1923 (Loar Period) Gibson Snakehead A Mandolin #73166

From the corners of a "Rec Room" comes a 1923 Gibson Snakehead TYPE A Mandolin in fairly good condition with its original case. As I opened the case which the word Gibson could still be seen on the embossed top I could barely control myself. This was my garage sale Renoir..and there in the dim light of the late summer evening it was, still casting a shine from the overhead lights was a 1923 Gibson Snakehead A Mandolin in Good Condition.

I was a novice and still am but the name Gibson was one I understood the meaning of immediately. After a few hours on the phone with national well known collectors and experts on Gibsons (they have had and been on TV shows and published books on the subject) I knew I had a real find on my hands. I was excited for both myself to have been able to make these professional connections with true experts and for my client.

What did I learn: well besides the fact everyone wanted to buy it even in the present condition which apparently for its age was not to bad.

There was the expected fine crack in the wood, after all it is almost 100 years old. There was a small pull in the binding also expected from the age but otherwise this Mandolin was a truly exciting find.

Gibson made the "Snake head" Mandolin type A originally for classical music but shortly after it came out it became a more popular instrument with Irish Celtic music both classic and folk..The Snakehead is, needless to say, the most desirable and rarest of all Gibson A-style mandolins. They were made while Lloyd A. Loar was at the helm of the great locomotive (well, he was the Chief Acoustic Engineer so he got to wear the cap) that was known as Gibson Research and Development into Mandolins, Mandolas, Mandocellos and Archtop Guitars or The “GRaDMiMaMaG” for short. The Snakehead A-style celebrates the timely confluence of many engineering improvements thought up by Loar, Guy Hart and other executives of the emerging luthiery giant located at 225 Parsons Street in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Its headstock gets skinnier as it goes upward (would that we could also), it has the adjustable truss rod feature that allows the instrument to have a smaller, while still v-shaped, neck, it has the adjustable bridge with the “Pat. Jan. 18, 1921” patent stamp on its foot, and although this has nothing to do with Mr. Loar, it has the elevated celluloid pickguard with the “Pat. Mar. 30, ‘09” stamp and the newfangled L-shaped side clamp with the hexagonal bolt and recessed screw. The “plain A” as it is so often referred, has a black headstock overlay with no logo of any kind just an ebony facing. " information gathered for this is thanks to http://www.mandoweb.com/Instruments/Gibson-A+Style+Snakehead+mandolin-1922/1422

Roseville Pottery: A few quick ways to determine if it is real or not

During this last sale I found myself happily knee deep in really good quality pottery and glassware. I often rely on my bidding clients to let me know the direction of the market with certain items. This time there was no question that Roseville is gaining a lot of interest with many bidders out there. This we noticed immediately with  the Fuchsia Vase #89. The strong interest in that item and the others Roseville items we have carried in the past makes it all that much more important that we at www.notyourmothersestatesale.com work to give our customers the most information we can find about a item that is available out in the market place today.

That brings us to todays Blog subject on Roseville Pottery telling a fake from a real.
There are many ways to detect as fake but it requires a strict discipline and attention to almost at times unseen detail. However here are a few quick things to look for when examining a Roseville Pottery item, and as always use the internet to educate yourself as much as possible about the item you are looking at.

1.The glaze on most fakes is very dull and lacks depth. The glaze is flat and does not usually reveal the clay color underneath. It will also feel rough and not as smooth and finished as a  authentic piece

2. Handles on the reproductions tend to be thicker and details are not as refined.

3.Most shapes vary significantly from the originals.

4.Leaves on real pieces are brighter and stand out from the background better.

5. Most of the background colors vary significantly from the original colors and the color of the clay is usually whiter than the originals.

6.Pieces will most always say "Roseville U.S.A." (usually very low relief on the USA) or "Roseville" on the bottom, even if they were not marked on original pieces. Initially, the Roseville fakes had a raised ("in relief") "Roseville USA" on the bottom. Also the "R"'s tend to be very different from the authentic Roseville "R"'s

As always I hope this little bit helps and I have included a few links that list the different styles and types

http://www.wwcomponents.net/roseville/roseville.html#lookfor

 http://antiques.about.com/od/reproductions/ss/aa040506.htm

Head Vases who knew? I grew up surrounded by these items. My grandmother had a sun porch and we would sit on it chatting listening to music from the e 50's as she would fill them with "real" plastic flowers so they could be dole at the local flea market where she had a weekend booth. Two things I remember most was the suffocating smell of dusty plastic flowers int he heat of the sun room and second how much I wanted to grow up and look like those head vases, so elegant. 

