Anyone for Tea and Cake?

 

QUESTION: Ever since I was a little girl having tea parties for myself and my dollies, I’ve loved little cups and saucers. One of my grandmothers gave me a little tea set for my sixth birthday. I loved that set. Soon my tea parties expanded as I invited my girlfriends to bring their dollies over to visit. As I got older, my interests changed until one day while helping my mother clean our attic, I found my original miniature tea set. Since then, I’ve been collecting miniature cups and saucers. I would love to enhance my collection. Can you advise me on how to do that?

ANSWER: What a charming memory. Collecting miniature cups and saucers and even whole tea sets has been a popular pastime for many people. The chief advantage is that because they’re small, they take up less space, making them ideal for those living in condos and apartments.

Children’s tea sets, first produced for the children of the wealthy, seem to have been created before potters discovered the formula for porcelain in Europe. Metalsmiths crafted the earliest ones of pewter or copper, and in some cases gold or silver. Children’s toy tea sets first appeared in 16th-century Germany, a country known for producing toys in wood and metal.

Porcelain children’s tea sets didn’t appear until the 18th century, but just like the silver and gold ones, only the wealthy could afford them. These sets were generally of very high quality, and people kept them for special occasions. Children’s tea sets didn’t become popular household items until the early to mid 19th century, during the Industrial Revolution. The Universal Exhibition of 1855 in London seems to have been the starting point of their expansion. 

In Colonial America, tea was a family event, with everyone enjoying a break during the day. No doubt make-believe tea time and pretend tea drinking were a part of some children’s playtime activities. Perhaps many little girls played at serving tea and dreamed of having a tea parties of their own. The pieces in these sets usually imitated those in regular sets, differing only in size. Though children’s cups and saucers look like traditional tea cups, only a bit smaller than demitasse cups. The handles were small, and not easy for adult hands to hold.  

Collectors love miniature cups and saucers for their variety, in shape, style, and decoration. They can be classified in two distinct styles—dollhouse-size miniatures and toy-size. 

Dollhouse-size miniatures are the smallest—usually scaled an inch to the foot. During the late 18th century, English and continental makers produced dinnerware sets for fashionable ladies to furnish  miniature rooms in large dollhouses. By the 19th century many more companies produced these sets, making them for both children's and adults' dollhouses.

During the Victorian era, wealthy families furnished a nursery for their children. While adults took tea in the parlor, the children had theirs in the nursery. This practice required child-size tea sets. Teacups held three or four ounces, just the right size for three-year- and up. Manufacturers decorated these pieces with animal themes, nursery rhymes, airy .tales, children's activities and the art of famous illustrators

First made n the early 19th century, Staffordshire ABC ware included more than 700 patterns. The alphabet appears on each piece. In the case of a small one, such as a tea cup, which was too small for the entire alphabet to fit, English manufacturers made the letters smaller or used fewer of them. Today, children's size miniatures are the most abundant and reasonably priced. American production of children's ware reached a peak during World War II before the less costly Japanese ware became available.

Mary of Teck, wife of George V of Great Britain, who reigned from 1910 to 1936, was an avid collector of dollhouses and miniatures. Because of her interest, the hobby regained popularity in the 1930s through the 1950s, making early dollhouse-size miniatures rare.

Toy-size miniatures are larger than the dollhouse-size but smaller than child's size. Novice collectors often mistake them for salesman's samples. These toy-size miniatures served several purposes. First, collectors could display them in a cabinet. Second, they taught children of wealthy families manners and social races in the late 18th and 19th centuries. Makers frequently decorated these teacups and saucers with historical scenes and mottoes.

Manufacturers produced these toy-size cups and saucers in the same forms, shapes and styles as the full-sized ones of the period. The potters of Nuremberg, Germany became famous for their miniature tea sets, decorated in vivid colors. Early tea bowls and saucers made by Meissen occasionally come up for sale. The Dutch produced small pottery items decorated in blue and white in the 17th century and introduced them to England in the 1690s. Soon "baby house waresº were part of Staffordshire potteries’ stock.

Companies such as Coalport, Minton, Spode and Worcester produced miniature creamware, stoneware and porcelain cups and saucers in the 19th century. The Dresden studios decorated miniature cups and saucers, often in the popular quatrefoil shape, in the late 19th century.

The most common examples of toy size cups and saucers found in the marketplace today date from the 20th century. In France several companies in the Limoges area produced them around the turn of the 20th century and still make them today. RS Prussia manufactured examples of lovely molded cups with leafy feet and unusual shaped handles around 1900. English potteries, such as Shelley, Crown Staffordshire, Copeland Spode, Wedgwood, Royal Crown Derby, and Coalport miniature tea sets with trays, which were exact replicas of full-size sets. Collectors especially like the Royal Crown Derby pieces, decorated in the Imari patterns. Probably the hottest miniature cup and saucer in the marketplace today are those made by Shelley. The price for a cup and saucer can reach as high as $250 to $300. In the United States, Leneige Company and Gort China made miniature cups and saucers from 1930 to the 1950s.

