#MiddleburyCT #Antiques #CoalScuttle
A fireplace takes a lot of watching and “feeding” if it is going to keep a room warm. Today’s wood-burning fireplaces use logs cut to the right size to fit into the fireplace. A metal basket holds the logs behind andirons, and a fire screen blocks the ashes and cinders from spilling out into the room. The poker is a tool used to turn or move burning logs. The shovel removes the ashes when the fire is put out. But what is the use of the big box with a lid that is on the floor next to the fireplace?
A coal scuttle wasn’t always used for coal; it could hold logs or collect ashes. This one from about 1900 sold for $125 at DuMouchelles in Detroit. (Kovels.com)
The box is called a coal scuttle. They were first used in the 18th century to hold lumps of coal for the fire. By 1850, coal had been replaced by logs, but the box is still called a coal scuttle. The box could also be used to collect ashes when the fire was out.
This coal scuttle is made of oak with brass trim. It was made about 1900 in the shape of an earlier example with four round feet and a metal lining. It sold for $125 at a DuMouchelles auction in Detroit.
Q: When I was little, before I had my ears pierced, my mother let me play dress-up with vintage clip-on earrings that originally belonged to her mother and aunt. Were clip-on earrings more popular than pierced? When did ear piercing become more common?
A: Clip-on earrings were a 20th century invention. The first earrings were for pierced ears. Post and stud earrings appeared in the mid-1800s, but by the end of the century, people saw piercings as barbaric. Earrings with screw backs were invented in 1894 as an alternative to piercing. Clip-on earrings were patented in the 1930s. Pierced ears became fashionable again in the 1960s. As the styles changed, new owners sometimes put new backings on older style earrings, changing from clip-on to pierced and vice versa.
TIP: Pictures above a bed or sofa should fill about two thirds of the space. Hang a large picture or a group of small ones. Be sure the lowest picture will not be bumped by a person on the bed or sofa.
Current Prices
Game board, two-sided, checkers and Chinese checkers, pine, hexagonal shape, black frame, turquoise and black checkerboard on one side, multicolor Chinese checker board on reverse, c. 1925, 23 inches, $95.
Advertising tin, Crawford’s Biscuits, steam roller truck shape, red and black, hinged roof opens to biscuits, front of boiler with logo and “William Crawford & Sons Ltd., Biscuit Manufacturers, Edinburgh, Liverpool & London,” 7 1/2 inches, $615.
Toy, piano player, Le Petit Pianiste, man seated at piano, sways back and forth, hands move across keys, plays chime music, wood, metal, cloth, Fernand Martin, France, 6 inches, $1,165.
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