Kovels On Antiques & Collectibles newsletter is available as a print subscription, or as a digital version that is included in the Kovels Knowledge and Kovels All Access memberships. Start your Kovels Knowledge Free Trial now or login.

Kovels’ December 2021 newsletter features rare Meissen porcelain, festive Christmas postcards, Bakelite jewelry, mechanical pictures, and antique cupboards, all with photos and prices.

 

A collection of 18th-century Meissen porcelain that smashed record prices at auction in New York City is featured in a sale report in Kovels On Antiques & Collectibles December 2021 newsletter. Every piece of Meissen was rare with a historic past, and the winning bids started at $5,000 and soared to $1.5 million. Read about this incredible collection’s complicated history and see pictures, descriptions and prices of many exceptional pieces.

Old Christmas postcards with brightly colored images of Santa Claus were sold at an Illinois auction. Kovels’ December newsletter pictures postcards from the early 1900s with images of Santa in a variety of wintery scenes from a snowy forest to the basket of a zeppelin, along with their prices. And learn a bit about dating old postcards by turning them over to see the “clues” on the backs.

A New Jersey auction included a small selection of mechanical pictures. Popular in the late 1880s and early 1900s, the framed scenes with 3D figures powered by clockwork mechanisms must have delighted children and adults alike. See the top-priced example, a turn-of-the-century vignette of family members gathered on Christmas that brought $5,000, and others that portrayed humorous scenes in Kovels’ December issue.

A few dozen antique cupboards sold at auction in Pennsylvania. Kovels’ latest newsletter pictures a corner cupboard, Dutch cupboard, hanging cupboard, jelly cupboard, milk cupboard, pie cupboard, and others, with prices. The solid materials, sturdy construction, and varied shapes and sizes make them practical and affordable additions to modern homes.

And last but not least, the Kovels found Bakelite jewelry back on auction block. The December newsletter pictures pins, bracelets, and dress clips in bright colors that recently sold for affordable prices in Toronto. Some were even iconic Bakelite shapes, like the pins with a dangling red heart, dangling cherries, and the swordfish with a Lucite fin.

In the December market report, find a collection of sleek and sculptural “everyday” items such as a blender, ice crusher, pitcher, ice bucket, and more, many by notable mid-20th century designers, that auctioned in Chicago. The illustrated December Collector’s Gallery answers readers’ questions about a silver epergne, a wicker table, an old cloth doll, and a Delft pitcher. The Dictionary of Marks lists doll makers whose marks can be identified by their shape. And more than 70 antiques and collectibles are listed in the December Buyer’s Price Guide.