9 Ways to Help Identify Antique Furniture

QUESTION: Some friends of my mom’s gave me what looks like a Chippendale desk. They didn’t know anything about it, so I’ve had to do some research on my own. The only problem is that I can’t seem to find out much about it. Can you please help me out?

ANSWER: Not only will I try to tell you something about your desk, I’d like to give you and others some tips on what to look for when trying to identify antique furniture.

First and foremost, you need to determine if the piece you have is really an authentic antique or whether it’s a reproduction, a revival piece, a fake, or just a piece of junk. The key to the history of valuable antiques is whether they have a provenance—a history of ownership. This document lists the maker, all the owners to the present, and whether any repairs have been done to it. If you were spending five or six figures for a piece of furniture, you certainly would want to know everything you can about it.

But what about everyday pieces that don’t come with a provenance. Identifying them is a bit more difficult. Follow these steps and you should be able to determine quite a bit about any older piece of furniture that you have.

1. Determine the style. Using photographs in antiques books and photos online, try to determine the style of your piece. Certain styles, such as Chippendale, have telltale features, such as ball-and-claw feet, that help to identify them.

2. If it’s not authentic, determine if your piece is a revival or a reproduction. The difference between a revival and a reproduction is quite simple. The first is stylized version of the original style. So Colonial Revival furniture represents stylized versions of true 18th-century American Colonial pieces. A reproduction, on the other hand, is an exact replica of the original, often made of the same type of wood, using the same woodworking techniques.

3. Determine its age. Check to see if it has any nails or screws. An original Chippendale desk would have been assembled with pegs and mortar and tenon joints. Does it have any manufacturers labels anywhere? If so, then it’s definitely a Colonial Revival piece or even a fine reproduction from the mid-20th century.

4. Check any drawers for dovetailing. You can usually tell if the dovetails are handmade or done by machine. Those done by machine are very regular and even and can usually be found on pieces after about 1870.

5. Look inside the drawers or pullouts and see if the maker used the same wood—for example, mahogany. Later versions will have used some sort of fruitwood---pear, apple, or even poplar---for the drawer backs and sides. If its an older piece, the drawer bottoms will be made of a thinner version of the same wood.

6. Does the piece have decoration that isn’t in keeping with its style? Look at the detailing on your piece of furniture. Does it have added knobs or edging that doesn’t seem to go with the style of the piece. Often one of the owners of the piece may have added these to make it more up to date. The opposite also applies. Can you tell if any details have been removed for the sake of updating?.

7. Have any repairs been made to the piece? Look for signs of glue, nails, or screws that seem newer than the piece, itself. Also look for replaced wood panels, veneer, or detailing, such as finials.

8. Has the hardware been replaced or is it original? You can usually tell if hardware has been replaced. For instance, you’ll often see chests of drawers sporting glass or brass knobs. Originally, these chests usually had wooden knobs, but antique dealers, in an effort to make them more attractive to decorators, replace the original knobs with glass or brass ones. It’s actually better to replace missing original knob with a reproduction rather than replace the entire set with hardware that wouldn’t have been originally on the piece.

9. Were you told anything it about it? Did the seller or the person who gave you the piece tell you anything about its past? Did you ask them?

By studying the closeup photos that accompany this blog, you’ll notice the following about this desk.

First, your desk is definitely from the late 19th century---I’d say probably the 1880s, based on the 1886 mark you found. Second, the dovetails are definitely 19th century. But the real signs are the nails or screws that appear in one of the photos and the rather poor craftsmanship of the carving and joining. In an authentic Chippendale, the wood would be perfectly matched---the top of the leg where it joins the desk is a good example. Also, the stain would be even. I believe this piece had been refinished at some point, and not very well. I can tell that from the molding closeup from the front rim of the desk. And the last sign is the carving, itself. The little stars were stamped in. No 18th-century craftsman would have ever done that.

When asking someone to help you identify a piece, it helps if you take closeup photos of certain parts of the piece—hardware, dovetails, inside of drawers, carving, repairs, even the back.

What About Early Boob Tubes?

QUESTION: While helping a friend clean out his attic, I discovered he had an old television set. Though it was covered in dust, it looked like it may have been from the 1950s. When I asked him if I could have it, he said “Sure, I don’t want that piece of junk.” But now that I have it, I’m not sure what to do with it. The screen seems to be suspended in a U-shaped ring which sits atop a box with control knobs. It bears the name Philco Predicta.

ANSWER: You have one of the prime post-war television sets, dating from 1959. This famous set had a rather bad reputation. Although collectors love them for their sleek modern look, they couldn't overcome their performance problems. In fact, they often caught on fire. So you probably shouldn’t think about restoring it to working order.

But to truly understand the evolution of television sets, you need to understand a bit about their early history. In 1908 Alan Archibald Campbell-Swinton, fellow of the Royal Society (UK), published a letter in the scientific journal Nature in which he described how "distant electric vision" could be achieved by using a cathode ray tube as both a transmitting and receiving device.

Originally, televisions were mechanical and simpler, consisting of a motor turning a spinning disk and a neon lamp. Scotsman John Logie Baird and American Charles Jenkins perfected the mechanical system in the mid-1920s. The projected image was only business-card size, but a magnifier enlarged the image.

Though Philo Farnsworth was working on an electronic television system in San Francisco during the late 1920s, it was engineer Vladimir Zworykin, a Russian immigrant working for RCA, who claimed the invention. However, the U.S. Patent Office gave the nod to Farnsworth in 1934 and RCA agreed to pay Farnsworth $1 million over the next 10 years to use his patents.

