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This unique British two-pedestal dining table sold for $5,750 at Brunk Auctions in Asheville, N.C. It was made in the late 19th century for a very large room. Each pedestal tabletop flipped down so the two tables could be kept against a wall. The open table is 47 1/2 inches wide and can be extended with added leaves to more than 12 feet long. The legs are carved to look like human legs with feet wearing laced boots.

Kovels – Antiques & Collecting: Week of Nov. 22, 2010

Tom Hoepf
Tom Hoepf
This unique British two-pedestal dining table sold for $5,750 at Brunk Auctions in Asheville, N.C. It was made in the late 19th century for a very large room. Each pedestal tabletop flipped down so the two tables could be kept against a wall. The open table is 47 1/2 inches wide and can be extended with added leaves to more than 12 feet long. The legs are carved to look like human legs with feet wearing laced boots.
This unique British two-pedestal dining table sold for $5,750 at Brunk Auctions in Asheville, N.C. It was made in the late 19th century for a very large room. Each pedestal tabletop flipped down so the two tables could be kept against a wall. The open table is 47 1/2 inches wide and can be extended with added leaves to more than 12 feet long. The legs are carved to look like human legs with feet wearing laced boots.

The last half of the 19th century was a time of creative energy in the United States. Thousands of patents were granted for improvements to household goods, from eggbeaters and apple peelers to vacuum cleaners. Other traditional designs were “improved,” like the dining-room table that was originally just a rectangular slab of wood held by a trestle or four legs. As early as the 1700s, designers had realized that dining tables could be improved by adding extra leaves held by a swing leg at the end of the table or on a slide attached under the tabletop. By the 1800s, slides were made so table leaves could pop into position when the table was pulled apart. Table legs also were a problem. They were bumped by chairs or human legs, so a single large pedestal with low feet was designed, and for extra-long tables, two or more pedestals were used. Today dining tables are made following rules not considered in earlier times. Tables are made in standard sizes so tablecloths can be mass-produced to fit any table. A table height of 28 inches also is standard to go with the standard chair’s seat height of 18 inches. A higher or lower seat is uncomfortable. And most new tables are 42 to 46 inches wide to match the size that fits in the average dining room. There must be room for the table and the position of the chairs on either side when a family sits down to eat. When buying vintage or antique tables and chairs, measure your room and the furniture. If heights or widths are wrong, the set will not be comfortable and may even be too large for your room.

Q: My all-white figurine of a rearing horse with its front legs on a column is marked “Kent Art Ware Japan.” It is 9 inches tall and looks very modern. When was it made?

A: You have a piece of Kent Art Ware (KAW), which was made in Japan in the 1920s or ’30s. Kent designs are very Art Deco. David Eaton, a researcher who hosts a website on Kent Art Ware, thinks Kent wares were made at the Moriyama pottery in Japan. Several Japanese-made Western-style figurines have been found that are almost identical except for their marks. Noritake apparently commissioned Moriyama to make Kent Art Ware, which Noritake then sold in the United States. Several Japanese companies have made special pieces in the American taste and never sold them in Japan. The name of the brand, Kent, probably was chosen to suggest an American or English company. Most Kent ware is all white. Some pieces are white with added colors on a skirt or leaf. Many resemble pieces made in the Deco style by major German and Austrian potteries. You have a piece of an as-yet-undiscovered collectible, so few people will know what it should cost.

Q: I have a dish marked “1794, Royal Bayreuth, Germany, U.S. Zone.” How can I find out how old it is?

A: Royal Bayreuth was founded in Tettau, Bavaria, in 1794. Germany was divided into four occupation zones after the end of World War II. The words “U.S. Zone” indicate your dish was made in the part occupied by U.S. forces from 1945 to 1949. Royal Bayreuth is still in business but now uses a different mark.

Q: I heard costume jewelry was made by the same people who designed the Barbie doll. I collect anything that goes with Barbie and wondered if what I heard is true.