    Head vases were hip as far back as the the late 1940's. Most of the original head vases were 9 1/2" but with increased costs by the the 1960's the head vases had shrunken in size to 4 1/2" to allow a profit margin by the production companies.
     These head vases were produced by thirteen (13) different companies.  




This lovely lady was just sold in our last auction, she was free of any crack, chips or crazing considered to be in Very Good Condition. The tags below were actual from her base.

For more information on Head Vases go to http://www.headvasemuseum.com
Brinn's China-GlasswareEnesco Corporation
Ceramic Arts StudioThe Geo. Zoltan Lefton Co.

Lego Imports-Goldman Morgan    Napco  

Irving W. Rice & Co., Inc.      Rubens Originals
UCAGCO

As well as : Samson Import Co. Inc. / Reliable Glassware & Pottery Co., Inc., Betty Lou Nichols Ceramics, INARCO, Holt Howard Associates, Inc.,  

Trying to date you Nippon

I started out 25 years ago collecting different types of Porcelain and China. At that time it seemed so easy to "know it all", but as time goes on and the market widened with the advent of the intranet I found there was so much I was missing.  So to help me and anyone else along the way I am putting up different ways to sort out antiques an collectibles, commonly and sometimes not so commonly found.

Nippon Back Stamps

The vast majority of Nippon wares produced during the Nippon era were manufactured by the company that would later become the modern day Noritake Company. There are a total of 359 back stamps known to date. Joan Van Patten has collected a vast number of Nippon back stamps in her book entitled Van Patten's ABC's of Collecting Nippon Porcelain, published in 2005.

The most common Back Stamps are:

M-in-wreath

M-in-wreath, hand-painted ("M" stands for importer, Morimura Bros.); found in green, blue, magenta & gold. Mark used since 1911.

Maple Leaf

Maple leaf Nippon; found in green, blue & magenta. Mark dates back to 1891.

Rising Sun

Rising Sun Nippon. Quite common, but not used as much as the M-in-wreath & Maple Leaf. Mark used since 1911.

Back Stamps by Category:

Many of the lesser known back stamps were used by companies whose histories are unknown. While these lesser companies produced fine wares on occasion, it is generally felt that the best examples of Nippon-era hand painted porcelain will carry a back stamp used by the Noritake Company during the Nippon era. The exception to this is Coralene which to the best of our knowledge was never produced by the Noritake Company. [A word of caution: the offshore (mainly China) companies producing "fake Nippon" have perfected the M-in-wreath back stamp. You can no longer tell if it's a fake by looking at the back stamp

More information can be found at http://nipponcollectorsclub.com/backstamps.php

Be careful of ripoffs. My husband always says if a salesman says he "is honest" more then three times in five minutes - run in the other direction, quickly. I do estate saleswww.notyormothersestatesale.com, its what I do and I try to do the best job possible for my clients. I am also quick to admit I dont know everything and every now and then you come across a piece that is just different, no markings but you can see the quality. That is exactly what happened at a recent sale. The owner brought out two pieces of heavy crystal one a dog the other a donkey. Just holding these items you new they were special.

So I went home an did all of my homework on them or so I thought. I suspected these were Heisey Glass pieces and if they were they would be worth hundreds of dollars each. So I trotted off to a "known" collector. Oh he hemmed and hawed at the pieces and said he would get back to me after he researched them..I never said what I thought about them..that night the Antique dealer/collector/honest guy called me twice to call him back. It was Saturday night so he would have to stew for a bit. I called on Sunday and he told me he had an offer for me..$60.00 for the two pieces, when I did not react immediately, partially because I was so stunned, he jumped right in and said "I'll go $80.00". I thanks him for his offer and told him I would think about it. I already had a contact in my hand from Replacements.com for more then $500.00 for the two pieces. The moral...Do your homework and run if someone tells you how honest they are more then three times in five minutes;.