It's generally accepted that the 1938 DuMont Model 180 with a14-inch picture tube was the first commercially available electronic TV set in the United States. The 12-inch 1939 RCA Victor TRK-12 followed soon after, launching it at the 1939 New York World’s Fair. In the set’s brochure, RCA claimed   the receiver would allow an average family to see a program simultaneously at a cost for electricity of about one cent per hour. Viewers actually watched the image on a mirror because the long picture tube was mounted vertically in the cabinet.

RCA dominated the pre-war U.S. television set production, as well as the postwar technology, until about 1948.

Color T.V. sets appeared in the mid-1950s. RCA began to manufacture the first "mass-produced" color TV in 1954, the CT-100, called "The Merrill,"and also licensed its technology to 70 competing manufacturers. However, Westinghouse beat it to market with its H840CK15, a 15-inch set priced at $1,250. The company produced only 500 and only a few of those sold.

The CT-100 debuted at $1,000, about $7,400 in today's dollars, a bit pricey for the average American household. Within months, RCA reduced its price to $495, then the company recalled most of them and swapped them out for a 21-inch model. Fewer than 5,000 CT-100s made it to retail stores and fewer sold. Only about 75 exist today, perhaps 25 in working condition. If you can find a CT-100, you'll pay about $5,000 for it.

Even so, by the end of 1957, only 150,000 color sets had sold. That’s because there wasn’t much to watch in color at the time. The first national color broadcast was of the 1954 Tournament of Roses Parade from Pasadena, California. But only a handful of TV studios were capable of color broadcasting, with the transition to color by local TV stations done slowly on a market-by-market basis. By 1960, only RCA remained producing color sets.

Things changed dramatically with the premiere of NBC's Sunday night Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color in September 1961. Other major shows followed in the 1960s and color sales began to surge and competition roared again. CBS began regular colorcasts in the fall of 1965, and NBC became the first 100 percent color network in 1966. In 1967, sales of color TVs surpassed sales of black-and-white sets.

After a lengthy duel to the death over which color technology would rule in the United States, CBS's partially mechanical color system or RCA's all electronic one—RCA emerged victorious. The broadcasting industry adopted the National Television System Committee's electronic color TV system, which was compatible with existing black-and-white T.V. broadcasting in the early 1950s and is still used today.

Though T.V. sets in the 1960s used vacuum tube electronics, that all changed by the early 1970s when solid-state electronics appeared on the market. This allowed for significantly more reliable televisions with better picture quality.

Most collectors want TVs from the 1930s and 1940s just the way they are. However, non-collectors want sets from the 1950s and 1960s that have been color converted to go with their 1950s or 1960s retro decor and in working condition.

There are millions and millions of discarded sets out there, so not all will be worth collecting. But there are key sets throughout each decade that collectors want to own, including newer ones from the 1970s and 1980s. You can pick up an early postwar set on eBay for $100 to $300. With newly made replacement parts and a good supply of new old-stock vacuum tubes available, you might take a stab at restoring one yourself.

Simply Elegant Find

QUESTION: Some time ago, I purchased two wall pockets decorated with a matte green glaze in an antique shop while on a routine antiquing foray. Each has the word “Teco” stamped on the bottom along with a number. I have these hanging in my kitchen, but know little about them. Can you tell me anything?

ANSWER: You’ve stumbled on a real find. What you have are good examples of what’s known as Teco Ware, a type of art pottery produced in the beginning of the 20th century. While pieces originally sold for $2 to $5, none sold for more than $30 because the maker’s goal was to produce something of beauty that the average person could afford.

The Teco Pottery began in 1879 when attorney William Day Gates started the Spring Valley Tile Works in Terra Cotta, Illinois, to make drain pipe. But his goal changed after visiting the World's Columbian Exposition in nearby Chicago where he viewed exhibits of new matte glazes, produced by French potters. After his factory was nearly destroyed in 1887, he decided to rebuild, naming it the American Terra Cotta and Ceramic Company. When it reopened, he began working on an art pottery line after conducting experiments using local clays. In 1895, Gates registered the Teco trademark, deriving the name from the first two letters of his company's name, the Terra Cotta & Ceramic Company. He introduced a line of art pottery in 1899.

He derived his pottery shapes from line and color rather than elaborate decoration. While he created most of the 500 shapes he offered by 1911, many of the remaining Teco designs came from several Chicago architects that practiced the Prairie School style, including Frank Lloyd Wright. They had rejected the revival styles of American architecture of the 19th century in favor of using wood, stone and clay in simplicity of design. Ornamentation merged gracefully with the form. By 1923, the number of shapes had increased to more than 10,000.

Gates’ son, Major Gates, a ceramic engineer, invented a pressing machine and tunnel kiln, and also a glaze spraying apparatus called a pulischrometer to make production more efficient. In 1918, they acquired Indianapolis Terra Cotta Company. And the following year, opened a branch in Minneapolis.

Teco started making their green architectural vases in 1901, well before other art potters in the country produced similar wares. That’s why Teco vases are so valuable today. Gates produced his pottery from clays in Illinois and Indiana, and forms ranged from organic to architectural to geometric.

Teco pottery comes in hundreds of shapes, all cast from molds. Even exotic shapes that look handformed aren’t unique. The type of shape directly affects the value, with scarcer taller shapes more valuable. Gates marked the bottom of each of his pieces with a large “T” followed by the letters “ECO” and incised or stamped the shape number below it.

Gates’ goal was that every American home should have at least one piece of Teco ware. He believed that good design was as critical as the quality of materials and workmanship. So while some of Teco's more interesting pieces had at least some hand finishing, all of the pieces started with modern production techniques, including molds and power glaze sprayers.

