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Discover Mid-America — December 2006
Good news and bad news with your weather
vane
Q. I bought this vase and was told it was around 100 years old. I’ve searched the Internet trying to find it. No marks, just the number 9882 on the bottom. Can you tell me value, etc? –T.M. - Keystone Heights, FL
A. From your photo your vase appears to be late 19th century pottery with a transfer print of mother and child made in one of the many German factories operating at that time. Many of their inexpensive pieces weren’t marked. The number refers to the mold, similar pieces sell in shops for $50 and up.
Q. This copper horse and jockey, copper weather vane is 54” x 22” high. It was purchased at the Santa Anita racetrack by a peddler when the horse barns were being torn down. The peddler found it in one of the barns in 1969 and sold it to my sister. If this could be linked to Seabiscuit it would be priceless. –B.L., Keystone Heights, FL
A. There is bad news and good news about your weather vane. It predates Seabiscuit and depicts another famous racehorse, “Dexter,” of the 19th century. The clue is the costume of the rider. The good news is that even though many such vanes were made from 1870 to 1900, they can sell at auction for $8,000 and up.
Q. Can you date this carved, wood picture frame that has been in the family attic for decades and the value? –D.M., Keosauqua, IA
A. Your picture frame dates to the 1860s, ‘70s. It could sell in a shop for $125/150.
Q. I bought a set of six Windsor chairs at auction several years ago. They were in pieces and had been stripped. My husband restored them. On the bottom engraved is “C.B.” Before they were stripped there also was a paper mark with a picture of a sailing shop and a date of 1792. Can you tell me something about them and value? –M.G., Fountain, MN
A. The Conant Ball Furniture Company began making quality furniture in Boston, Massachusetts in the late 19th century, specializing in Colonial furniture reproductions, including Windsor chairs. They went out of business in 1980. Your chairs were made in the early 20th century. Since collectors are buying reproductions your chairs could sell at auction for $500, more with label and original finish.
Q. I would like to know something about my painting of a woman with three children. It is signed lower left F.G. Grust and is 2 ft, by 3 ft. –-G.M., West Leechburg, PA
A. F.G. Grust was a 19th century Dutch painter known for women and children subjects done in oils. If your painting is an oil, it could sell at auction for $2, 000 or more
Q. I would like to know the value of this hand painted Noritake dinner set, made in Japan in the 1920s. -H.W., Arnold, PA
A. Your complete set could sell in a shop for around $1,200.
Q. This calendar plate from 1914, with the picture of Betsy Ross sewing the flag, was left to me by my grandmother. The back reads, The D.E. McNicol Pottery Co, East Liverpool, OH. It is from B. Weiss Wholesale Liquors, East Pittsburgh, PA. It is 8” diameter. I would like to know the value. --–A.U., Lower Burrell, PA
A. Calendar plates were popular from 1906 to 1926. Yours could sell in a shop for $50.
Q. I found this interesting pewter bowl in a thrift shop in Chicago. It is marked “Nekrassoff” and with a shield. It looks like an arts and crafts design. None of the dealers I have shown it to know anything about it. I paid $25 for it. Help! –T.C., Skokie, IL
A. Your pewter bowl was actually made in the 1950s to 1985 by Serge S. Nekrassoff, (1895-1985). Born in Russia, he began his metal smithing first in Paris in 1920, and moved to Argentina around 1923. He moved to America in 1925 where he opened his first studio in New York City. Those pieces are marked “Nekras pewter.” When recognized, the prices go up. To learn more, email JeffKelley@kellscraft.com and go to the Nekrassoff Collector’s page.
Q. This still bank is made of grass. On one side it says,
“Find a safe place for
Your savings” and “The Dollar Savings Bank.” On the
bottom it says, “Mutual Savings Bank of Pittsburgh, PA.” The
back says, “Organized in 1855.” Can you tell me what the value
might be? –G.P., Gebsonid, PA
A. Your still bank could sell in a shop for $200 or more.
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> Antique Detective Q&A Archive — past columns
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