More than 350 new years have been rung in by a grandfather clock. The first one was made about 1650 in England, and by 1720 the clocks were being made in the American colonies.
The clocks have a face, works and a pendulum enclosed in a wooden case of walnut, mahogany, oak, maple, cherry or elm. It was originally known as a tall-case clock, but about 1875 the song “My Grandfather’s Clock” became popular, and soon the tall clocks were given a new nickname.
The clocks were 6 feet to 9 feet high because the case had to have room for the long, swinging pendulum and the weights. The more chimes, moving hands and dials there are, the more a clock is wanted.
Other valued features are decorated faces, the maker’s name or label somewhere on the clock, inlaid cases and an unusual top with added finials.
If the clock is under six feet, it is appropriately called a “grandmother” clock. It can be expected that there might be some repairs or restoration needed. A good grandfather clock made before 1840 in America sells for about $3,000 to $10,000 or more. A new clock costs almost as much.
My framed Anheuser-Busch color print of “Custer’s Last Fight” is 491/2 inches long by 39 inches high. The printer is identified in the lower right corner as “The Milwaukee Litho. Co.” How old is my print, and what is it worth?
We get lots of letters about prints of “Custer’s Last Fight.” The color print shows the 1876 Battle of the Little Bighorn. The original painting, 9 by 16 feet, was completed in 1884 by artist Cassilly Adams (1843-1921). Adolphus Busch (1839-1913), president of Anheuser-Busch, bought the painting in 1888 and hired Milwaukee Lithographing Co. to make prints of the scene. F. Otto Becker, an employee of the lithographer, painted a 24-by-40-inch version of Adams’ work to make the prints. The first 15,000 prints rolled off the presses in 1896.
Each carried a border advertisement for Anheuser-Busch, which distributed the prints to saloons, bars and restaurants. The brewery has printed 18 editions since then, and the number of prints now tops 1 million. The size and labeling of yours match the second edition of the print, from 1904. If it’s in excellent condition, it could sell for about $500. In 1895, Anheuser-Busch gave the original Adams painting to the U.S. Seventh Cavalry (the unit decimated at Little Bighorn). The painting was destroyed in a fire at Fort Bliss, Texas, in 1946.
I own a blue-green vase that’s 61/2 inches high and 3 inches in diameter. A tree with leaves and twisting branches is applied around the outside. Impressed on the bottom are the words “The Spring St. Pottery, Eureka Springs, Ark.” Also on the bottom are a handwritten impressed name and date that appear to be “Cagan 78.” Could the date be 1878?
The Spring Street Pottery was founded in 1970 in Eureka Springs. The “78” in the mark indicates that your vase was made in 1978. The studio pottery, which is still in business, is owned by Gary Egan. So the name on the bottom of your vase is probably Egan, not Cagan.
My brother bought a blue-glass child’s plate at a sale. The 8-inch plate is embossed in the center with the head of a little girl. Embossed around the edge are all the letters of the alphabet. The back is marked “Clay’s Crystal Works.” Can you tell us anything about it?
Your brother’s plate is a modern version of an 1893 ABC plate. ABC plates, also called children’s alphabet plates, were popular from the late 1700s through the late 1800s. They were made of pottery, porcelain, metal or glass, and were intended to be subtle teaching aids. Your brother’s reproduction was copied from an original 6-inch plate made by Bryce, Higbee &Co. of Pittsburgh. The 8-inch reproductions first appeared in the 1940s. Through the mid-1970s, copies were made in clear, ruby, amber or vaseline glass. Blue copies were on the market in the early 1980s. The reproductions, all marked “Clay’s Crystal Works,” sell today for $10 to $15.
I have a Kewpie doll made of a chalklike material. The Kewpie is sitting with his knees bent, his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands. A medallion on the bottom reads “Patented and copyrighted – 1913.” I have never seen another one like it.
| 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.
Salt and pepper shakers, Washington Monument and U.S. Capitol, gold trim, Ceramic Arts Studio, 4 inches, $20. Political button, “Minnesota Women for Humphrey,” black, pink and white, celluloid, 1954, 21/4 inches, $185. Roseville hanging planter, Gardenia pattern, ocher, embossed white flowers, green petals, 6 inches, $210. Holland Butter banner, graphic of two Dutch children standing on pound of butter, gold ground, 30 x 37 inches, $250. Celluloid dresser set, pearl-ized yellow, butterscotch, black trim, 1930s, 11 pieces, $310. Royal Doulton plate, “Mary Arden’s Cottage,” Shakespeare Series, 1922, 101/4 inches, $370. Amoeba-style cocktail table, free-form inset glass top, bleached ash and birch veneer, 1950s, 52 x 30 x 15 inches, $515. Boston &Sandwich glass candlestick, apple green, petal-form socket on columnar square-step base, 1850-65, 9 inches, $560. Steiff Red Riding Hood doll, pressed felt swivel head, black shoe-button eyes, red cape, 101/2 inches, $910. Appliqued quilt, Sunbonnet Sue, red and white, picket finch border, 1800s, 84 x 88 inches, $1,200. |
Kewpies were the creation of American illustrator Rose O’Neill (1874-1944). She drew the first ones for a 1909 issue of Ladies’ Home Journal. Within a few years they were being produced as dolls and figurines. The pose of your Kewpie led to its being named “The Thinker.” It came in several sizes. The earliest Kewpies date from about 1912 and were bisque. They were made in Germany and are usually marked “O’Neill, Germany.”
Yours may be a later figurine made of plaster of Paris, which is sometimes called chalkware. Chalkware Kewpies were given as prizes at American fairs and carnivals from the 1920s through the 1950s. A chalkware Kewpie, depending on its size and condition, could sell for $50 to $100. An early bisque Kewpie would sell for much more.
Write to Kovels, The Herald, King Features Syndicate, 888 Seventh Ave., New York, NY 10019.
2005 by Cowles Syndicate Inc.
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