|
Kovels Komments - Volume 1 - Number 16 | November 23, 2006
 |
A Magnolia Rose Bowl
Q: I recently discovered this vase. It’s 4 inches tall and the embossed mark on the bottom says “Roseville, U.S.A., 446-4.” What is its value?
A: Your vase, called a “rose bowl” in Roseville’s company records, is in the Magnolia pattern. The pattern, made in brown (like yours), blue or green, was introduced in 1943. The number 446 in the mark is the vase’s shape number; the 4 after the shape number is the height.
|
|
Cleaning Your Rag Doll
A dirty rag doll can be cleaned by vacuuming. Put a lingerie bag, held in place by a rubber band, on the nozzle of your vacuum cleaner. Then vacuum for a few minutes.
|
|
The Jazz Bowl Designer's Secret
Viktor Schreckengost, who designed the famous Jazz Bowl for Cowan Pottery, told us that when he was asked to design a folding metal chair for Murray Ohio Manufacturing Co., he had difficulty creating a comfortable seat. He turned a barrel over to make a tool, “padded” it with soft clay, and covered it with plastic. Then he put it near the cafeteria and offered a free cup of coffee to anyone who sat on it. Four hundred twenty-eight “sittings” later he had a contoured clay shape curved to be comfortable for the average bottom.
|
 |
Memorize This Mark!
These Cyrillic letters on a piece of silver mean money. It's the mark of Peter Carl Fabergé (b.1846-d.1920) of St. Petersburg, Russia. He inherited Fabergé, the family jewelry and goldsmith business, in 1870. Fabergé was jeweler to the Russian Imperial Court from about 1870 to 1914. The rare Fabergé Easter eggs, jewelry, and other items bring high prices today.
|
|
Millions for Paintings behind the Door
Miss Jean Preston, a British librarian and expert in historic manuscripts working in a California museum in the 1960s, saw two paintings in a box of odds and ends, liked them and convinced her father to buy them. He paid about $500. In 1974 when he died, she inherited them--valued then at $760. She hung the 5-inch by 15-inch paintings, each of a saint in medieval clothing, on the back of her bedroom door in…
|
|
A
A
A
Kovels RSS Feeds
|
 |