Although Gates commercially introduced his line of Teco art pottery to the public in 1902, mass marketing of his products didn't really take effect until 1904. The event was the St. Louis World's Fair, where he exhibited vases, planters and other wares.

Gates exhibited art pottery with a green microcrystalline glaze which received many awards. It would also be the only glaze he used for several years. And although he introduced glazes in other colors–-including shades of yellow and gold, brown, cream, gray, orange, maroon, blue, gray, blue and purple—in 1909, none were as popular as those in various shades of green.

The most desirable pieces have been enhanced with a charcoal overglaze. Decorators used this secondary charcoal glaze to emphasize the negative space in embossed decoration or to highlight the detail found. in pieces with attached handles. Pieces with lowlights, or those that are mostly charcoal black are particularly striking.

Teco's organic pieces, an aesthetic blend of Art Nouveau and Prairie School featuring leaf and floral motifs, are more interesting, and as such, command higher prices than the geometric ones. The finest examples feature details such as swirling tendril and whiplash handles and/or embossed designs.

The typical Teco vase sold for $2-$5, while larger cost $7-$20. Today, that $2-$5 vase sells for a few hundred dollars, with fine examples commanding several thousand dollars. Major pieces that feature considerable hand finishing fetch anywhere from $20,000 to$100,000. But the majority of Teco vases and bowls sell for $500 to $2,000. However, there are plenty of rarer forms that can go for $10,000 or more. And even though the company produced pieces in other colors, collectors favor those in green.

Your modest wall pockets sell for about $1,500 a pair—a real find.

Wearable Beauty

QUESTION: My mother has a beautiful silver bracelet that my dad gave to her on their tenth wedding anniversary. The letters GJ are inscribed on the inside. I’ve always admired this bracelet and hope that one day it will be mine. Can you tell me who made this bracelet and perhaps something about it.

ANSWER: Your mother’s bracelet comes from Georg Jensen Studios in Copenhagen, Denmark, although I’m sure your dad purchased it at one of the company’s retail stores here in the U.S. Jensen is one of the premier jewelry companies in the world and continues to be known for its unique jewelry designs.

                           
Born in 1866, Jensen was the son of a knife grinder in the town of Raadvad north of Copenhagen. He started training to be a goldsmith when he was 14 as an apprentice with Guldsmed Andersen. But in 1884, he decided to study sculpture at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. Jensen had dreamed of being a sculptor ever since childhood. In 1887, a plaster bust of his father gained him admission into the Royal Danish Academy of Art. He exhibited his first sculpture at the 1891 Charlottenborg Spring Exhibit in Copenhagen and graduated the following year.

Although his clay sculpture was well received, making a living as a fine artist proved difficult, so he turned his hand to the applied arts. First as a modeler at the Bing & Grøndahl Porcelain Factory and, beginning in 1898, and then with a small pottery workshop he founded in partnership with Christian Petersen to make ornamental ceramics. Their ceramic jug, The Maid on the Jar, was selected for the arts and crafts exhibit in the Danish Pavilion at the 1900 World Exhibition in Paris. The public and critics loved their work, but sales weren’t strong enough to support Jensen, who his point a widower, and his two small sons.

Through his ceramic work, Jensen received a travel grant award which allowed him to tour Europe at a time when the Art Nouveau movement was in full force. The work of these artists in beautiful, yet useful, objects inspired him. Upon is return Denmark, he became increasingly involved in designing and making jewelry. In 1901, he took a job as the foreman for goldsmith Mogens Bailin. Finally, in1904, he opened his own small shop in Copenhagen, employing an apprentice and a helper.

Jensen's early designs were primarily in the tradition of Arts & Crafts, with an emphasis on hand-beaten surfaces' and semi-precious stones. This was a time when the cost of materials was high, and wages for skilled labor was low. The stones Jensen selected---amber, moonstones, lapis lazuli, green agate, garnet, ebony, hematite and small bits of coral—were relatively inexpensive.

Georg Jensen never followed fashion, he created it. He opened his first retail store in Berlin in 1909. In 1912 he expanded his workshop and opened a large retail shop in Copenhagen. It's also important to note that from the beginning, he laid the groundwork for Georg Jensen as a brand, versus that of one artist, hiring talented artisans, craftsmen and designers. When other studios gave no credit to their designers, Jensen always did.

Jensen's training in metalsmithing along with his education in the fine arts allowed him to combine the two disciplines and revive the tradition of the artist craftsman. Soon, the beauty and quality of his Art Nouveau creations caught the eye of the public, assuring his success. Before the end of the 1920s, Jensen had opened retail outlets in New York, London, Paris, and Stockholm.

In 1905, he held his first exhibition outside Denmark at the Folkwang Museum in Hagen, Germany, and the museum purchased a number of his designs. In 1910, he received a gold medal at an exhibition in Brussels.

What really catapulted him to international fame, however, was his first U.S. exhibition at the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exhibition in San Francisco. In addition to being awarded more gold medals, an entire showcase of jewelry was purchased bythe newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst.

At the time of his death in 1935, the New York Herald Tribune proclaimed him as "The greatest silversmith of the last 300 years.” His vision lived on through the employees he had trained and his small workshop developed into a worldwide company. Designers like Henning Koppel, Vivianna Torun Bulow-Hube, Manna Ditzel, and Arno Malinowski brought the company to the forefront of international design.

There has been no designer with the sustained appeal of Georg Jensen. His work continues to attract top collectors and museums throughout the world feature his pieces. For five generations his legacy has grown, unrivaled by any other 20th century creator. He is, quite simply, unique.

