All About Antiques

Coach Lamps and Consolidated Glass Co. Fixture

Nadja Maril — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 19:58:43 +0000

Nadja,
Attached are two images of the lights. Both are in excellent condition with no glass chips or cracks. The chandelier brass has been polished and clear coated I think. I am not certain but I expect that the coach lights (they are a pair) have also lost their original (black?) paint. The coach lights were from my mother’s family funeral home coach. Her great-grandfather started the funeral business in the 1850’s , and was the first to use embalming in Ohio!
I recently was able to look at the chandelier again, and found: “ 40719 PATENT MAY 31, 1910” pressed into the glass rim of the large main globe. I found no markings on the coach lamps. I look forward to hearing from you.
I have more photos.
Thanks,
Chip
Response:
I can give you a little bit more information about the grape “blow-out” glass chandelier than I can about your lovely carriage lamps. The carriage lamps are often sought after by folks who are restoring old carriages for museum and historic house exhibit purposes. Designed for use with kerosene and wick perhaps, I’m not certain whether or not they were painted black but I suppose that would be appropriate for a funeral coach.
A own the sister to your chandelier and it was actually on the cover of the first edition of Antique Lamp Buyer’s Guide. The glass globes were manufactured by the Consolidated Glass Company in Coraopolis Pennsylvania. Some of their work is often confused with the blown-out shades created by the Pairpoint Glass Company in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The brass metalwork design of your fixture is not quite as elaborate as mine, however the price range in the current edition puts the value at between $2600-$3800.

How to Pack Away Your Antiques

Nadja Maril — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 15:49:29 +0000

This weekend Hurricane Irene came to town. She forced me into my basement to assess the safety of my antique lighting collection, primarily stored in the basement. If anyone out there in internet land wants to buy an antique lighting collection, just give me a holler via email or blog reply , but until that happens, I am the proud caretaker of various shades and lamp parts for late 19th and early 20th lamps. My son has been packing up his apartment to move to a new job, and he was asking my advice on how to pack dishes, which reminded me how little people know about safe packing protocol. So here are a few tips.
1) Strong waterproof containers that can withstand a flooding situation are imperative. If you buy containers that are all the same size they are easy to stack in your garage, basement, or when moving them in a van or truck.
2) You want to wrap your items in something which will provide protection and padding, so if jostled they will not bang against one another. Newspaper is the material of last resort because it turns your fingers black when packing and becomes yellowed and brittle with age. If you have the time, the best packing stuff are the hospital pads that are cotton and blue plastic–designed to protect the bed from “accidents”. You can order them online. They cost approximately $45 for a box of 200. If you can’t find those pads, then I recommend rolls of bubble wrap combined with sheets of white newsprint that are often available places that rent trucks for moving or at a printing plant. To economize, you can also use old towels, sheets, or old T-shirts.
3) Never pack the box or bin to the very top, because if you put weight on top, the items pressing against the lid will snap and break. Always try for approximately one to two inches of insulation at the bottom and the sides. I usually leave six inches at the top.
4) Label everything on the top and on the side where you can easily read the contents of what is inside each tub!

Is it an Antique?

Nadja Maril — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 20:36:21 +0000

While an antique is supposed to be at least 100 years old, many of the items for sale in antique shops are not that old. To many folks, antique is something no longer used. With that definition, a record player made in 1970 could be an antique. No one ever plays records on a turntable unless they have an old record. Do they? But 1970 is only 41 years ago, which doesn’t even qualify as semi-antique.
Semi-antique is a term often used with oriental rugs signifying that a rug is 50 to 75 years old and of an earlier vintage.
We have the other category “collectible” which describes something that people value because it was either made in limited quantities and now prized, or because it is a good example of an item that people like to collect and also limited in availability.
Some “collectibles” are part of a created market, for example collectible Christmas plates.
With the advances in technology, certain items are going out of fashion at a faster rate than in previous centuries. Typewriters, eight tracks, VHS tapes, slide rules, cameras with film, transistor radios.. the list goes on and on. Will they be collectibles? Well they are not something you are likely to want to display but the old LP covers are nice. The advertising posters for some of the aforementioned items are future collectibles can be attractive. And yes when any of the above mentioned items or a game from our childhood reach 100 years old they will be antiques.

Appraising an Antique Lunch Box

Nadja Maril — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 15:47:37 +0000

Dear Ms. Maril,

I was reading in the Annapolis Magazine and saw your article about collectible Lunch Boxes. The green one with the wooden handles that you showed is like the one I found at my fathers home after his death. It is not in as good shape. I was wondering if you would tell me any more information on the this box, like age, where it was made and by who. I did not see anything on my box that would give me any information on this item.

