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| Kovels - Antiques & Collecting: Week of May 11, 2009 |
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| Written by Terry Kovel |
| Monday, 11 May 2009 08:33 |
 It's spring, and the flowers are blooming. The fashion magazines say that overall-flower prints are the thing to wear this year. So why not "dress" your table in vintage flower-decorated dishes? From the 1920s to the late 1950s, chintz pattern dishes were the rage. Manufacturers made overall patterns featuring flowers of many colors. English porcelain companies like Carlton, Crown Devon, Crown Ducal, Royal Albert, Royal Winton and Shelley made most of the chintz. Tea sets, including plates, and luncheon sets were popular. Chintz patterns were meant for a garden party. They went out of style when the monotone decorating schemes of the mid-1950s came into fashion and plates were solid-colored or had minimal decoration. It was not until the 1990s that the chintz look came back. Flowery dishes were made again by English firms and some Asian factories. Original chintz is expensive today. A Royal Albert Rose cup and saucer costs $55, and an Old Cottage tray by Royal Winton sells for $65.
Q: I would like to display many of my antique and pottery plates and bowls, but I'm afraid the plate-holders on the market today might chip the edges of my dishes. Do you have a recommendation? A: It's all right to use plate hangers for most plates, but soft majolica may get nicked if you put it in a plate hanger. Look for plate hangers that have plastic-coated or clear vinyl tips, and be careful when you put the plate in the hanger. Q: I'm trying to learn more about an old molded metal clock made by the United Clock Co. It's 11 inches wide by 9 inches high. The clock dial is mounted in a case decorated with an eagle, a laborer, a farmer holding a sickle and pitchfork, and a cornucopia. Also on the front are the words, "A New Deal: Prosperity under the Blue Eagle." A: Your clock is one of several similar styles made to honor Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal. So the clock dates from the 1930s. One like it recently auctioned for $335. United Clock Co. was founded in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1905. Q: I'd like to find out if my punch set is silver or silver-plated. It includes a large bowl, a tray and 16 cups. The mark on the pieces is "F.B. Rogers Silver Co." A: Your punch bowl set is silver plate. F.B. Rogers Silver Co. made high-quality plated wares. The company was founded in 1883 in Shelburne Falls, Mass. When Edmund W. Porter and L.B. West bought F.B. Rogers in 1886, they moved it to Taunton, Mass., and incorporated the business. It became a division of the National Silver Co. in 1955, then was sold to J.C. Boardman in 1985. Boardman was out of business by 1991. Q: I have two 1881 French dress patterns for the elaborate tucked and ruffled dresses of the period. Although I sew, I think the patterns are beyond my sewing level, so I have never even unfolded the tissues. Each one is folded just as it came from the factory and has never been cut. The outside envelopes picture each dress, front and back. Is there a way to sell them? A: A costume department at an art museum, historical society or college would be interested in having you donate the patterns. No doubt there are private collectors of vintage clothes who would also like them. So would some of the ephemera collectors who search for rare paper antiques. Patterns from the 1920s to today sell for $1 to about $20. You often can find them at house sales. An unused pattern as old as yours would be worth much more, but there are few buyers. Q: When my 90-year-old mother died recently, I found an old cloth doll in her cedar chest. The tag on the doll says, "Knickerbocker Toy Co. Inc., New York, USA" on one side and "Sleepy Head" on the other. The doll's face is plastic, but her whole body is plush yellow fabric. Three patches of brown hair stick out from the "hood" around the doll's face, and there are blue-lined bunny ears on the top of her head. When was the doll made, and what is it worth? A: Knickerbocker Toy Co. of New York City was in business from 1925 to 1983, when it was bought by Hasbro. Knickerbocker is best-known for its Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls and various character dolls, including Disney, Sesame Street and Flintstones characters. Sleepy Head dolls were probably introduced in the late 1940s. They were made through at least the early'60s. Most Sleepy Heads we have seen do not have rabbit ears. A Sleepy Head doll sells today for $5 to $20. Tip: Antique glass should be handled as if it has been repaired and might fall apart. Hold a pitcher by the body, not the handle. Pick up stemware by holding both the stem and the bowl. Hold plates in two hands, not by the rim. Terry Kovel answers as many questions as possible through the column. By sending a letter with a question, you give full permission for use in the column or any other Kovel forum. Names, addresses or e-mail addresses will not be published. We cannot guarantee the return of any photograph, but if a stamped envelope is included, we will try. The volume of mail makes personal answers or appraisals impossible. Write to Kovels, Auction Central News, King Features Syndicate, 300 W. 57th St., New York, NY 10019. Need more information about collectibles? Find it at Kovels.com, our Web site for collectors. Check prices there, too. More than 700,000 are listed, and viewing them is free. You can also sign up to read our weekly Kovels Komments. It includes the latest news, tips and questions, and is delivered by e-mail, free, if you register. Kovels.com offers collectors lots of helpful information plus lists of publications, clubs, appraisers, auction houses, people who sell parts or repair antiques and much more. You can also subscribe to "Kovels on Antiques and Collectibles," our monthly newsletter filled with prices, facts and color photos. Kovels.com is written to add to the information in our newspaper column and to help you find useful sources needed by collectors. CURRENT PRICES Current prices are recorded from antiques shows, flea markets, sales and auctions throughout the United States. Prices vary in different locations because of local economic conditions.
Our newest report: Spot great costume jewelry from the 1950s faster than anyone, and get the buys of a lifetime. Kovels' Buyers' Guide to 20th-Century Costume Jewelry explains how to recognize mid-century costume jewelry, Mexican silver jewelry and modernist and other European and American pieces. Learn all the names you need to know, from Hobe and Sigi to Ed Wiener and Art Smith, from Coro and Trifari to Los Castillo and Spratling. And we tell you how to recognize a good piece of genuine Bakelite. Our exclusive report, available only from Kovels, is filled with color photos, bios, background and more than 130 makers' marks. It's accurate and comprehensive. Available only from Kovels. Order by phone at 800-571-1555; online at Kovels.com; or send $25 plus $4.95 postage and handling to Kovels, Box 22900, Beachwood, OH 44122. © 2009 by Cowles Syndicate Inc. |
| Last Updated on Tuesday, 26 May 2009 15:26 |