As Delicate as Lace

QUESTION: My aunt collected Dresden lace figurines for years. She died recently and left her collection to me. Unfortunately, I know next to nothing about these porcelain figurines, except that they came from Dresden, Germany. What can you tell me about them? Also, I’d like to maintain the collection and have no idea how to care for them. They seem so delicate.

ANSWER: Dresden lace figurines have captured the imagination of collectors for years because of their fragile beauty and grace. These delicate figures have been produced by many different German companies from the late 19th century to the present and shouldn’t be confused with the famous porcelain Meissen figurines.

Confusion about Meissen and Dresden porcelain has reigned for over 200 years. The Royal Saxon Porcelain Factory (now known as Meissen) first opened in 1710 in Dresden, Germany. A year later, it’s owners moved it to Meissen, Germany, where it remains today. During the 18th and 19th centuries Meissen porcelain became known as Dresden China in England, Canada and the United States. These lace Dresden figurines are completely different.

Between 1850 and 1914, as many as 200 decorating studios in and around Dresden created a "Dresden" style, a mixture of Meissen and Vienna. While some studios produced high quality pieces that outdid Meissen, others made inferior copies.

Most Dresden-style figurines aren’t as solid as those produced at Meissen. The makers of authentic Meissen figurines pressed porcelain clay into molds, making solid finished pieces. The makers of the  Dresden-style figures, on the other hand, made their pieces by pouring liquid porcelain or "slip" into plaster molds. Because the plaster absorbed the liquid near the sides, a thin wall of partially hard porcelain built up against the outline of the mold Then they poured the remaining slip out of the mold. The resulting impression was thin, hollow, and light in weight. Thus Dresden figures are less costly to produce than those of Meissen.

Meissen first introduced porcelain lace, the most distinctive feature of Dresden figurines, in 1770 as a fancy addition to the dress of some figures. Makers used small amounts to decorate collars and sleeves. In the late 19th century, various Dresden studios developed figurines in elaborately flounced lace skirts and dresses.

The lace was easy to produce. Workers dipped real lace into liquid porcelain, then cut and applied it to the figure in the desired position. During the firing process, the real lace threads burned away, leaving a replica of the mesh in the porcelain.

Dresden figurines also possess an abundance of delicate, applied flowers adorning the gowns, hair and base of the figures. Artists created these tiny leaves and flowers petal by petal, then individually applied them. Some pieces also had a hand-whipped, grouty bisque applied to the base to simulate grass or moss. The best examples appear on figures produced by the Carl Thieme Factory of Potschappel. In 1972 the company became the VEB Saxonian Porcelain Manufactory Dresden. Today, they’re the only official producer of Dresden china in Germany.

The most beautiful and sought-after Dresden pieces are the large figure groups made in the style of 18th-century Meissen. These so-called "crinoline" groups often portrayed court life and the diversions of noble people, such as playing musical instruments or doing the minuet. Avid collectors of Dresden figurines also seek groups that include animals such as Russian wolf hounds, as well as love scenes.

Many collectors love the Dresden ballerinas, each featuring tightly fitting lace tutus, as well as Spanish Flamingo dancers with their skirts of ruffled lace.

As with any antique or collectible, condition is probably the most important factor to consider. Examine the piece carefully for chips or small flakes, as damaged pieces lose 50 percent or more of their value. Because the lace is so fragile, you should expect a small amount of loss. However, be wary of pieces with large holes or breaks in the lace because it's virtually impossible to repair porcelain lace. If the piece contains many applied flowers, a small chip or two on a petal or leaf is acceptable.

The next thing to consider is quality. Do you like the face? Are the fingers slender and separated from one another? Is there much hand-painted decoration on the costume? Are the colors pleasing? How lifelike does the figure or group of figures appear?

You’ll need to take extra special care with your Dresden pieces. Because the lace and applied flowers are so fragile, use care in handling them. Keep them in a glass case or china closet to prevent them from getting dusty. If you must clean them, use a feather duster or carefully submerge them in a mild detergent and warm water. Gently pat dry the figure and blow dry the lace.

Puff, Puff, Puffing Along

QUESTION: I’m an engineer who has recently retired. Not long ago, I saw some steam-powered toys on display at a local antique show. The dealer couldn’t tell me much about them except that they were produced in the latter part of the 19th century.  I’m fascinated with these toys and would like to start a collection. What can you tell me about them?

ANSWER: Live steam-driven toys have always fascinated young boys and men. It’s probably because of the power they produce and that they’re often so close to the original devices that use steam power to operate.

The use of steam as a power source dates from the early 1840s. By the mid-19th century, steam-powered toys began to appear. Craftsmen hand built toy steam engines for the first 50 years or so and definitely for those who could afford their high price tag. Cheaper models began to appear in the 1870s. By that time, makers constructed stationary engines with the boiler in either a vertical or horizontal position, although the functions of each were essentially the same. The vertical model fit into a smaller space while the horizontal model allowed greater size and power. Though toy engines were often faithful duplicates of the real thing, they rarely had the detail of true scale models.

Such famous toy makers as Bing, Doll and Marklin produced steam-powered toys in Germany. The British manufactured some beautiful examples under the label of Bassett-Lowke. In America, Eugene Beggs of Paterson, New Jersey turned out these mechanical wonders from the 1870s to about 1900 in competition with the famous Ives company of Bridgeport, Connecticut. The best known of all the American firms was the
Weeden Manufacturing Company which manufactured steam-powered toys from  1883 to 1930 in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Other manufacturers included Mamod, Wilesco, Cheddar, Krick, Tucher & Walther, Hermann Bohm, and Blechspielzeug.

