Rotisserie’s Ancestors Nearly Forgotten

Cooking on an open hearth requires a special skill. Many tools used in the 18th and early 19th centuries to simplify cooking over a fire are now almost forgotten. Every well-equipped kitchen had a spit or hook that was used to roast meat or fowl.

Heavy, twisted cords were hung from a hook and secured to a pole inside the chimney to hold the food over the fire. The string would untwist and then twist again, turning the meat.

A more elaborate spit was a clock jack: a brass or iron device made of clock wheels, weights and chains. It was a mechanical method of holding and turning the meat. The clockwork mechanism ran by weights and, when wound, could turn for up to an hour, depending on the weight and the length of the pulley. It is much easier to use today’s rotisserie.

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Question: My bachelor brother has given my grandchildren his childhood collection of about a dozen colorful metal tops that are 50 to 60 years old. They are the kind with a spiral handle you push down to spin the top. My grandchildren are old enough to appreciate the tops as collectibles rather than playthings, but I’m wondering what the toys are worth.

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Answer: Your brother’s tops are the colorful, lithographed tin plunger-type made by several American toy makers beginning in the 1930s. Companies such as Ohio Art, J. Chein & Co. and Wyandotte covered these tops with pictures of cartoon characters, circus clowns, animals, alphabets and other designs. Most of them sell today for $20 to $60 each, depending on decoration and condition.

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Q I recently purchased a square revolving bookcase with three shelves. The shelves, center post, base, top and dividers are walnut, and the perpendicular boards that hold the sides of the books are oak. The base is cast iron. On one of the top shelves there is a stencil that includes the words “Danner’s Revolving Book Case, Patented May 16, 1876, John Danner, Canton.” Can you tell me the history of this type of case?

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A Small revolving bookcases for home or office use were popular in the United States from about 1875 to the mid-1930s. The earliest were made of mixed woods, like yours. By 1910, most were made of oak. Your bookcase was made in Canton, Ohio, by a firm that patented some part of the design or construction. Revolving bookcases were made in many factories in the East and Midwest.

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Q A chair I saw in an auction catalog was referred to as a “prototype.” What is that?

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A A prototype is a designer’s model. In the process of creating a new chair style, a furniture designer might make drawings, then small scale models, then a full-size “working prototype” of the chair.

This prototype is then shown to a manufacturer, who uses the model to produce thousands of chairs just like it. (Sometimes the materials or construction details are changed by the manufacturer for practical reasons.)

Unfortunately, some people use the word “prototype” to refer to anything rare, like custom-made chairs, designer experiments that were never produced and limited factory runs. So if you are tempted to bid on the chair you saw, call the auction house for details.

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Q My tan matte-glaze vase has two pointed handles at the top. It is marked “RP” (the R is backward) on the bottom. Around the mark are some ray-like lines, and under it is the Roman numeral XXXVIII. Can you tell me who made it and what it’s worth?

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A Your vase was made by the Rookwood Pottery Co. It was a famous art pottery company that worked in Cincinnati, from 1880 to 1960. “RP” are the company initials. The Roman numeral 38 indicates the vase was made in 1938. By that year, Rookwood was also producing commercial and florist wares. Your vase is worth about $300.

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Q I collect Fire King Jadeite glass dishes and kitchenware. Can you tell me when Anchor Hocking made the Fire King brand, when the words “Anchor Hocking” were added to the mark on the dishes, and if other colors of Fire King are as collectible as Jadeite?

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A Anchor Hocking Glass Corp. of Lancaster, Ohio, was founded in 1937 when Hocking Glass Co. merged with Anchor Cap Corp. The new company introduced Fire King brand glassware about 1942. Fire King dishes, bowls, casseroles and other wares were made to withstand hot oven temperatures. Anchor Hocking continued to produce Fire King until 1976. It added its corporate name to the mark on the dishes during the 1960s. Fire King’s Jadeite (light green) dishes are the most popular, but the other colors, including blue, ivory and pink, are also collected.

For a listing of helpful books and publications, include a self-addressed, stamped (55 cents) envelope to Kovels, Los Angeles Times, King Features Syndicate, 235 E. 45th St., New York, NY 10017.

Current Prices

Current prices are recorded from antique shows, flea markets, sales and auctions throughout the United States. Prices vary in different locations because of local economic conditions.

* Old Sachem Bitters & Wigwam tonic, medium straw-yellow, applied mouth, American, circa 1855, 9 1/4 inches, $110

* Universal No. 4 Bread Maker, awarded the Gold Medal at the St. Louis World’s Fair, 1904, $135.

* Dairy Queen glass, Beatles, from Canada, 1960s, pictures all four Beatles with names, black and white, 5 inches, $165.

* Yellowware teapot, applied ribbed and tooled handle, applied flowers on sides, brown sponging, 6 1/4 inches, $200.

* Pink Panther Formula 1 racing car, Panther wearing goggles and scarf, steerable front wheel, by Burago, 1984, 1/24th scale, die cast, $255.

* Westmoreland glass water set, English Hobnail pattern, Luvay red, ball pitcher and six goblets, $510.

* Silk-on-linen needlework, painted features, oval scene, youth sowing seeds, house, trees, green, blue, black, brown and white, 1800s, 12 by 9 inches, $625.

* Jiminy Cricket doll, by Knickerbocker, composition, hat, tail coat, tag on sleeve, 1939, 10 inches, $1,640.

* Walnut Renaissance Revival partners’ desk, ornate burled panels, six drawers, three on side, door on right, 32 by 55 by 34 inches, $4,125.

* Reggie Jackson’s New York Yankees road jersey, game-worn, 1977, $6,530.