<< Previous   of   Next >> (click to enlarge) This garden gate is a one-of-a-kind piece of folk art that sold recently for $650 at Brunk Auctions in Asheville, N.C. Unpainted pine and rusty vintage tools were combined to make a unique piece.

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Melanie Munk, Features Editor munk@heraldnet.com

Spring is the time to consider garden art pieces

By Ralph and Terry Kovel
Antiques & Collectibles

Folk art takes many forms, anything from cigar-store Indians to bottle-cap figures and carved coal pictures. It is the art of the untrained artist, and each piece is unique.

With spring comes thoughts of the garden and where to place antique urns, pots, statues, architectural tiles, fountains, sundials, bird feeders and other collected pieces. Fashionable gardens today often have gates or fences decorated with antiques.

Old gardening equipment is popular. Galvanized metal watering cans of the past have long spouts and large heads. Some European examples have brass heads.

Old, rusty metal hand tools that can hang on a fence also are popular. Larger gardening tools like rakes, pitchforks and shovels can be put in the ground as if just left by a gardener or worked into a folk art gate or fence.

Brunk Auctions sold a garden gate made from a pine frame decorated with a vintage shovel, pitchfork, sickle, trowels and hand cultivator. The 48-by-49-inch gate made in the 20th century sold for $650. Recycle your old tools or some you spot at a garage sale into a special folk art garden accent.

I have a small table that converts into a desk. The table's single drawer holds a writing surface that lifts to reveal a storage section. Inside, there's a sunken inkwell and a tray that can hold pens and pencils. There's also a gold seal inside that says "Cadillac Desk Table, Cadillac Cabinet Co., Detroit, Michigan." Four patent dates between 1906 and 1908 are also on the seal. Please tell me about the company.

The Cadillac Cabinet Co. was related to the Wolverine Manufacturing Co., both of Detroit. Cadillac desk-tables came in oak or mahogany and were advertised and sold widely in the early 1900s. The ads were directed primarily at women, who were encouraged to consider the piece a practical bedside table. Cadillac desk-tables sell today for $150 to $500, depending on condition, style and type of wood.

In the 1960s, I collected a complete set of 36 dolls from the Reddi-Wip company. The 8-inch plastic dolls are dressed in the ethnic costumes of various countries. I contacted ConAgra, which now owns the brand, to get some information about the dolls, but no one there could help me. I even have the original color order form, which pictures 30 dolls, and says you can get as many dolls as you want. For each doll, you had to send $1 plus the red lock tab from a Reddi-Wip can. I would like to know who made the dolls and what they're worth.

Reddi-Wip, a brand of whipping cream you squirt from a can, was invented in 1948. The brand went nationwide in 1954. Reddi-Wip's "Dolls of the World" promotion started in 1965 and continued until at least 1976. Plastic 8-inch dolls were made by many companies in the 1950s and '60s, so if a maker's mark is not on the dolls, it's impossible to guess who made them. Today the dolls are not worth more than a few dollars each, but the whole set might bring a premium.

I have a small, dark-red bitters bottle that's just 3 inches tall. It's embossed "A. Lancaster's Vegetable Jaundice Bitters, Col. Sam Johnson, Proprietor, Richmond, Va." The bottom is embossed "Wheaton, N.J." Is the bottle valuable?

Your bottle is a miniature reproduction made after 1970 by the Wheaton Co. of Millville, N.J. Wheaton made reproduction and fantasy flasks, decanters, bitters bottles and more for the gift-shop trade. Fortunately, Wheaton marked all the reproductions with its name. Wheaton reproductions are collectible. Your bottle would sell today for $15 to $20.

Write to Kovels, The Herald, King Features Syndicate, 888 Seventh Ave., New York, NY 10019.

© 2008 by Cowles Syndicate Inc.

On the block

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

Kookie Kamera, plastic, faux water valves hold & turn camera, hand holds Toymato Soup, Ideal, 8 x 12 x 18 in., $160.

Theorem, floral still life, watercolor on velvet, "These watercolors on velvet were done by grandmother Alwena Cutter Broadhead before marriage in 1825," 10 x 12 in., $175.

1939 Greyhound Lines New York World's Fair toy bus, cast iron, nickel-plated grille, decal, Arcade, 6 3/4 in., $230.

George McGovern concert button, with Carole King, Barbra Streisand & James Taylor, for McGovern's 1972 presidential campaign, 3 1/2 in., $315.

Betty Boop nodder, celluloid, heart on dress, heart-shaped sticker on feet, design and copyright by Fleischer Studios, 1930s, 8 in., $520.

Flintstones cookie jar, bust of Fred on front swinging golf club, Dino sits on green holding flag pin, American Bisque Co., 1960s, 6 1/2 x 6 1/2 x 14 in., $635.

Col. Tim McCoy's Real Wild West poster, red ground, image of Dohoes the white horse and Dr. Ostermaier with whip, linen backing, 1938, 20 x 53 in., $705.

French copper candy-maker's pot, tapered, rounded base, spout, hollow tapered handle, 1930s, 9 x 9 x 15 in., $1,200.

Chippendale settee, mahogany, strap-work splats, fluted ears & stiles, carved arms, front seat rail, cream-colored damask upholstery, 18th century, 38 x 55 in., $2,645.

Webb cameo glass flower bowl, ruffled & crimped rim, deep emerald green body, layered white leafy vines, blossoms & pods, ribbon border, marked, 2 1/2 x 5 1/2 in., $4,485.