The boiler of a steam toy had to be carefully filled with mineral-free water, often from a rainwater barrel. Most of the burners or lamps used alcohol as fuel although manufacturers advertised a few that burned kerosene.

Both substances were highly flammable but not explosive in the open air. Once the user lit the burner and shoved it into place beneath the boiler, it was just a matter of waiting while steam formed in the boiler and pressure gradually increased. When steamed up, the throttle opened, wheels began to spin, and pulleys operated the accessories. And, of course, every steam engine came with a whistle.

Steam-powered trains were a bit more complicated. Many became known as "dribblers" because water often leaked from the boiler. Though the user set a throttle in advance,  there was tittle or no speed control once the locomotive got under way. Once steam had built up, the user set the train on the tracks and let it go until the fuel and water ran out. Often the engine would fly off the rails on a tight curve, spilling the water and burning alcohol. Makers advertised these trains as “safe” toys, since they rarely blew up unless an ingenious boy locked down the safety valve. However, the engines got very hot, enough to produce a nasty burn. Since boys often set up these trains on their mom’s carpet, a derailment and spill often resulted in a good scolding.

Steam-powered boats, on the other hand, were graceful toys, often beautifully constructed of brass. Manufacturers built them around a horizontal boiler with a burner beneath. Steam traveled through a pipe to a cylinder and piston which operated the propeller shaft. An adjustable ruder provided some control but there was always a risk of losing the boat once it got under way. Boys could purchase flimsy tinplate steam motorboats in dime and novelty stores. This toy had a burner and boiler but no cylinder. The steam traveled directly to the stern of the boat and exhausted underwater, propelling the boat until all the steam was used up. Boys called them "put-puts while they referred to more elaborate models as propellers.

By 1886, a boys could purchase a toy steam engine with a vertical boiler from Montgomery Ward for 40 cents plus a nickel for postage. Larger horizontal engines with a walking beam and a flywheel sold for $2. From the same catalog, boys could order a toy steamboat in the 9-inch size packed in a "neat wooden box" for $1.25 or a 13-inch model which ran about 20 minutes for $2.60. In 1888, Ladies' Home Journal provided a Weeden upright steam engine made from 41 pieces at no cost with a subscription. Or the lucky young person could buy an 11-inch steamboat directly from the magazine for $1.50 postpaid.

In 1889 it was possible to buy an upright steam engine from Ward’s catalog for 20 cents but more elaborate engines cost as much as $11. A popular steam toy that year was the Model Steam Fire Engine, with a vertical boiler, single oscillating cylinder, and a pump which spewed water quite a distance.This toy was very similar in appearance to the formidable horse-drawn prototypes which dashed through city streets on their way to a fire, spouting smoke, sparks and steam. The same year boys could also purchase a complete steam train, which ran on a circular track for about 20 minutes with each filling of water. It sold for $8 and came complete with a brass locomotive, two cars, and track.

The British firm of Bassett-Lowke also produced model steam locomotives. One gauge available was 1 1/2-inch, which was close to the present "0" gauge while others came in a  gauge twice as wide. The models ranged from stubby switchers to scale  versions of famous locomotives. In 1902 this firm also offered an elaborate model steam fire engine, as well as a tractor roller, several cranes, and two models of motor cars, all steam powered. 

The early 20th century brought little change in the design and appearance of steam-powered toys. One major innovation was the introduction of electricity as a heat source. As household electricity became more prevalent, the stationary steam engine gradually switched from alcohol burners to electric heating elements. A Weeder model in 1930 came with a 110-volt heating element. The company still made alcohol-burning versions and one hybrid was available with either a two-burner alcohol stove or an electric heater.

Today, some models, such as the 1909 Marklin steam-powered boat, sell at auction for thousands of dollars, putting many steam-powered toys out of reach of many collectors.

ted with these toys and would like to start a collection. What can you tell me about them?

The Age of Innocence - Part 2

QUESTION: My mother collected Hummel figurines for a long time. Now I have her collection. Frankly, I don’t know anything about these little figures of children, other than what little I’ve read or heard. Can you give me some background about my Hummels? I’d like to continue collecting them, but have no idea where to start.

ANSWER: After delving into the life of Sister Maria Innocentia (a.k.a. Berta Hummel), the creator of the original drawings of children made into Hummel figurines (see Part 1 from last week),  it’s only natural to take a look at the other side of the story—their manufacture and distribution.

The Goebel Company., located in the southern part of Germany near the town of Oeslau-Rödental, just outside Coburg,, was the sole producer of Hummel figurines. Franz Detleff Goebel originally built a factory to make writing slates, blackboards, and marbles in 1871 beneath Coburg Castile in Bavaria. In 1878, the Duke of Coburg Castle granted permission for the him to build the first kiln to produce porcelain dinnerware, kitchen items, and beer steins, as well as bisque doll heads. He invited his son, William, to join him in running the company and changed the name to the F. & W. Goebel Company. The firm set out to produce luxury porcelain, including small sculptures in the Meissen Rococo style.

By 1909, Franz and William began seeing an opportunity to export their product. In 1911, F. W. Goebel Co. introduced its first line of figurines and began an international marketing campaign. As the company continued to grow, so did the lines of products the company produced. The international success of Goebel’s figurines caused the Goebel family to introduce the concept that figurines could be associated with emotion and not just be decorative objects. The firm became the first to market their artists as aggressively as they did their products. After several years of porcelain production, Franz's son William expanded the Goebel product line and changed the company name to W. Goebel Porzellanfabrik.

William believed that there were untapped opportunities in the United States, so in 1911, he sent his 16-year-old son, Max-Louis, to America, where he went to school and developed a passion for art like his father. When he returned to Germany, his father put him in charge of the business and the younger Goebel set about taking the company into the 20th century..

