Kyle Husfloen - Antique Trader Answers to Questions About Antiques & Collectibles

Antique Trader

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS ABOUT

Antiques

&

Collectibles

KYLE HUSFLOEN

Antique Trader Editor-at-Large
and author of "Kyle on Antiques"

2004 by Krause Publications
Published by

700 East State Street Iola, WI 54990-0001
715-445-2214 888-457-2873
www.krause.com

Our toll-free number to place an order or obtain
a free catalog is (800) 258-0929.

All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a critical article or review to be printed in a magazine or newspaper, or electronically transmitted on radio or television.

Library of Congress Catalog Number: 2004100729
ISBN: 0-87349-776-7
eISBN: 978-1-44022-504-8

Edited by Kyle Husfloen
Designed by Sandra Morrison

Printed in the United States of America

Contents

A Word From The Author

One of the greatest pleasures for me as an editor, author and collector is learning all I can about the various antiques and collectibles that I encounter. Whether out on an antiquing foray or busy editing a price guide, I find real satisfaction in seeing, examining, reading about and researching a myriad of objects. This insatiable appetite to learn about the world around me began even before I started school in the mid-1950s, fed by gifts of colorful science and natural history books.

It was during my junior high school years that my study of true antiques began. I was fortunate enough to befriend an antiques dealer who opened my eyes to the wide world of vintage treasures. I soon had a growing library of popular reference books written by experts like the Kovels, the Warmans and Katharine Morrison McClinton.

Although my funds were limited, my earliest purchases included pattern glass, pewter and ceramics. For my high school graduation present I asked for and received from my parents a matched Victorian Eastlake armchair and platform rocker. Now, nearly forty years later, I have a diverse collection of these and many other objects. Although many collectors narrow their focus to a select category, Im afraid the appeal of the unusual and beautiful has made me an eclectic shopper. But, again, I dont buy just to own but to study and learn about each piece I acquire.

I have been extremely lucky that my collecting avocation served as a basis for my vocation. I owe my situation to a combination of luck and good timing. My career with The AntiqueTrader began over 32 years ago when I sent my resume to the publisher, Edward Babka. To my utter surprise, within a year I found myself relocated to Dubuque, Iowa, and hard at work editing features and columns. Now, decades later, I still can hardly believe my luck. I have learned so much from collectors, dealers and experts in the collecting world and I always want to learn more.

It was in 1995 that I was asked to contribute a question and answer column to the AntiqueTrader Collector Magazine and Price Guide. My first one-page column appeared in the June 1995 issue. By 1997 Kyle On Antiques had expanded to four pages per issue. About that time The Antique Trader newspaper also began running it on a regular bases.

This new book presents a compilation of the best of the hundreds of letters I have received and researched over the years. I hope it will serve as a valuable research tool for collectors, dealers and appraisers alike. I have always striven to present the most accurate and up-to-date research possible and have always welcomed input from readers. They have provided some excellent updates and corrections to my replies and these are also included here

I hope you will find this new book interesting and educational. Although Ive learned a lot in preparing my column theres so much more to know. May each of you also learn to appreciate the fun of researching your treasures.

Im always interested in receiving your comments and suggestions. Of course, youre also welcome to address specific inquiries to Kyle On Antiques, care of either Collector Magazineand Price Guide or the Antique Trader Weekly. Please keep in mind, however, I do have a large backlog of material awaiting publication, so please be patient. Remember if you write to include detailed descriptions with measurements, as well as clear color photographs (sorry, print-outs of color scans wont work).

Happy reading and best wishes for wonderful collecting experiences!

Kyle Husfloen

Tips on Collecting

Advertising Items

1. Watch out for modern soda pop advertising items. There are reproductions (close copies of original pieces) and fantasy items (brand new pieces with no old counterparts). Coca-Cola and Pepsi Cola items are especially abundant.

2. Collectors of advertising items always keep these points in mind: 1) Subject (company); 2) Rarity; 3) Condition; 4) Eye Appeal.

Artworks

A reverse-painted glass object, as the name implies, has the decoration sketched and then painte1. d in color on the back or inside. The most delicate examples are the tiny snuff bottles produced by the Chinese. Flat pictures were much easier to produce since the background design was sometimes stenciled on and then filled in with color. The Chinese did such painted pictures and, in the early 19th century, German artisans also produced such works, mainly as human portraits. Reverse-painted scenes were also quite often featured in the glass tablets above mirrors during the first half of the 19th century.

2. Currier & Ives prints are probably the most reproduced of any 19th century American lithographs. Read the inscription along the bottom edge with care. Many originals will have the date they were Entered According to an Act of Congress, but some old ones are undated.

3. One test to help sort the originals from the copies is to use a 10X loupe and examine a small area. If you see tiny dashed lines, it is an original. If you see an overall design of tiny dots, it is a photographic copy. Also, if you can examine it out of the frame, you should be able to detect the watercolor paint on the surface. It will reflect light as it is turned at an angle.

Ceramics

1. Dogs are not the only old Staffordshire pottery pieces reproduced; other animals and even figural groups have been copied. Watch out for overall crazing of the glaze (early examples are seldom crazed). Also firing holes or vent holes on the bottom of originals are only about " diameter. Modern pieces have much larger holes.

2. The Wedgwood Wares Confusion. Most people see the name Wedgwood on a piece of ceramic and assume it is a product of the famous Josiah Wedgwood firm that was established around 1769 and is still operating today. Several other English potteries, however, used markings that appear similar. Keep in mind the Josiah Wedgwood pottery uses only the word Wedgwood to indicate the firm (note: no middle e in Wedgwood).

Confusing marks include Wedgwood & Co. (1860 - ), H.F. Wedgwood & Co. Ltd. (ca. 1954-9), and J. Wedgwood, the mark of John Wedge Wood (1841-60).

3. Ironstone china is a dense, heavy earthenware pottery that was the everyday tableware of most Americans from the 1840s until around 1910. First invented in England in the early 19th century, huge quantities were exported to the United States. In the 1850s all-white wares with embossed designs were popular, but patterns were also decorated with many transfer-printed designs in dark flow blue and, later, in lighter shades of blue, brown, green, etc. Copper luster trim and designs such as Tea Leaf were long popular as was the Moss Rose pattern.