Thank you for your time
B.A. Annapolis

Your father’s lunch box is most likely from the mid 20th century, probably the 1930s or 40s. During the depression, if you had a job, you would certainly want to economize by bringing your lunch from home. The metal construction discouraged insects from getting inside and could withstand a lot of wear and tear. The battered condition indicates it was put to good use. Other than telling you it was made in America, I cannot identify a particular manufacturer. As to value, this particular style is not as appealing to collectors as the boxes with movie stars, celebrities, and child-related illustrations such as ducks or nursery rhymes. So the box is in the $10 to $30 range, depending on condition. These boxes are great for storing things like old tools. Blog readers, you can read the original article and other antiques columns at www.WhatsUpMag.com.

Reverse Painting on Glass Antique Lamp

Nadja Maril — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 19:06:23 +0000

I was so excited to get this lamp back, after having it rewired and buffed that I just had to post it to share.
This is an example of a Regency Revival style lamp from the early 20th century with reverse painting on glass panels. It is pictured in the Antique Lamp Buyer’s Guide page 81 and is for sale. Please note that it has slight damage on two corners of the 8 inch base, as shown in the photo. The 18″ diameter shade is in excellent condition. The lamp stands 26 ” tall.
What’s it worth? Well 15 years ago the value was in the $500 to $875 range and I’m asking $650.

Value of Antique Inkwell

Nadja Maril — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 18:40:20 +0000

I recently received an email from a reader:
Dear Nadja,
I have what I think is an inkwell. It is a small heavy glass jar with a brass top and looks similar to one of the photographs in your article on antique inkwells a few months ago. How valuable do you think it is?

http://www.whatsupmag.com/home-a-garden/item/1221-inkwells.html

Response:
It is hard to assign a value to an item without seeing on handling the piece, but if it is similar to the crystal inkwell with the sterling lid, it is worth between $45 and $85.
NM

An Oriental Rug Cleaning/Washing Dilemma

Nadja Maril — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 20:51:29 +0000

The other morning while taking a walk around my neighborhood I saw an oriental rug cast out for garbage collection. How did I know it was a genuine oriental? I didn’t want to get too close, because my suspicion was that the rug was badly soiled in some way. After all, I reasoned, why else would someone knowingly throw it away? It looked like a familiar Bokhara pattern, but in this instance I kept walking.
Oriental is a very general description of a style that refers to rugs in a variety of patterns made primarily in the Middle Eastern countries that include Iran, Pakistan, China, and India. When folks talk about oriental rugs, particularly in the antiques business, the assumption is that perhaps the rug is handmade ie knotted by hand rather than woven by machine. A good quality rug is usually 100 percent wool or sometimes silk. There are, however, machine-made oriental rugs style rugs that can fool the novice.
Over the years I’ve learned that not everyone likes oriental rugs. The colors and patterns strike some as too busy. Thus there is the possibility that my neigbors may have just grown tired of the rug and that’s why they were throwing it away.
I on the other hand love the patterns and the variety of colors in an oriental, particularly if it is an older rug created with natural plant dyes. I’ll even gamble my chances on trying to salvage a dirty rug in some situations.
I didn’t trash pick the rug in my neighborhood. It just looked a little too disgusting.
However, the rug posted on this blog, was underneath a bunch of items I purchased one morning at Dixon’s Antique Auction in Crumpton, Maryland and since it was included in the lot.. I put it in my car.
I liked the color, but when I got it home, I wondered on smelling it why oh why I had ever bothered to bring it home. The fortunate thing was that the rug is small and thus I was able to wash it and put it out in the fresh air and sunshine to dry.
An oriental rug dealer from Iran told me many years ago that he washed his rugs by hand in Woolite. I tried the same thing and I must confess that the background color started to run. The result of my washing efforts were that my rug finally became clean, however the deep salmon red color I found appealing faded to a softer hue. But decided I liked it anyway.
So to anyone reading this blog, I guess I am sharing that if a rug has some quality, you should not be deterred by trying to salvage a potential find purchased at an auction, yard sale or from someone’s trash

Appraising Value of Old Lamps?

