Gates Mills, Ohio-Hawken School-Part II

…continued from last month

We stopped by a booth filled with hundreds of knife rests. The dealer was a specialist who has sold knife rests for years. He sells pewter, pottery, celluloid, and other kinds of rests, but clear and colored glass sells best. They ranged in price from $10 to $50. A woman bought six cut glass knife rests while we watched. She needed them to complete a dinner set of 12.

We just missed a great buy. A dealer with about 15 enameled dishes or ashtrays from the 1950s had them priced at $20 or less. A knowledgeable friend had entered the booth just before we did and bought a rare enamel by Edward Winter, a Cleveland artist known for his enamels. The plain brown dish had six large black letters on the rim, but the value was on the bottom. It was enameled with the words “Merry Christmas from Ed Winter, 1938.” Price paid: $12. But it’s worth over $100 because it’s such an early piece by the artist. We did find a signed round enameled pin with matching earrings for $10. And then we found a treasure-a mourning picture made of pieces of hair. Some of the hair was cut and glued to the glass and some was woven to form a picture of a tree and a fenced-in grave. Gray, brown, and blond hair was used. We think it’s French and about 150 years old because of the style of the grave marker. (Yes, we do collect hair pictures and hair jewelry.)

Bookends were very popular at $50 to $400. Cups and saucers were popular, too. One booth had a large assortment of demitasse cups, $35 each. Mix-and-match single clear glass candlesticks were grouped on a table for $35 to $85. Other prices from the show: Anatomical charts showing cutaway views of the human body, $1,350 each. Deep 8 1/4-inch blue Fiesta dish, $40. Huntley and Palmer tin biscuit box shaped like a bookcase, $85.

Dealers were really into creative uses for collectibles. A fork was bent so the tines made a $9 plate holder. A silver brush and mirror were mounted on a black oval backing to use as a $65 wall hanging.