#Middlebury
American homes in the 1700s seem very colorless today when compared with log cabins and many restored homes and buildings. Ceramics during that time usually were made of clay ranging from pale beige to red from nearby sources. Fabrics were homemade from sheep’s wool, cotton or flax, almost all white to beige. Some weaving included wool from black sheep that could make a black line.
It took $3,335 to buy this student lamp with a font made of Mt. Washington Burmese glass. It is a stylish electrified lamp with an antique base and a shade made later and decorated to match.
By the end of the 1700s, fabrics were dyed many colors, and ceramics were available in blue, occasionally black and a few other colors. Furniture was wood, but it wasn’t painted, just waxed or oiled. Only glass and ceramics from overseas had color. (Research from the past 30 years has shown that the rich had colorful wallpaper, rugs, dishes, bed hangings and more, but much had faded over time.) The popular color, “Williamsburg blue” actually is a faded bright blue.
Color came to home decoration in the mid-1800s. Clear or single-color glass was made, then multicolored glass was perfected. Items like lamps with glass shades could be made with a heat-sensitive glass called Burmese, which became opaque and shaded peach to yellow when reheated. Other glass in color combinations with unusual names was made about the same time. Its popularity lasted until the somber Mission style arrived in the 1900s.
Today, there is colorful antique and reproduction glass that usually is made in Victorian shapes. A Mt. Washington student lamp made of Burmese glass decorated with Japanese dragons and an imaginary flower sold at an Early auction in Ohio for $3,335.
Q: At a recent auction of textiles, a number of “show towels” were sold. How were they used?
A: Show towels were popular with Pennsylvania German girls. They are long, rectangular pieces of fabric that were used to demonstrate sewing skill. The finished towel was hung on a door as proof of their work and as an added decoration in the kitchen. The towel, not made to be used, often was made of linen and cotton. They usually included the name of the maker, location and date. Sometimes a finished towel was a gift for a new bride. The towels were most popular from 1820 to 1870. A 19th-century show towel in good condition with names and other designs cross-stitched in a pleasing pattern sells for about $1,000 today.
Current Prices
Advertising button, Apple Valley Pow-Wow, Labor Day Weekend, Indian chief profile, yellow & red, pinback, 1955, 1 3/4-inch diameter, $10.
Breakfast tray, genuine bamboo and wood, weave design with cutout handles and front drawer, scalloped base, 1940s, 11 x 17 inches, $165.
Nutcracker, carved wood, old village woman with fishtail handle, mouth opens and closes to crack nuts, Black Forest, c. 1880, 8 inches, $250.
Sun dial, iron with brass dial, embossed “Count only sunny hours,” Virginia Metal Works, 1940s, 10 1/4-inch diameter, $875.
TIP: Never exhibit photographs in direct sunlight.
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© 2018 King Features Synd. Inc.
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