Pottery ring held water

#Middlebury #Antiques

A pottery ring about 8 inches in diameter was auctioned recently and few seemed to understand how it was used. The pottery was shaped like a tube bent into a circle with an opening at the top. It is a 19th-century stoneware ring flask.

Sometimes the simplest idea is the best. This 19th-century flask held water for the farmer working in fields far from a stream. It sold at a Hess auction for $325.

Farmers worked in the fields all day and they could carry water in the flask. It was worn on the shoulder, so water was always available. This flask was glazed to look like it is made of pottery, but many examples were more elaborate with incised colored decorations, faces or other slightly raised decoration.

The idea of a ring flask dates to the ancient Chinese. Examples with little decoration and no signature sell for about $300 to $500. Those by well-known makers can fetch over $500.

Q: My mother was a collector of Wedgwood Jasperware. I inherited it all. Some I plan to keep. I have everything from 25-cent-size boxes to three different size Portland vases. Any suggestions on liquidation of this collection?

A: How to sell inherited collections is the question we are asked the most. There is no easy answer. Ask yourself what is most important about selling the Wedgwood – money, your time, the amount of physical labor, enhancing family memories or avoiding arguments among heirs. There are companies that take and sell everything to empty a house for a fee or part of the profit. It may be costly, but it is quick.

In- or out-of-town auction companies might be interested in a valuable collection of Wedgwood. Ask collector friends whom to call and ask about what they sell and the services that are offered. (Professionals usually spot any very valuable items and estimate the sale value properly.)

No luck? Try the next step, a local shop that will buy your things or take them on consignment. If the dealer has been in business locally, you can get references and check on honesty. An offer to buy from an unknown company’s ad in a newspaper can be risky. Next, run your own sale. It takes time, planning, studying and a knowledge of pricing to sell in a house sale or online. Last try, take everything usable to a thrift store, church sale, charity fundraising show and sale, or non-profit places. You get a charitable tax deduction, pride in doing a good deed and an end to the problems.

Be sure to get advice from someone in the antiques world. You wouldn’t get a haircut from someone who just opened a beauty parlor and had no references.

Current Prices
Silver ladle, Royal Danish pattern, International Silver Co., 6 inches, $60.
Copper tea and coffee set, rattan handles, teapot, coffeepot, creamer, sugar, 6 cups and saucers, serving tray, stamped mark, Harald Buchrucker, Germany, c. 1935, tray, 16 x 11 inches, $185.
Dionne Quintuplets, molded hair, clothing, quintmobile, Madame Alexander, 1930s, 5 1/2 x 17 1/2 inches, $330.
Suitcase, Louis Vuitton, leather, monogram, tan leather trim, zippers, lock, Saks Fifth Avenue, 1970s, 24 x 19 x 8 inches, $625.

TIP: Don’t put a decorative runner or vase on your wooden table if it is in sunlight. Eventually the finish will fade around the ornaments and leave a shadow of the items on the wood.

For more collecting news, tips and resources, visit www.Kovels.com.

© 2020 King Features Synd., Inc.