The creation of early plastics and Bakelite in the late 19th century marked a huge change in children’s tea set design. Manufacturers still made them in porcelain and more durable stoneware, but plastic sets soon began to emerge. By the mid 20th century, plastic sets and sturdy stoneware became the norm. 

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about old-time winter objects in the 2022/2023 Winter Holiday Edition, with the theme "Winter Memories," online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.

Captivating Cameos

QUESTION: A few years ago, I went on a trip to Italy. While traveling along the Amalfi Coast south of Rome on my way to visit the ruins of Pompeii, I discovered shop after shop filled with beautiful cameos. I bought several and would love to buy more. What can you tell me about the origins of cameos, and how can I tell if cameos are genuine? 

ANSWER: Cameos have been collectible since the Renaissance in the 15th century when wealthy women collected them as status symbols. Today, elderly Italian master carvers are retiring, causing an escalation in the prices for finely carved cameos. Plus, new laser-cut cameos from China have been flooding the market. It’s now a buyer-beware market where only an expert is able to discern a really good cameo.

A cameo is a form of carved bas-relief, which features portraits, landscapes, and mythological figures cut into a variety of materials, but most often into gemstones and shells. Artisans, both ancient and modern, have crafted cameos from two layers of one piece of material, the top of which protrudes from the background, creating a multi-dimensional artwork. Throughout history, these detailed reliefs have adorned pieces of jewelry, such as brooches, necklaces, bracelets, and rings. But the earliest cameo carvers took their inspiration from prehistoric petroglyphs, which documented important religious and symbolic imagery onto rock faces.

Cameos first appeared as far back as 15,000 BCE. where ancient Egyptian civilizations carved figures into rocks to record important events. Cameo artistry traveled between the ancient Mediterranean cultures through trade routes connecting Egypt, Greece, and Rome, and often depicted mythological themes while paying tribute to gods and goddesses. As the Roman Empire grew, cameo carvers began to incorporate political portraits into their pieces. Wealthy people could afford to buy the expensive gemstone cameos, while less wealthy ones bought glass cameos.

During the reign of Alexander the Great in the 3rd century B.C.E., Greek and Roman cameos incorporated religious figures and mythological images. Also during this time, specifically in the Hellenistic era, women wore cameos to display their willingness to engage in the act of lovemaking. By the 15th century, cameos produced in Italy began to differ from the ancient ones.

In the 18th century, wealthier women began wearing impressively carved gemstone cameos as a sign of wealth and prestige. Carvers soon realized they could use Plaster of Paris molds to recreate cameos from notable collections. Scottish gem engraver and modeler James Tassie began using molds of these famous cameos to recreate glass pastes that could pass as authentic, carved jewels.

Carvers realized just how easily they could replicate expensive jewels. They discovered the use of Cornelian shells, which were soft, durable, and easy to carve. Queen Victoria popularized shelled cameos, featuring natural and humanistic scenes carved onto deep-sea shells. Meanwhile, as interest in collecting cameos grew, French military leader Napoleon  He brought carvers from all over Europe into France to create cameo jewelry for both men and women. He even commissioned furniture to be designed with cameos carved out of precious gemstones like opal, sapphire, and garnet.

A new type of cameo made from lava rock also appeared during this time. Colored lava extracted from an archaeological dig at Pompeii proved useful for highly detailed carvings. Women often purchased lava cameos as mementos from their travels on their Grand Tours, which established the objects as a symbol of status and wealth.

Over the centuries, artisans have created cameos by carving figures in bas relief from precious gemstones such as onyx or agate, one of the most commonly used. The most common motif of antique cameo jewelry depicted a profile of a face or mythical creature. Whether ancient or modern, cameos typically have two colored layers—figures  carved in one layer raised on the background of the second layer. Today, workers in “cameo factories” carve cheap imitations in paste glass or in seashells. The best shells come from the coast of Africa. The shell, itself, has no value. It’s the quality of the carving that gives a shell cameo value.

The rareness of a cameo outweighs its age when determining its value. For example, though the Roman Empire predated the Renaissance era, experts consider Renaissance cameos more valuable as there were fewer produced back then.

It’s important to examine a cameo by holding it up to a light to ensure there are no major cracks. Those that have three or four layers of color and a metamorphic image, which includes several subjects, are particularly valuable. Further, colored stones like opal, lapis, and emerald are rare, so they’re even more expensive.

When purchasing a cameo, it’s necessary to use a magnifying glass to look on the inside of the rim of the setting for the gold value and for sharper cuts or fewer details. A signature makes it more valuable, but collectors seek some signatures more than others. Unfortunately, it takes an expert to find the signature of a laser-cut cameo. It’s easy for a novice collector to be fooled into buying them at greatly inflated prices.

