Tulip mania, a strange financial “bubble” in Holland in the 1630s, made a tulip bulb cost up to 10 times the yearly income of a skilled craftsman, according to some writers. So the flowers became a status symbol, and the very rich or royal bought huge flower containers to grow or show the flowers.
Tulip mania ended in 1637, but the flowers remained popular. A vase that is still called a “tulipiere” has numerous holes or short tubes, which hold a flower or plant. Most sources today think these vases were used for cut flowers, but they originally were used to force tulip, hyacinth or crocus bulbs to grow and bloom in the house.
Collectors can find rare early Dutch tulip vases, 19th-century Wedgwood or Staffordshire vases, or Continental and American examples, all with multiple holes or tubes. A few are offered in current gift catalogs. Now is the time to buy the bulbs that can be forced to bloom in a tulipiere during the spring.
Q: I’m planning a house sale and I need help pricing this table. I bought it from a resale shop 60 years ago. The top is oval, made of very dark wood, and rests on two heavy turned tripods. It has a frieze drawer with a metal tag in it that reads “J.B. Van Sciver Co., Camden, N.J.” Can you help?
A: Joseph Bishop Van Sciver (1861-1943) was 21 years old when he started a small furniture business in Camden, New Jersey, in 1881. The company quickly expanded to larger facilities, and pieces made at Van Sciver’s plant were delivered by wagon throughout southern New Jersey and Pennsylvania. By 1900, more shops, storage facilities and showrooms were added and the company was selling inexpensive, well-made living room, bedroom and dining sets, and more costly reproductions, lamps, clocks, rugs and draperies. Van Sciver was also involved in the Knickerbocker Lime Co. which supplied most of the concrete used to build the Ben Franklin Bridge, Philadelphia banks, the subway and more. J.B. Van Sciver Furniture Co. went out of business in the mid-1980s. Your table is worth about $250.
Q: I would like to sell a cocktail shaker that was a gift from my uncle many years ago, maybe in the 1960s. It’s amber glass, paneled, with a sterling silver rooster and silver bands around the top and the rim of the foot. The shaker top is, I believe, silver over copper and the piece is in good condition. With the shaker top on, the piece is 11 inches high. Do you have any information about it, especially its value?
A: Your cocktail shaker was made by Westmoreland Glass Co. The company started in 1889, when a group from the Specialty Glass Co. of East Liverpool, Ohio, relocated to Grapeville, Pa. The company’s name changed to Westmoreland Specialty Co. and then to Westmoreland Glass Co. in 1921. Your glass shaker is part of the 1707 line, shown in the 1924 and 1926 catalogs, and made into the 1930s. The pattern is informally called “Huxford” by some collectors, but Westmoreland never used a name when referring the pattern; it always used the line number. It was sold with and without additional decoration. The shaker is unusual because it is footed; most 1920s shakers were flat. The 1926 catalog doesn’t specify what metal was used for the top, but it usually was aluminum or chromed or silver-plated metal. And isn’t it odd that a glass maker would produce a container for “illegal substances” in the middle of Prohibition (1920 through 1933)? Value of your shaker: $75 to $100.
Q: I found my father’s old Polaroid J33 “electric eye” camera in the original box with the directions and a bar of flashbulbs. It looks like new. What is the value of this camera?
A: Edwin H. Land founded the Polaroid Corporation in 1937. The company made ski goggles, 3-D glasses and glasses for the Army and Navy in the 1930s. The first instant film cameras, the Land camera, was introduced in 1948. Polaroid made the J33 Land camera in 1961. It originally sold for $89.50. They sell online for $6 to $15 or $20 today, but they aren’t usable because the camera requires a type of film that hasn’t been made since 1991.
Q: I have a picture titled “Monarch of the Glen” that was painted by Sir Edwin Landseer in 1851 and engraved for the Hartford Fire Insurance Co. in 1890. It pictures a stag looking off to his right with mountains and a cloudy sky. Does it have any value?
A: Sir Edwin Landseer (1802-1873) is an English painter best known for paintings of animals. “Monarch of the Glen” was a painting done for the House of Lords in London, but the painting was sold. The Hartford Fire Insurance Co. began using the stag fording a stream as a logo about 1861. The stag changed over the years and by 1875 the company was using a stag that looked like the one painted by Landseer. In 1890, the John A. Lowell &Co. of Boston was commissioned to make an engraving of the picture. Prints were distributed nationwide as part of the company’s advertising. Your picture sells for about $40 to $50.
Tip: If a screw that holds hardware on an old piece of furniture is loose, you should remove it. Insert a wooden matchstick in the hole, then put the screw back in the hole and tighten the screw.
Write to Terry Kovel and Kim Kovel at Kovels, The Herald, King Features Syndicate, 300 W. 57th St., New York, NY 10019.
Current prices
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.
Shaving mug, Koken Barber Supply, loop handle, saucer base, Limoges, c. 1915, 4 x 4 inches, $30.
Cut glass jar, Hobstar, Diamond &Fan, sterling repousse lid, American Brilliant, 6 3/4 inches, $330.
Bank, baseball, Save &Win with Jackie Robinson, dime, register, tin lithograph, 1950, 2 x 5 inches, $405
Ivory box, prisoner-of-war made, filigree, multicolor ink decoration, hinged lid, handle, c. 1810, 3 1/4 x 6 inches, $480.
Advertising sign, Drink Dr Pepper, Good for Life!, tin lithograph, brick design, c. 1939, 12 x 29 inches, $780.
Architectural roof tile, rooster finial, redware, molded, inset glass shards, barrel shape tile, 18 x 15 inches, $825.
Silver candelabrum, three-light, sterling, twisted reeded arms, shell bobeches, Sheffield, 1800s, 23 1/4 inches, pair, $1,075.
Screen, Louis XV style, fruitwood, carved, flowers, rocaille, three tapestry inset panels, 78 x 75 inches, $1,355.
Shearwater pottery, vase, Sea Earth &Sky, cream glaze, rider on horseback, birds, fish, 1970-‘80, 5 1/2 x 6 1/2 inches, $3,590.
Toy carousel, gondola cars, propeller, wood grain metal base, canopy, figures, c. 1910, 13 inches, $5,250.
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