Max-Louis wanted to capture a larger market share, so, in turn, he sent his young son, Franz, to the United States in the early 1920s to study the American ceramic after market. It was a time of prosperity for Americans but a dismal time back home in Germany with political anarchy and runaway inflation. Franz knew that it was essential that his father expand the export markets of the W. Goebel Company in order to remain in business.

When Max-Louis Goebel died in 1929, it was up to Franz, his mother Freida Goebel, and his uncle Dr.Eugene Stocke to carry on the business. Having spent so much time in America, Franz instinctively knew that it was the greatest market in the world. He decided to develop a series of affordable ceramic figurines and selected children as the subject. He believed they would appeal to a broad audience. As the 1930s dawned, Franz  thought that in a world of political turmoil, customers would respond to a product that depicted the gentle innocence of childhood.

In 1933 he started his search for the art and artist whose work could be transformed into three-dimensional figures of children. While in Munich to see how his products were doing during the Christmas season, he stopped at a small religious art shop. On the counter stood a display of art cards by Sister Maria Innocentia. He was immediately drawn to these wonderful sketches of innocent children and enthusiastically took a few cards back with him to Coburg. He discussed the possibility of transforming the artwork of Sister Maria into ceramic figures with his two top modelers, Arthur Moller and Reinhold Unger. They thought it possible, but also thought it would be one of the most challenging and expensive projects ever undertaken by the company. Franz hired artists to “interpret” Sister Maria’s drawings by making them into three dimensional figurines.

He acquired rights to turn her drawings into figurines, producing the first line in 1935. W. Goebel was one of many mid-size porcelain firms competing in the U.S. market and Franz´s knack for novelty marketing caused the figurines to become popular among German immigrants on the East Coast.

Franz contacted Sister Maria at the Convent of Siessen and showed her clay models based on her drawings. She and the Convent of Siessen granted sole rights to the his company to create ceramic figures based on her original artwork. Sister Maria personally approved the sculpting and painting of each porcelain piece. The Convent would receive all royalties derived from the sales. Geobel determined that earthenware, pioneered by the firm in the 1920s, was the best medium for the new collectibles product line.

The first marketing challenge for the newly manufactured Hummel figurines came at the Leipzig Trade Fair held in March 1935. With the enormous risk the company had undertaken in the development and first production of the Hummel figurines, success at Leipzig was very important. Fortunately, the American buyers liked the figures and placed a number of orders. By the end of 1935, the W. Goebel Company had released several more figurines, expanding the line to 46. Sales of the figures on the international market during the 1935 Christmas season were brisk.

After World War II, the United States Government gave W. Goebel Company permission to resume production and export of Hummel figures. Production began slowly as many of the master molds and models had been lost or destroyed during the war. During the re-modeling process, Goebel artists made modifications that resulted in slight changes in the design of the figurines. 

The popularity of Hummel figurines grew as American soldiers stationed in West Germany began sending the figurines home as gifts. Nostalgia associated with the figurines and the U.S. soldiers buying them led to Hummel figurines becoming a popular collector's item. Popularity increased even more when the U.S. Army PX system began selling the Hummels. After Sister Maria’s untimely death at 37 in 1946, Franz Goebel carried on her artistic legacy by developing new Hummel pieces. A vibrant speculator market in Hummel figurines had developed by the 1970s when Hummel figurines skyrocketed in price.

Unfortunately, as with so many popular collectibles, there are lots of copies and fakes. To determine if a figurine is a genuine Hummel piece, you should look for the definitive mark of Sister M. I. Hummel incised on the bottom of every authentic piece. Sister Maria requested that her personal stamp of approval would appear on every piece and under the direction of the members of the convent. All Hummels have a mold number incised on the bottom of each figurine at the time of manufacture. Another definitive identifying mark is the official Goebel trademark on the underside of each figurine.

In January, 2009 Jörg Köster, managing partner of the Höchster Porzellan Fabrik Company, together with private investors took over the manufacture of Hummel figurines. Under the company Manufaktur Rödental, Hummel figurines are now being produced in Franz Detleff Goebel’s original building in Oelslau-Rödental near Coburg.

The Age of Innocence - Part 1

QUESTION: My mother collected Hummel figurines for a long time. Now I have her collection. Frankly, I don’t know anything about these little figures of children, other than what little I’ve read or heard. Can you give me some background about my Hummels? I’d like to continue collecting them, but have no idea where to start.

ANSWER: You’re in the same boat as a lot of other people who inherit collections from their parents. Some sell them off because they have no interest in them, but others, like yourself, want to continue collecting. However, since you weren’t involved in the original collection, it’s hard to pick up where someone else left off. One thing you must remember: Your mother’s Hummel collection is now your collection. And the first thing you need to do is learn as much as you can about your Hummels, so you can make educated decisions when growing or culling your collection.

Hummel figures have long been one of the world’s top collectibles, though interest in them has waned a bit in recent years. The artist who created these endearing figurines, Sister Maria Innocentia Hummel, was inspired by her love and understanding of children.

Born Berta Hummel on May 21, 1909, in the Bavarian village of Massing to Adolf and Viktoria Hummel, who owned a general store. She had two brothers and three sisters. When her father was young, he wanted to become an artist but gave that up to run the family business. To make up for it, he made sure that art and music were part of his family’s life. Berta’s mother gave her the nickname, “das Hummele,” which means the “little busy bee,” because Berta was always buzzing from one creative pursuit to another.