Nadja Maril — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 20:57:23 +0000

Often I am contacted by readers who have consulted one of my lighting books or readers of this blog to identify a lamp, or as the case may be, several lamps. The main concern is, “Do I own something valuable?”
Every time someone comes to me with an old beat-up lamp I can’t help but think of the story Aladdin and the slippery merchant crying out “old lamps for new lamps” in a successful effort to take possession of the old, magical, and thus very valuable lamp with the genie inside.
The lamps I am posting up on my blog today, do not contain any genies. They are in a somewhat shabby condition. The most attractive one (in my humble opinion) I have posted first. Notice if you take away the brass fitting and shade, it could just be a porcelain candlestick that has been converted into a lamp, or in this case probably the lamp design was inspired by a candlestick. In my best estimation, based totally on the photograph, this looks to be a commercially made lamp from the mid 20th century with a great deal of wear. But it could look more attractive if the metal (brass or brass plate) was polished up. It could also be refurbished to hold a fabric shade for a more traditional look. As to value, probably” as is”, it in under $65.

enameled oriental style base

The lighting on the photo is dark so it is hard to see, but it looks as if this is a domestic lamp influenced by oriental design and/or imported from Japan post world war II. But once again the value is relatively low– under $85.

French County anyone?

In the right setting, this could be a desirable lamp from a decorator point of view. The age is mid 20th century but the inspiration is 18th century. There appears to be some wear on the decoration, so the value as is will most likely be under $100.

Side table or reading lamp?

I’ve saved the ugliest lamp for last because this floor lamp looks like something one might encounter in a seedy motel room decorated in the 1960s. Yes, it is inspired by 19th century floor lamps to a slight degree but then someone came up with the not too brilliant idea of attaching a ledge around the middle of the lamp to serve as a table…. While this lamp might be something you’d find on the roadside put out for bulk trash… someone might pay $25 for this lamp at a used furniture store, particularly if the store was located in Florida or California where the definition of antiques stretches into the 20th century.
Sorry LTR (reader who emailed the photos) but your lamps are not particularly valuable from an antiques perspective, although they still have some functional value depending on where and how they are used!
–NM

Appraisal of Stolen Towle Flatware

Nadja Maril — Tue, 24 May 2011 18:03:39 +0000

One of our readers contacted me looking for an appraisal. Two sets of sterling flatware had been stolen from his home in Annapolis, Maryland. Both were Towle sterling sets. One was in the Old Master pattern and the other (if I heard him correctly was a set of Auvergne, a pattern created in 1905 which is no longer in production.
Towle a New England firm went through many name incarnations. The name Towle was first associated with the firm, originally owned by the Moulton family, when it changed hands to be purchased by their two apprentices in 1857 and became Towle & Jones. The name changed to A.F. Towle & Son in 1873. .
Eventually the company’s name was changed to Towle Silversmiths. Some of the most popular patterns include: “Candlelight” created in 1934 and “Marie Louise” created in 1939, which became the official sterling silver pattern for U.S. embassies worldwide,
The pattern Old Master introduced 1942, is still being made today. A five-piece place setting retails for $700 and is sale priced on the Towle website for $525. A set for eight with four serving pieces retails for $8,400 and is sale priced at $5,400. The replacement value is easy to verify.
Auvergne on the other hand is no longer in production and is not easy to find. I visited several replacement sites, and while you can put in a request, there are no published prices. It may take years before a complete five-piece setting service for eight can be acquired. On the basis of the value of the sterling and rarity, I’d put the replacement value at $12,000.
From a practical standpoint, a young couple starting out will probably want the more common pattern because it is easier to find, but if a pattern is rare, buyers will pay a premium.

Selling Antiques Prior to Downsizing

Nadja Maril — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 20:26:05 +0000

Dear Nadja,
My mother has some antique furniture and crystal and glassware that she would like to sell prior to moving into an independent living facility. We don’t know where to start, how to find antique dealers who might be interested. Can you give us any suggestions?

Thanks in advance for any help you can give us.

T.J.
Response:
A good place to start if you are looking for interested dealers is to make a visit to a local antiques mall or antiques show and start collecting business cards. If you see items similar to what your mother needs to sell, they may be interested in buying. Keep in mind that the prices you receive will be approximately half of what they are selling them for in their shop or booth. Paying rent, storing, and moving antiques and collectibles take money and time– thus the mark-up in price.
You may also consider a consignment shop or donating items to charity. It all depends on how much time you want to spend. There is also the yard sale/estate sale route. In my previous blog posting please take note that there is an entry about an upcoming antiques fair in Galena with an appraisal clinic, so you could bring puzzling items to be appraised. Maybe some of the dealers there are also in the market to buy! Good luck.