Coca-Cola sign looks like a painting

#MiddleburyCT #Antiques

A tin sign picturing an attractive girl sold for $12,390, which is an impressive price for a portrait of a young woman from the 1910s! But if you look closer, you’llsee that the woman is holding a glass marked “Coca-Cola,” and the Coca-Cola logo is visible on the bottom of the frame. It’s not really a framed painting; it’s a self-framed tin lithographed sign. Collectors of Coca-Cola around the world may recognize her as Elaine, the girl on the company’s 1916 calendar.

Paying $12,390 would be awfully expensive for a Coke, but apparently not for this Coca-Cola sign sold by Morford Antique Advertising Auctions. (Kovels.com)

Q: I hope you can identify the maker of my great-grandmother’s three-piece set of teapot, sugar and creamer. She brought it from Europe when she moved to this country about 1899. It is handpainted with pink roses and green leaves and has gilt trim. The pieces are marked “Mentone.” Some are also marked “Th u E, Mr.” and “Sevres, Bavaria” and others are marked “Thomas” and “Bavaria.” I don’t know anything about the marks or if this tea set is worth anything. Can you help?

A: Thomas and Paul Ens founded Thomas & Ens Porcelain Factory in Marktredwitz, Bavaria, in 1903. They used “Th u E, Mr.” (German abbreviation for “Thomas and Ens, Marktredwitz”) as a mark until about 1908. Ens left the company in 1907. Thomas became an independent subsidiary of Rosenthal AG in 1908. The name “Thomas” was used in marks beginning in 1908. The word “Bavaria” without the word “Germany” indicates the mark was used no later than 1939. “Mentone” is the pattern name of a line of dinnerware made by the company, and “Sevres” is the series name. Porcelain production was moved from Marktredwitz to Speichersdorf in 1960. Thomas is still listed as one of Rosenthal’s brands. Tea sets like this are inexpensive, worth about $50-$100.

TIP: Store fragile Christmas tree ornaments in plastic zip-close bags. Be sure there is some air in the bag when you zip it. This air bubble protects like bubble wrap.

Current Prices
Toy, trolley car, wood, tin, bench seats, old paint, front and back panels painted with “Belt Line 1492,” cast-iron spoke wheels, c. 1900, 12 x 28 inches, $750.
Furniture, cupboard, American Country Empire, cherry, poplar, two sections, cove-molded top, two three-pane glass doors, base with two dovetailed drawers over two paneled doors, paneled ends, turned legs, 80 x 50 x 20 inches, $995.
Doll, Bild Lilli, plastic, synthetic blond ponytail, black cloth pants, green shirt, black shoes, O. & M. Hausser, Neustadt, Germany, 1955, 12 inches, $1,275.

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