Guard room table.” That is a made-up name for a table that probably looks like it might have been used by guards for eating drinking and gambling in a castle back […]

Nantucket Baskets

Nantucket baskets have been popular purses and collectibles since the 1940s. The first baskets on Nantucket Island were made by the Wampanoag Indians. But they were not like the later Nantucket baskets. A Lightship is a substitute for a lighthouse in waters that can’t hold a lighthouse because of the depth or the rough water. […]