A: The designers of Barbie, Ruth and Elliot Handler, were two of the founders of Mattel, the company that created and still makes Barbie dolls. The Handlers started a company named Elzac to make costume jewelry in 1941. The jewelry was inexpensive and was sold by Sears and some department stores. Pins were made of hand-painted ceramics or carved wood. Added trim included Lucite, rhinestones, silver, fur and leather. The pins were large, some 4 inches long. Those that depicted the heads of exotic women were especially popular. The jewelry was marked with a label or hang tag that is probably lost now. The Handlers sold their share of the company in 1944 and in 1945 started Mattel, which later produced the Barbie doll and other toys.

Q: My grandmother gave me an old carved wooden cane. It’s very plain with a curved handle that’s carved with the words “Bermuda POW 1915.” Can you tell me anything about it?

A: Throughout history, soldiers, sailors and prisoners of war have dealt with boredom by carving whale’s teeth or wood to make everything from pipes to furniture. Your cane is an interesting piece of folk art. When World War I broke out in Europe in 1914, any enemy sailors Britain caught in Bermuda ports became prisoners of war because Bermuda is a British Crown colony. So it’s possible your cane was made in Bermuda in 1915 by a prisoner of war. Prisoners taken into custody in Bermuda were later transferred to Canada. The value of your cane is about $100-$150, depending on the quality of the carving.

Tip: Be careful where you display a fresh pumpkin or gourd for Halloween or Thanksgiving. Put a plastic liner underneath it. A rotting pumpkin will permanently stain wood or marble.

Terry Kovel answers as many questions as possible through the column. By sending a letter with a question, you give full permission for use in the column or any other Kovel forum. Names, addresses or e-mail addresses will not be published. We cannot guarantee the return of any photograph, but if a stamped envelope is included, we will try. The volume of mail makes personal answers or appraisals impossible. Write to Kovels, Auction Central News, King Features Syndicate, 300 W. 57th St., New York, NY 10019.

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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.

  • Policeman Brownie cloth doll, blue uniform and hat, badge, holding club, 1892 Palmer Cox copyright, 7 1/4 inches, $120.
  • Shawnee teapot, “Tom, Tom the Piper’s Son,” right hand around pig spout, left hand holding stalk of corn, burgundy, yellow and blue, 7 inches, $150.
  • American Acoma Indian pot, three-tone swirling design, ivory ground, dated Christmas 1927, 5 1/2 x 6 1/2 inches, $420.
  • Quilt, cotton, Tulip and Princess Feather pattern, vine border, red binding, 1850-75, 71 x 73 inches, $500.
  • Cranberry opalescent peppermint-stick water pitcher, optic diamond pattern, 8 1/2 inches, $605.
  • Sterling-silver stuffing spoons, rounded down-turned tipped-back handles, marked “Peter & Ann Bateman,” London, 1792, 12 in., pair, $630.
  • English dining table, mahogany, rectangular top, massive turned legs, brass cuffs, casters, circa 1840, 71 x 47 x 29 inches, $920.
  • Rookwood vase, standard glaze, mustached baroque gentleman, long black hair, large white pilgrim collar, 1903, 11 1/2 inches, $975.
  • Wacker All Malt Beer advertising calendar, toddler wearing oversized boxing gloves, “I Ain’t Bluffin’,” brown and beige background, 1940, 27 x 13 1/2 inches, $1,245.
  • Rooster weather vane, copper and zinc, rooster, full body, embossed sheet-copper tail and legs, 1940s, 25 x 24 1/2 inches, $1,775.

Just published! The best book to own if you want to buy, sell or collect. The new Kovels’ Antiques & Collectibles Price Guide, 2011, 43rd edition, is your most accurate source for current prices. This large-size paperback has more than 2,600 color photographs and 42,000 up-to-date prices for more than 775 categories of antiques and collectibles. You’ll also find hundreds of factory histories and marks and a report on the record prices of the year, plus helpful sidebars and tips about buying, selling, collecting and preserving your treasures. Available online at Kovelsonlinestore.com; by phone at 800-303-1996; at your bookstore; or send $27.95 plus $4.95 postage to Price Book, Box 22900, Beachwood, OH 44122.

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