#Middlebury #KovelsAntiques
While Valentine’s Day is always Feb. 14, President’s Day can be any one of seven dates, the third Monday in February closest to the 20th. In 1885 George Washington’s birthday, Feb. 22, was made a national holiday. But in 1971, Congress decided that instead of celebrating the real birthdays of President Washington and President Abraham Lincoln (Feb. 12), there would a Monday celebration for both. Why Monday? To give everyone a three-day weekend away from work. Feb. 20 was chosen because it was between the two real birthdays.
This 1880s George Washington doll is made of painted cloth. The face and clothing are familiar, and he really did have blue eyes. It recently sold for $3,080. (Submitted photo)
President Washington lived in the days before cameras, so he was remembered in designs for silhouettes, paintings, prints, medals, cameos, glass patterns, toys, Staffordshire figures to keep on the mantel and even drapery fabrics. Most of the memorabilia was copied from the few famous paintings of the president, images that still are used. A President Washington doll made after 1880 looks like Washington in his presidential years. The doll is made of cloth with pressed and oil-painted features, and gray hair worn in a ponytail. His eyes are blue. The doll is dressed in a silk suit with a lace jabot and wears a tri-corn hat, black stockings and shoes with buckles. The costume is a familiar one.
The doll probably was not made for a young child, but as a part of the 1889 centennial celebration of Washington’s inauguration. It was made by Martha Jenks Chase, who started making portrait dolls in her backyard about 1880. A 25-inch tall Chase Washington doll sold in 2016 at a Theriault’s auction in Las Vegas for $3,080.
Q: I’d like information about my great-grandmother’s full set of beautiful dishes and serving bowls given to her as a wedding gift. They are marked “LS & S Carlsbad Austria.”
A: This mark was used about 1895 to 1917 by Lewis Straus & Sons, importers located in New York City. Carlsbad was part of Austria until after World War I, when it became part of Czechoslovakia. Today the town is called Karlovy Vary and is part of the Czech Republic. Several factories in Austria, Bavaria and Germany used “Carlsbad” in their mark. Many pieces were exported to the United States in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Sets of china are hard to sell, but you can enjoy the dishes for their sentimental value.
CURRENT PRICES
Fortune Telling Cards, tarot, gold edges, text and images, The Nile, US Playing Card Co., box, 52-card deck, c. 1900, 4 x 3 inches, $145.
Bronze doorknocker, Abraham Lincoln, profile, slavery abolished speech text, round, ring striker, 1915, 3 1/2 x 3 inches, $300.
Powder jar, orange milk glass with purple iris, hinged lid with brass band, interior beveled mirror, Wave Crest, 1800s, 4 x 6 inches, $500.
TIP: When polishing the metal hardware on old chests of drawers, slide a piece of stiff paper under the brass plate. This will protect the wood near the brass.
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(c) 2018 King Features Synd, Inc.
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