One of her teachers at the Massing Grammar School, Sister Theresa, encouraged Berta to pursue her art and helped her gain admission to the Institute of English Sisters, a boarding school in the town of Simbach, about 20 miles from her home. While there, Berta spent hours sketching the surrounding mountain countryside. It was then that her parents noticed the intensity of Berta’s commitment to her art work. 

From there Berta went to the Academy of Applied Arts in Munich in 1927. During this time, Germany was in political and economic upheaval. Although Berta’s attendance at the school placed great financial hardship on her family, she studied in one of the best art programs offered in Europe at the time. From the Academy, it was only a short walk to the Alte Pinakothek, one of the most famous art museums in Bavaria, where Berta discovered the old masters.

While Berta was living in the Holy Family Dormitory, she became close friends with two Franciscan sisters from a convent at Siessen,. near the town of Saulgau in the Swabian Alps. They told Berta about the art classes taught at the convent, and she began considering joining it.

Berta entered the Siessen Convent on April 22, 1931, where as a Franciscan postulate she taught art to young children. Berta Hummel received her habit of the sisters of Third Order of Saint Francis on August 20, 1934, and was given the name Sister Maria Innocentia. As a nun, the feelings of innocence would always be part of her artistic life.

Soon a small religious publishing house, ver Sacrum, became interested in her work that included religious illustrations with children. It was also at this time that people throughout Germany and the rest of Europe began noticing her work, due to ver Sacrum’s distribution of her art cards depicting children in religious scenes. She even collaborated on a children's book entitled, The Hummel Book, with Margareta Seeman, who wrote the verse.

Since Sister Maria had taken a vow of poverty, she had no interest in profiting from her art. Instead, the publishing house set up a trust fund to receive royalties, which could then be used by the convent to pay for religious activities. Ver Sacrum also agreed to give Sister Maria final approval on all items they produced, before production began.

The first M.I. Hummel figurines appeared on the market in March 1935. Her art appealed to the masses because people could see a little bit of themselves in her work.

But in 1937, the Nazis said  that Sister Maria’s art wasn’t consistent with their goals. But they let her continue to work on it, nonetheless. She continued to create art in her studio on the second floor of the Siessen Convent. However, in 1938 her health began to fail.

In October of 1940 the Nazis expropriated the convent and sent most of the nuns to their own homes and families. However, Sister Maria stayed behind with 40 other sisters. Food, living conditions and especially the heating of the convent buildings was less then adequate. And medical and art supplies  were nearly impossible to find.

During the fall of 1944, Sister Maria Irmocentia Hummel developed pleurisy, but she continued to live and work at the convent until the war ended. When her health would allow it, she would continue with her art. She provided inspiration to the other sisters who stayed on at the convent through those difficult times: The tubercular lung infection that took so much of her strength eventually got worse, and she became weaker. She died on November 6, 1946, at the age of 37.

Sister Maria Innocentia Hummel left a rich heritage of over 500 sketches and paintings. And her work lives on today in countless collections throughout the world.

NEXT WEEK: The other side of the story—the creation of the figurines, themselves.

Back to Nature

QUESTION: Recently I got a rustic night stand from my grandmother’s house after she died. She had once said that it came from a sale of furniture from a cabin in the Adirondack Mountains here in New York State. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. It’s a funky piece, and I’d like to know more about it. Can you help me?

ANSWER: Your grandmother’s night stand is indeed a piece of rustic furniture, also known as Adirondack furniture, even though it wasn’t restricted to just the Adirondack region.

The idea for rustic furniture came about in the late 18th century at the beginning of the back-to-nature movement, a change from the world of classic, predictable furniture patterns to one of more fanciful design using natural materials. 

Little summer shelters appeared in city gardens, often covered in vines or surrounded by trees and shrubs. These summerhouses also provided a small green refuge that shut out the discomfort and ugliness of city life.

Designers copied nature's lines in drawings for chairs and settees for these shelters and the garden paths around them. Their plans called for gnarled, distorted limbs of shrubs and trees to make a chair or bench, instead of the usual marble or plain wooden seats. Gardens, themselves, became more picturesque and less formal, with curving paths taking the place of straight ones. Designers strategically placed rustic chairs, benches, arbors and gates throughout the plantings.

At the same time came the discovery of warm springs in America. Basic living conditions were the rule in the hotels and cottages that sprung up around the springs. The coarse furniture changed from plain and primitive to fanciful and rustic as hotel owners updated amenities.

By the late 19th century, America’s millionaires filled the resorts, but although they considered themselves naturalists, they dressed and lived formally in the midst of the rustic furniture, for they had no intention of roughing it.

But some of these naturalists set up their own camps with tents and log cabins and built rustic furniture for them or had local craftsmen do it for them. Eventually, the log cabins became large log houses with all the latest amenities. Soon they became known as compounds or family camps. However, life in these camps was more back-to-nature and relaxed than at the warm springs resorts.

Rustic outdoor furniture filled the porches of these houses and spilled onto the grass. Couches and chairs made of rough pieces of local woods, holding loose cushions, adorned the sitting rooms. Even the beds showed off the rustic style, often with fanciful patterns on the head and foot boards.

The term rustic furniture covers a functional style made of organic materials, such as the tree or shrub limbs and roots or the trunks of saplings indigenous to area of the craftsman. Although roughly made, the style was often sophisticated and imaginative. The more knots there were in the limbs, the more the designers favored them. They even left the bark on the wood whenever possible to give each piece more texture and individuality.