Two sought-after designs are “The Three Graces,” a scene of three full figures in flowing garb. The other is “Rebecca at the Well,” a theme that usually includes a full figure of a woman, a cottage or a well, and often a bridge. Both are late 19th-century favorites.

Cameos made of gemstones are generally more valuable than those made of shell. But the medium isn’t as important as the quality of the carving.  Graceful, smooth-flowing lines with much detail are signs of a good one. The inferior ones seem to have sharper lines, fewer details, and a harsh look.

Scenic cameos, on the other hand, are generally pricier than bust cameos. A very popular motif around 1860 was what is known as ‘Rebecca at the Well.’ There are many variations on this theme, but they usually include a cottage, a bridge, and a girl.

Prices for cameos continue to rise, making them a good investment. One with a small bust or portrait might sell for $30 to $400 if well carved. Prices for larger scenes and unusual themes or with sought-after signatures may begin at $500 or $600 and go up from there.

Collectors often find smaller cameos at antique shows or shops for $100 to $150. But for those prices, experienced collectors don’t expect top quality. These cameos may be less expensive for several reasons. First, they usually have less detailed settings. Second, they’re usually smaller and unsigned. And third, they have been carved more recently and less artistically.

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about old-time winter objects in the 2022/2023 Winter Holiday Edition, with the theme "Winter Memories," online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.

Relics of Early Communication

 

QUESTION: I recently purchased a box of glass insulators, like the kind used on telephone and electric poles. Several have little white specks in the glass. I bought them because of their beautiful colors, but do these things have any value as a collectible? And just how were they used?

ANSWER: There’s nothing like the beauty of colored glass, especially when placed in a window where the sun can shine through it. Many people collect these glass electrical insulators for just that reason. But some, especially retired linemen, collect them because they’re a part of the history of telecommunications.

The first electrical systems to make use of insulators were telegraph lines; but directly attaching wires to wooden poles gave very poor results, especially during damp weather. Ezra Cornell invented the insulator in 1844 as a means of protecting electrical wires front the elements and reducing the loss of current from the wire to the ground. As technology developed, power and telephone companies needed more insulators. 

The earliest insulators had unthreaded pin holes. Because linemen simply pressed them onto a tapered wooden pin, extending upwards from the crossarm of an electric pole, they didn't stay on very well since the wires contracted and expanded in the heat and cold. When Louis A. Cauvet improved the insulator by patenting the threaded pin hole type in 1865, he sold his invention to Brookfield Glass Company of Brooklyn, which remained a major producer of insulators until 1922.

Though threaded pin holes helped insulators stay put, moisture still presented a problem since wet glass served as a conductor. In 1893, the Hemingray Company, another major manufacturer, obtained a patent for insulator "drip points." These bumps, which line the outside bottom rim of the insulator skirt,  helped prevent shorts by causing moisture to drip off. The earliest points were sharp but these were easily broken, leading to the manufacture of more rounded ones.  must have discovered that these really didn't work, since they eliminated them from later models. However, other companies continued to make insulators with drip points.

Porcelain insulators began to replace glass examples in the early 20th century, particularly on high voltage lines since glass insulators only worked on lines handling up to 60,000 volts.. By the late 1940s, only a few producers of glass insulators remained, by 1969, Kerr Manufacturing was the only company still making them. 

Manufacturers produced glass Insulators in a variety of colors and types of glass. They used remnants of window or bottle glass for earlier ones. Most companies made insulators only as a sideline,  pressing them out of whatever kind of glass happened to be available. Because of this, objects like nails, screws, coins, and bits of furnace brick would get mixed into the glass. Collectors call the little white furnace brick bits rocks. Some makers, like Hemingray, would cull out these blemished pieces, but others like Brookfield Company would just sell the blemished pieces along with the good ones.

The most common insulator colors are clear and light bluish-green or aqua. Other colors include sun-colored amethyst, green,  milk glass, royal blue, cobalt, amber and Carnival glass. The only color not made in glass is red, because red requires gold as a colorant. The most popular colors are royal blue and cobalt, with amethyst a close second. Insulator makers originally produced purple ones, ranging from  light lavender to deep amethyst, from clear glass. Manganese, used to clarify the glass, turned the glass purple after being exposed to the sun’s ultraviolet rays. After the start of World War I, manganese became scarce since it was needed for arms production. Manufacturers switched to selenium, which the sun turned to the color of wheat.

Common clear and aqua insulators sell for as little as a dollar each. But prices climb steadily for rare ones such as the Buzby or the Twin Pin. Aqua ones made by the Jeffrey Manufacturing Company can sell for as much as $125 each while a threadless Canadian insulator, also known as a snow cone, can sell for about $2,000.

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about old-time winter objects in the 2022/2023 Winter Holiday Edition, with the theme "Winter Memories," online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.