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Treasure Hunting for Profit: Apothecary Jar

….a real antique find!

Wanting to escape the bustle of Manhattan some years ago, I went on a day road trip with two friends, one from England and the other from Norway to Woodstock, NY.  Each of us had a different agenda, the London pal wanted to connect with nature, the Norwegian was determined to visit legends of music sites and I, of course, was there to treasure hunt. 

Since there are so many tourists in the area, I presumed it would be a so-so antique hunting adventure and that most shops would be pretty well picked over.  I was happily surprised to find that the stores were fairly ‘old-school’, meaning no high-end, chic store settings with full-blown retail prices. 

I came across this pedestal ‘apothecary’ jar for only $12 in an established ‘hodge-podge’ shop on an owner’s personal property.  I asked the owner what she knew about the jar and she said, ‘Nothing - I just got it from an estate sale the other day, but I don’t think it’s old’. 

Fortunately, for me, I knew it was a 19th century piece. 

How so?  The give-away was the ground glass on the inside of the neck at the top opening and around the bottom of the lid, where the two pieces would meet.  “Grinding” or “Roughing” the surface of glass gives it a frosted appearance and was a way to keep the lid more secure and prevent chipping.  New reproduction jars usually have a plastic ring around the bottom of the lid.  There was also a wavy appearance to the surface and encased bubbles, elements found in 19th century mold blown glass.

Upon research, I determined this to be a Columbia Swirl Top Show Globe Jar with Segmented Body on Pedestal Foot from the 2nd half of the 19th century. 

Columbia and Dakota jars were used in apothecary shops to display goods, like candy, or colored liquid. Dakota jars, though similar, have a different lid shape called thumbprint. 

The liquid filled jars were displayed in shop windows. The purpose was to alert the public of health situations.  If there was a local health threat the liquid would be red whereas the all-clear sign was green.

In the end, my $12 Woodstock find rock-n-rolled its way to a $220 sale!

I love General Store jars! They are a beautiful pre-cursor to today’s grocery store plastic containers and make both eye-catching and utilitarian display pieces in the kitchen, home and during the holidays.  They can be filled with colored liquid, pretty candy, bath salts, dry food stuff like rice, pasta and popcorn or even to display collections like glass marbles, seashells or matchbooks. 

What are some of the creative ways you use your Country Store Glass Jars?  Feel free to share here!

Art of the Flip: Antique Japanese Moriage Vase

Long ago, back at my favorite once a year indoor sale at an old small town mall, I found this vase at a seller’s table. 

It was already a few hours into the sale and I just arrived to the event.  I was pretty surprised to see this still there after so much time had passed. I was also really happy to spot this treasure!  It had a clear price tag of $12.  I looked over the whole piece and there was no damage.  Wow!  The seller told me it must be European, and that I should check out the asian vase he had next to it for $30.  Little did he know that I was holding “The” Asian Vase, a 19th century, 1880’s, Meiji Period, Japanese ’wedding cake’ moriage, porcelain pedestal footed, double handled vase, with hand painted floral motif. 

The $30 piece he was offering was recently made and commercially sold.

Moriage is hand applied raised enamel.

My $12 purchase turned into a $201.50 sale! What a Score!

Flipping for Profit: ETC Fish Bookends

Once a year in the dead of bitter winter in Northwestern Pennsylvania there used to be a 3-day indoor ‘garage’ sale in a mall building in a small town; it had been one of my favorite sales to go to each year for well over a decade. 

One year was my best buying expedition ever.

Long and short, I spent approximately $70 there and yielded just over $1100!

The most exciting purchase that day was a pair of unassuming metal bookends. I could instantly see that they were hand forged and had a clear maker mark.  So for $6, I figured I could not go wrong.

Imagine my surprise when I researched this mark and found the following information along with auction records of up to $1600 for a comparable pair of bookends by the same artist!!

My $6 book ends were made by a much sought after Arts & Crafts Mission period style  artisan named Edgar Thomas Cullen Fish. He is better known as "E.T.C. Fish" of Tioga, Pennsylvania. He used a letter F in a Heart mark "Because My Heart is in My Work", he stated.

The brass metal was wrought into shape and then the surface was hammered in a signature ETC Fish style - one that resembles the appearance of the wood grain of birds-eye maple.

I priced my set at $1200 and received many offers, the more serious one’s being in the $300 - $400 range, which I initially turned down.  2 months later, when they still had not sold, I decided to accept the highest standing offer of $415 to a dealer from Tioga. Not quite $1600 – but still many times more than my initial $6 investment.

Identify Antiques Tip: Is it Meissen?

