Antiques : Old Artwork Can Yield Authentic Interior Decor
Modern room designs are often inspired by the movies, television or advertisements. The movie rooms of the 1930s, with round mirrors and sleek furniture, influenced the furniture makers and the public who wanted the same look. Similarly, television shows of the 1950s and 1960s seemed to be the influence for the decorating style preferred by many young couples. The “country look” so popular today in ads for sheets and towels is a creation of the 1980s. It is not a true depiction of earlier times.
To decorate a room in the real style of the 1800s you must examine old paintings and drawings. Artists often carefully included wallpaper, rugs, window curtains and identifiable furniture styles. Colors in paintings usually remain bright. They are not faded like the remnants of old fabrics and wallpaper that might be found. Sometimes artists painting portraits glorified the rooms in their pictures. Walls were stenciled or papered with very elaborate patterns. Rugs were exaggerated and the furniture was sometimes copied from more well-to-do homes.
Question: My friend collects post cards, baseball cards and matchbooks. Can you suggest another very inexpensive collectible that has been available since 1900 and is still being made?
Answer: There have been many free or at least inexpensive collectibles--corkscrews, bottle openers, catalogues, small advertising recipe pamphlets, menus or even can labels. There is one collectible that was popular in Europe about 30 years ago but never noticed in the United States--it’s even claimed that ex-King Farouk of Egypt had a collection that was auctioned in the 1950s: the razor blade wrapper. The first one appeared in 1904 and it covered a Gillette blade. Experts say there should be about 40,000 types. The wrappers are usually still on the blade; they can be found at house sales and flea markets. Never glue them in an album. The best way to keep them is in a photo album with plastic pages to hold them in place. We have heard about collector groups, catalogues and even magazines in Eastern Europe, but collecting blade wrappers has been almost ignored in the United States.
Q: Is there any way to date old sleigh bells?
A: Early bells were cone-shaped and were open at the large end. At first they were made of iron, folded and then riveted. By the 1800s two round half-bells of brass were cast in molds and soldered together. William Barton of East Hampton, Conn., made what is now known as Barton bells. They were made of brass, cast in one piece. They had a small pellet inside to act as the striker. This type of bell is called a crotal and became the favored sleigh bell. Leather straps studded with the bells were worn by the horses. The early bells were riveted to the straps. The bells were made in quantity until about 1900. By the 1950s cast bells were not made but instead stamped steel or brass bells were used.
Q: My 10-inch-round, 3-inch-high glass dish has a mark shaped like a bee on the inside. The letters HIG are in the wings and body. I have had the dish for more than 45 years. How old is it?
A: The bee mark was used by J. B. Higbee Co. of Bridgeville, Pa. The mark was used as a rebus of the letters HIG in the bee. The firm started using the mark on pressed glass about 1900.
CURRENT PRICES
(Current prices are recorded from antique shows, sales, flea markets and auctions throughout the United States. These prices vary in different locations because of the conditions of the economy.)
Pull toy pig, Fisher Price 695, $25.
Old King Cole potato chips canister, tin, 11 x 7 1/2 in., $45.
Camera, Kodak, Rainbow Hawkeye Vest Pocket, blue, blue bellows, $55.
Silverplate napkin ring holder, Meriden, bird on branch, $75.
Rocking chair, American, shaped crest, painted, stenciled decoration, seven turned spindles, shaped arm rests, shaped seat, 42 inches, $155.
Hawkes console bowl, Gravic cut, floral and geometrics, signed, 12 inches, $185.
Baby’s feeding dish, kewpie, marked Royal Rudolstadt Prussia and Rose O’Neill Wilson Kewpie Germany Copyrighted, 7 3/4 inches, $235.
Miniature lamp, milk glass, pink shading around top of shade and base, flowers and leaves, 8 1/2 inches, $250.
Biscuit tin, Huntley & Palmers, figural, book, Literature, 1901, $450.
S.F.B.J. 301 doll, bisque head, open mouth, blue glass, open close eyes, pierced ears, brown human hair wig, ball-jointed composition body, completely dressed, 33 inches, $350.
