Bed post doll is folk art

#Middelbury #Kovels

The pink, red and green stripes probably represent a blanket wrapped around this wooden folk art doll. The 20-inch-doll sold for $1,600 at a Theriault’s doll auction in Maryland.

Dolls have been favored toys for centuries. Long before there were manufactured china, metal or plastic-headed dolls, there were wooden, rag and even dried-apple heads. And often, where there was no available doll material, folk-art dolls were made with leather and beads, silk stockings, felt, carved stone and fur, knit socks, clothes pins, wishbones, corn cobs, acorns and pinecones – even old broomsticks.

A 2016 doll auction sold a German carved wooden folk-art doll, made in about 1850 from a hollow wooden tube and other wood pieces, for $1,600. It is 20 inches tall and is decorated with a painted geometric design. There are no arms or legs, but the paint suggests a bunting blanket used on babies. The auction catalog called it the “bed post doll” because the head looked like the top of a bed post and was, perhaps, made from a recycled bedpost. The original painted finish, age, size and originality all added to the value.

Q: I’d like to know something about F. Winkles & Co. pottery. Is it old or valuable?

A: F. Winkle & Co. made earthenware at the Colonial Pottery in Stoke, Staffordshire, England, from 1890 to 1931. Ridgways took over F. Winkle & Co. in 1931. The Colonial Pottery became Whieldon Sanitary Potteries Ltd., later a subsidiary of Doulton Co. The factory was torn down in about 2000. Pottery by F. Winkle & Co. is selling for low prices. Dinner plates sell for $10-$25, bread and butter plates for $9, a fruit dish for $15. Serving dishes sell for higher prices.

Q: We have an old cast-iron stove that reads “Wooddale Belknap Hdw. & Mfg. Co. Louisville, KY” on the front. It belongs to my mom and we want to sell it, but we need to know an asking range.

A: Belknap Hardware & Manufacturing Co. was established in 1840 by William Burke Belknap. Belknap made stoves, hot plates, dutch ovens, skillets and waffle irons. The company name became Belknap Inc., in 1968. It closed in 1985. Some stoves with the same mark as yours sell for $250-$300.

Current Prices

Store sign, Ice Cream 5 Cents, ice cream-cone shaped, impressed lettering, copper, c. 1920, 14 x 6 inches, $160.
Charm bracelet, Bakelite, three hot dogs on buns, 4 footballs, 4 beer bottles, chain, 7 inches, $370.
Toy sand shovel, Mickey and Minnie on beach, Disneyana, tin lithograph, wood handle, Ohio Art, 1930s, 6 x 7 x 21 inches, $595.
Needlework, embroidered silk textile, classical scene with servant pouring water, c. 1810, 21 x 17 inches, $800.

Tip: If possible, hang an oil painting on an inside wall away from direct sunlight.

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