Not all crossed sword marks stand for Meissen porcelain from Germany. Hundreds of porcelain factories used crossed swords marks, including some from all over Europe and even Japan. 

Smart Art Collector Tip: Staples on Canvas

Look at the way the canvas of a painting is attached to the wooden stretcher bars on the backside.  If there are staples, then it is likely from the later 20th to 21st century.

Smart Art Definition: What is the Verso?

The verso is the backside of a painting. There are just as many clues on the verso of a work of fine art as there are on the front of the painting, especially if the canvas is exposed and not covered with a paper backing. 

Antique Hunter Tip: What is an Antique

Technically, an antique, by definition in the U.S., is any object that is 100 years old and older. Items not yet 100 years old are considered vintage.

Antique Hunting Tip: Is it a real painting?

There are many framed decorative wall art pieces that look like an original painting, but are actually prints on texturized board or have varnish brush strokes painted on the surface.  If you use a magnifying glass and look closely at the surface, you will see a dot matrix or pixelated pattern.  This is not an original painting, and depending on the printer, image and artist the values range from $10 - $100 on today’s market.

Savvy Thrifter Tip: Art Framed Under Glass

Artwork framed under glass is almost always NOT going to be an original oil or acrylic painting; this medium should not be placed under glass.

Art Collecting Definition: What is Medium

The Medium refers to the materials used to create a work of art or obejct. For example, the medium of a painting can be oil on canvas, watercolor on paper, acrylic on board. The medium of a ceramic object, like figurines and china, can be porcelain, stoneware, eathenware, chalkware, plaster, etc. 

Smart Collector Tip: How do I Clean Bronze

NEVER POLISH BRONZE!  Part of the value is in the patina, or the surface color that gets richer over time and with handling.

Treasure Hunting Tip: Items Marked MMA

Items marked MMA are from the gift shop of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Most are scaled down replicas or inspired recreations from the museum collection, and they are quite collectible

Smart Thrifting Tip: What does Nippon Mark Mean?

Items marked Nippon were made in Japan from 1892 - 1920.  Nippon is the Japanese phonetic word for Japan. So if your vase, figurine or object is stamped NIPPON, it means it was exported from Japan in the late 19th to early 20th century. 

Art Expert Tip: Patina

Patina is the color of the surface of an object in the mediums of metal, wood or leather for example. Patina changes over time from exposure to handling from natural oils on our hands or exposure to elements, such as air, rain or sunlight. 

Expert Thrifting Tip: DALE Tiffany Lamp

A stained leaded glass lamp marked Dale Tiffany is not an antique circa 1900 Tiffany Lamp from Tiffany Studios by Louis Comfort Tiffany. The Dale Tiffany company was founded in New Jersey in 1979 by a person named Ye Chung; there is no relation between Dale and Lousi Comfort. 

Identify Vintage Tip: US Zone Germany Marks

Objects marked ‘U.S. Zone’ and ‘U.S. Zone Germany’ were made in a U.S. occupied part of Germany just after World War, from 1945 - 1955. 

Identify Collectibles Tip: West Germany Marks

Objects marked ‘Made in West Germany’ or ‘West Germany’ were made from 1949 – 1990.

Know Your Treasures Tip: Occupied Japan Marks

Items marked Made in Occupied Japan were made from 1945 – 1952 when the Allied Forces occupied Japan just after the end of World War II.

Smart Antiquer Tip: Vintage, Antique, Antiquity

Vintage. Antique. Antiquity.  Are all terms indicating various stages of age. An item that is thousands of years old is an ‘antiquity’ like ancient objects from the Roman and Egyptian. An antique is an item that is 100 years old and older, whereas vintage is now the mid 1920's - 1990's. 

Savvy Collector Tip: What is Porcelain?

Porcelain is a ceramic that is made from two clays, kaolin and petuntse.  Porcelain has been made in China for 600 years. No other place in the world knew the ‘secret’ to making porcelain until it was discovered by accident in Germany in 1709 by Bottger, who was a ‘fake’ alchemist imprisoned by the King when he claimed he could turn objects into gold.

Book Collector Tip: Hidden Value in Books

If you like to go to thrifting, check the books by opening the front cover pages.  Occasionally, the copy is hand signed by the author which adds a lot more value.

Collecting Books Tip: Books Signed by Author

Or is it...? If you have a late 19th – early 20th century biography book that looks like it has an original signature, be aware that many of these are published prints of the signature on the frontispiece page and not a real signature. Those ar called an auto-pen signature. First check the publication date of the book, as it may have been published after the author passed. 

Book Collector Terms: What is a Frontispiece

The frontispiece is the illustrated page at the beginning of a book that faces the title page.  

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