This strange piece of art pottery is a cornucopia vase, popular in the 1930s. It was made by the Roseville Pottery Company. The pattern name is White Rose.
Roseville Pottery Company started in Roseville, Ohio, in 1890. A second plant was opened in Zanesville, Ohio, in 1898. White Rose pattern was introduced in the 1940s. White Rose cornucopia vases were made in two sizes, 6-inch and 8-inch. By the late 1940s, there were over 50 shapes in the White Rose pattern glazed in different colors such as sea blue, coral or autumn brown. Reproductions of Roseville pottery have been made in China and sold since the 1980s. The fakes are a different size, so they can be identified. A real, blue Cornucopia White Rose vase that is 8 inches tall sells for $100 to $125.
Q: I’m writing for my 96-year-old mother. She has a turtle spittoon like the one featured in the AARP magazine article about you. She’s wondering who would be interested in it and how would she contact them?
A: Spittoons were common in saloons, offices, public buildings and homes in the late 1800s when men chewed tobacco. Turtle spittoons have been made of cast iron, brass, copper, tin and other metals. When someone steps on the turtle’s head, the shell opens to reveal the spit bowl. Turtle spittoons sell at auctions for about $100 to $400. Price depends on material, condition and maker, if known. You can go to a local flea market and see if anyone is selling one. They might then buy yours. You can also try to sell it on one of the online marketplaces. Kovels.com lists various online options.
Q: I have two boxes with 50 matchbooks. Are they worth more individually or as a set in the box? Are the covers worth more with the matches or without them? If I want to sell them, are there restrictions on shipping matches?
A: Book matches were invented and patented by Joshua Pusey in 1892. He sold the patent to the Diamond Match Co. of America in 1894. Matchbook collectors are called “phillumenists.” There are local, regional, national and international clubs for collectors. The Rathkamp Matchcover Society is the world’s oldest phillumenic organization. The Society’s website, matchcover.org, lists swap meets and conventions. Collectors look for unused matchbooks with old ads, travel themes and other subjects. If there is a swap meet near you, you can see what covers are selling for and you might be able to find a buyer. Don’t let someone pick out the best ones and leave you with a bunch that are not worth much and will be hard to sell. If you plan to ship your collection to a buyer, remove the matches before shipping.
Q: Can you tell me the value of a child’s rolltop desk made by Eastman Mfg. Co. in Union City, Pennsylvania? It’s 33 inches high and 21 inches wide. A sticker on the back has the manufacturer’s name and Sears Roebuck Co. as the “ship to” address. The desk has been in my family for 70 years.
A: Union City was the heart of the furniture industry in Pennsylvania at one time. Eastman Mfg. Co. was one of at least nine furniture companies located in the city, which was known as “The Chair Center of the World.” Eastman rolltop desks for children sell for $50 to $100; those with a matching chair go for $150 to $175 or more.
Q: I have some old medicine bottles that came from my grandpa’s drugstore. One is a 14-ounce bottle embossed “Fellows Compound Syrup.” It says it’s a stimulating tonic. Some of the ingredients sound poisonous, like copper and strychnine. Are old medicine bottles worth anything?
A: There are collectors of “patent medicine” bottles, unproven proprietary remedies made in the 1800s and early 1900s. The medicines often contained ingredients that are now illegal. After the passage of the U.S. Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906, these medicines were often sold as a stimulating or strengthening tonic instead of a cure. Fellows Compound Syrup of Hypophosphites was developed by Fellows & Co. in 1866 and was sold to physicians, not directly to consumers. It was claimed to cure anemia, bronchitis, influenza, tuberculosis and other diseases. By 1915, it was sold over the counter as a nonprescription drug. Empty, clean bottles are worth more than full bottles, unless the bottle has a label and original box. Wear rubber gloves and make sure the room is ventilated before emptying out the contents. Some old medicine bottles sell for a few hundred dollars or more. A paper label or original box adds value. A Fellows Compound Syrup bottle sells for less than $40.
Tip: The value of a matchbook cover is lowered by writing or marks, scrapes or gouge marks from a carelessly removed staple or a damaged or missing striker.
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.
Postcard, Thanksgiving Day, panel with young boy riding turkey, holding reins, white ground, multicolor, gilt border, divided back, 1917, $15
Toy, dollhouse, rustic Craftsman style, three floors, wood, painted yellow with green trim, arched window trim, doors open, outside stairs lead to second floor porch, 24 by 20 by 18 inches, $135.
Trap, mouse, wire, die-pressed tin, oval, open end, spring trap, Maine, circa 1900, 4 ½ by 8 by 6 inches, $240.
Silver plate nut dish, Vertigo pattern, three bowls joined together, wavy ring handle extends over bowls, marked “Christofle, France,” 3¾ by 9 inches, $345.
Kitchen, candy kettle, copper, handmade, straight sides, looped handle on one end, elongated handle with hanging cutout on other end, 36 inches to end of handle, $510.
Steuben glass basket, Aurene, amber iridescent, flared form, flared and ruffled edge, arched handle, etched “Aurene 455” on base, circa 1915, 17 by 11 by 7½ inches, $625.
Creamware pitcher, four marbled bands separated by four blue slip bands, bulbous, cylindrical reeded neck with blue glaze, applied strap handle, England, circa 1825, 8 ¾ inches, $1,250.
Jewelry, cufflinks, fluted double bars, 18K yellow gold, band of square cut rubies, 1950s, 1 by¾ inches, pair, $1,750.
Furniture, chest, tiger maple, bow front, top with molded edge, four graduated drawers, block feet, oval brass pulls, 1800s, 37½ by 39½ by 17 inches, $2,160.
Clock, tall case, cherry and birch, inlaid, arched fret-carved top joining reeded plinths, painted bird in arch, iron dial painted white, tombstone glazed door with string inlay, dial marked “Levi Hutchins, Concord, N.H.,” circa 1800, 91 inches, $4,065.
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