Spring means gardens again have bulbs in bloom. Crocuses, daffodils, tulips, narcissus and other bulbs need weeks in cold weather to start to grow and flower. But even the warm southern states now have bulbs blooming that were kept in a refrigerator for a time before they were planted.
Our 18th-century ancestors understood how to force bulbs. They grew them in their gardens and in pots in the house. The most popular bulb pot was made with many small openings. It was filled with an inch or so of water, the bulbs were dropped into place and soon each bulb sent leaves and flowers up through its own hole. The result was an attractive arrangement of a mass of blooming flowers.
Because bulbs shrink a little after they bloom, it is possible to fish out the spent bulbs and store them for another year. The multispout vases are unfamiliar to many collectors and their use is often a puzzle.
Bulb pots were popular in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, then lost favor. A few reproductions of old pots are made for museum stores. Originals were made of porcelain, delftware or bone china by makers in Holland, England, France and Germany.
Q: I bought a Lee L. Woodard Sons rocking chair for $5 at a garage sale. It has a heavily worn one-piece brown vinyl tufted seat and back. The frame is bent metal. I love the chair, but it’s in pretty poor shape and I’m wondering if I can have it re-covered without hurting its value.
A: Lee L. Woodard was one of three sons of Lyman E. Woodard, who founded a furniture company named Woodard Brothers in Owosso, Mich., in 1866. Until the 1930s, Woodard made caskets, wooden doors and bedroom sets.
In 1935 it started manufacturing wrought-iron chairs and tables for outdoor use. The company was reorganized in 1938 and named Lee L. Woodard Sons Inc.
It’s still in business today as Woodard Furniture and makes wrought-iron, cast-aluminum and wicker furniture.
Woodard lounges like yours, but in excellent condition, sell for $500 to $600. Go ahead and have the metal frame cleaned and the upholstery re-covered. The chair will certainly be worth more than $5 once it’s spruced up.
Q: I just found a big papier-mache dog, perhaps a Boston terrier. The dog is lying down. The words “Bryant Pup” are on it. Can you tell me anything? I assume it is an old ad.
A: You have a well-known ad used from 1905 to 1931 by the Bryant Heater and Manufacturing Co. of Cleveland. The brand is still around, although the company has been bought and moved. Bryant’s slogan was “Let your pup be your furnace man.” The pups, 17-by-14-by-12-inches, were displayed on desks in Bryant offices. One recently sold for $945.
Q: I am trying to identify the origin and value of a pendant that belonged to my grandmother. The front is glass with a colored picture inside showing a woman wearing a dress and a bonnet. When you move the pendant, the dress changes color in the light. The back is marked “Sterling Silver, England, Pat. 202213.”
A: Your pendant is a piece of butterfly-wing jewelry. The patent number was issued on Aug. 16, 1923, to Albert Edward Shipton, Caroline Emily Shipton and Amy Maria Shipton trading as Shipton &Co. The patent relates to using butterfly wings to make colored pictures on glass.
The Shiptons painted a decoration on the inside of the glass, leaving transparent spaces that were covered with pieces of colorful butterfly wings. The silver piece on the back held the wings in position. Shipton &Co. and other British and American firms used the process to make not only pendants, but also rings, brooches, compacts, pictures and ashtrays.
Shipton &Co. is still in business in England, but butterfly jewelry lost popularity by the late 1930s. The Shiptons apparently came up with the idea after seeing butterfly trays made in South America that were brought home by English sailors. Butterfly-wing pendants from the 1920s and ’30s sell for a few dollars to more than $50.
Q: About 45 years ago my mother gave me a framed porcelain plaque she bought for $250. The plaque is unglazed painted porcelain molded in relief. It shows a rural scene of a group of three young women and three children near a well. The signature on it is “F. Boucher.” Please tell me more about it.
A: Francois Boucher (1703-1770) was a famous French painter and tapestry artist who worked in the ornate Rococo style popular at the time. For years he was the most fashionable painter in the country. His work was so popular that porcelain factories in Sevres and Vincennes, outside of Paris, made soft-paste bisque reproductions of his paintings.
Some were still being made well into the 19th century. Today, Boucher relief porcelain plaques can sell for thousands of dollars. Have an expert take a look at yours.
Write to Kovels, The Herald, King Features Syndicate, 300 W. 57th St., New York, NY 10019.
&Copy; 2009 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.
Rabbit candy container, brown flocked body, glass eyes, carrot in backpack, Germany, 1920s, 6 inches, $145.
Heintz bud vase, sterling on bronze, applied design of birds on branches, impressed mark, 4 x 11 1/2 inches, $340.
Roseville Wincraft tea set, teapot, creamer &sugar, blue, marked, 8 1/2-inch teapot, $375.
Crown Milano syrup, Wild Rose pattern, silver spout, bulbous ovals, 3 3/4 inches, $715.
Needlework map, stitched silk on silk ground, ribbon accents, titled “A Map of the World,” signed Ann Smith, Wandsworth, Surrey, 1784, 29 x 16 x 31 inches, $1,185.
Yellow Cab Cigar canister, orange ground, black-and-orange cab with driver, marked American Can Co., 5 1/2 x 2 1/2 inches, $1,090.
Silhouette, portrait of a man in tails and top hat, mixed media on paper, signed W.H. Brown, 13 1/2 inches, $1,175.
Simon &Halbig character doll, child, googly clockwork eyes, open mouth, blond mohair wig, composition ball-jointed body, 30 inches, $1,265.
American “Vintage” pattern cast-iron garden settees, curved back and arms, reticulated seats, leaf design on apron, legs and stretcher, orange primer, c. 1870, 31 x 36 x 17 in., pair, $2,115.
Vacheron &Constantine 18K yellow-gold man’s wristwatch, 17 jewels, manual wind, nickel-plated movement, silver dial, c. 1945, $3,175.
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