In the Adirondack region of New York State, craftsmen made rustic furniture for the wealthy families who had camps there. They used large, gnarly roots in their furniture designs, making them into table legs and chair arms. They favored birch to build with, a slender tree with bark that peels in strips, giving the craftsmen a striking veneer for their furniture. These pieces quickly became known for their geometric designs made of the white birch bark veneer, especially on case furniture, such as your night stand. Also, many of the intricate veneered designs included various kinds of split twigs, carefully chosen by color to form patterns.

Appalachian craftsmen took pride in knowing how to get wood to work for the intricate twists, bends and weaving for their furniture designs. They knew just when and how to bend saplings while they were still growing, letting nature do some of the work before they were ready to use the wood. The best woods to use were laurel, hickory and willow because of their flexibility and strength. They built their furniture with graceful loops and interwoven curves, weaving each piece of wood to create tension, resulting in a hid-den strength disguised by the fragile look of the design.

Today, you’ll find rustic pieces at higher-end antique shows. Occasionally, they’ll appear at flea markets. But people consigned a lot of pieces to the bonfire after they went out of fashion in the mid-20th century. So prices tend to be on the high side because of the uniqueness of the pieces. Twig rockers can sell for $150 and up, while lounges and settees can go over $2,000.
Case pieces rarely come on the market and when they do, their prices are exceptionally high, often in the four and five figure range. The most common pieces are various chairs and plant stands, priced anywhere from $75 to $600.

As the 20th century moved forward, individual craftsmen found it hard to keep up with the volume of orders, so factories opened to meet the need. Business remained brisk for the rural craftsmen until the 1940s and by the 1950s, rustic furniture was no longer popular.

Born Again Glass

QUESTION: I’ve recently started to collect colored Victorian glassware. But the more I get into it, the more confused I’ve become. On more than one occasion, I’ve been sold pieces produced in the 1960s that the dealer insisted were authentic. How can I tell the difference between the real thing and reproductions and downright fakes?

ANSWER: You’re not alone. The antiques world has become swamped with imitations and fakes. Imitators pray on the ignorance of many dealers, especially those in the lower end of the market selling at fleamarkets. Most of these dealers sell whatever they can buy at a reasonable price at garage and house sales. Others sell on auction sites like eBay. Just because a dealer feeds you a line about the authenticity of a piece of glass doesn’t make it so. In fact, unlike other forms of antiques, glass is particularly susceptible to scams because most of it shows no maker’s mark.

The demand for colored Victorian glassware continues to increase, causing the prices for it in some cases to skyrocket due to supply and demand. Most colored, Victorian glassware is now highly collectable. Therefore, copies and imitations have increasingly appeared on dealers’ shelves and tables.

This trend seems to have begun during the 1960s and has continued until today. You’ve already noticed the confusion at antique shows, shops, malls and fleamarkets. So if you intend to get serious about collecting Victorian glassware, then you must be able to visually separate the old items from the new and not-so-new. This means wading through the imitations, reissues, copies and reproductions until you find the real thing.

Dealers add to this confusion by intermingling glassware from the 1930s through the mid-1980s with older pieces. And just because a dealer seems to specialize in antique glassware doesn’t make him or her less suspect. Most collectors and dealers are nonspecialists, and therefore make buying and selling errors. The bottom line is that you equip yourself with the knowledge of the type of glassware that you want to collect. An educated collector is a wise one. This is the only way you can be assured of purchasing authentic pieces. So how can you do this?

Numerous national glass organizations promote details about their particular category of glassware. They track and report on the various reproductions and look-a-likes in their newsletters and Web sites. From these, you can acquire considerable knowledge in a relatively short time.

The worst culprits are the reproductions, reissues, and copies produced in the 1960s and early 1970s. It’s especially hard for those, like yourself, who have entered the glassware field in the last decade. One company, L.G. Wright Glass Company of New Martinsville, West Virginia, stands out among others.

Beginning in the late 1030s, Wright began buying up old glass molds from closed American glass factories. And this is the rub with glass. Unlike other antiques, makers produce glassware from molds as well as blowing. One of the biggest inventions in the 19th century was the discovery of the process to make molded pressed glass. Generally, molds are durable, so if a maker today can get their hands on some old ones, they can essentially produce the same pieces from the original molds. Glass can also be blown into a mold, a process used to manufacture items like lamp shades and water pitchers.

Instead of making the glass himself, Wright contracted with glass houses such as Fenton, Fostoria and Westmoreland to reissue glass using his molds. He then sold the finished pieces to various dealers, jobbers and wholesale outlets. Many of these glass patterns ultimately found their way into various antique shows and shops throughout the country. If marked at all, the glassware usually just had a paper label. Once the label fell off or was removed, dealers could represent these reproductions as authentic pieces to unsuspecting collectors like yourself. Now that 30 to 40 years have passed, many of these reproductions have acquired some wear, which adds still more to the difficulty of identifying them as reproductions or look-a-likes of the Victorian patterns.

While few reproductions can pass as authentic when placed side by side with original pieces, few collectors have the opportunity to do so. Fortunately, you can find a lot of information in books and periodicals and online that will help you identify the fakes.

Look for the following when trying to tell the difference between the real thing and a fake or reproduction:

1. Find out if possible if the pattern you wish to collect has been reproduced.
2. Feel the glass. Old glass is generally thicker and thus heavier than newer glass.
3. Look for signs of wear, usually scratches on the bottom and perhaps tiny chips on edges and rims.
4. Old pieces show a more defined, detailed pattern than newer ones. The more glass manufacturers use a mold the softer the edges become.
5. Look for ground off rims. This indicates either a newer piece or an old one that was so badly chipped that it needed to be ground down—especially salt and pepper shakers.
6. Be wary of maker’s marks that have been etched into the glass. Makers of older pieces either had no marks or used paper labels.