Depression-ware It can leave you glowing

We live unfortunately during a time when people will regularly try to pass off reproductions as the real thing.  green Depression glass and Vaseline glass are some of those items. Depression glass was made during the 1930's .

  

 Testing for Reproduction Glass

Both green Depression Glass and Vaseline glass will glow under a black light due the uranium oxide content in the glass. American colorless pressed glass made before 1930 is said to fluoresce yellow, while reproductions generally do not. Some people report that American brilliant cut glass also casts a yellow hue under ultraviolet light, others say it glows pale violet or blue. Given the discrepancies, make sure to follow up with further research to ensure cut glass authenticity.

Trivia/Fun Facts

• It was common for glass companies to give away Depression glass at movie theaters, in grocery stores with the purchase of a bag of sugar or flour, in department stores with a purchase of furniture and at five and dimes. Movie houses often gave it away to bring in customers on slow nights, and gas stations and restaurants offered it as a reward to regular patrons.

  The Quaker Oats cereal company literally saved one glass company from going bankrupt by ordering several boxcar loads of Depression glass during a particularly lean time during the Depression years.

  

  Aside from the beautiful colors and designs that were supposed to represent a sense of hope in desperate times, even the pattern names of Depression glass were supposed to refer to better days and reflected the nostalgia for the glamorous lifestyle of the 1920s. Surprisingly, though, rarely was Depression glass marked with the manufacturer's name or mark.

  According to the article "Depression Glass--Antique Glass That's Living History" by Shane Dayton, the colors of Depression glass most popular with collectors today include green, blue and pink. The most popular patterns include Cameo, Mayfair, Princess, Royal Lace (all available in green) and American Sweetheart.

  
  

  
  
  
  

  courtesy of ehow.com

What to consider when hiring a company for an Estate Sale:

      Your community

Many neighborhoods have Deed Restrictions and don’t allow for garage sales, yard sales, and estate sales.  It is wise to have a complete understanding of what is allowed in the neighborhood before you have your sale.  If restrictions exist, Private Sales may be your only option.  

      Advertising

      The idiom ‘to cast a wide net’ is appropriate in this business, as the wider the net, the greater the catch!  

On-line Advertising. 

      Online advertising is simply one of the best methods for reaching your audience... there are many multi media sites where the sales can be listed and advertised as well as the use of subscribed email lists.

Websites that offer online multiple pictures and descriptions tend to bring in more enthusiastic and well informed buyers, this can in some cases lead to a bidding war on a item in the lot or estate sale.

      Today’s shoppers are very savvy and use their time and money wisely by shopping estate sales on-line whenever possible..  If given a choice of two estate sales – do they go with the one who advertises by way of descriptions only or with a company that offers an on-line visual presentation of the sale (which can portray far more than simply words)?

 What payment methods do the companies accept?

Most companies accept cash, debit & credit.  Some accept checks.  
A restriction on forms of payment (such as cash only) is a restriction on purchases, especially larger ticket items.

        

More great art finds at Estate Sales

I had a friend who purchased a Charlie Harper for $5.00 at a recent sale...

More recently in the news  on April 2 another man purchased a original Andy Warhol valued in the millions. They are everywhere you just have to look.

Then there was this today in the news..

VANCOUVER - A painting bought at a garage sale and believed to be the work of an artist connected to Canada's revered Group of Seven painters is creating a buzz before it's auctioned off in Vancouver next month.

The oil painting on plywood is thought to be by icon Tom Thomson at the height of his career in 1915.

It features a landscape in pale blues, purples and peachy colours, possibly sketched while he sat in his canoe in Ontario's Algonquin Park.

Maynard's Auctions spokeswoman Kate Bellringer says it was one of two paintings that an older gentleman brought to her in a shopping bag in January after buying them at a garage sale for $100.

Bellringer says about 10 experts have been consulted on the painting's authenticity, and four people who've actually seen it say it's the real thing.

The painting will be auctioned off on May 16 and has been estimated at between $150,000 to $250,000.

National Gallery of Canada curator Charlie Hill says he's been in talks with Maynard's about the painting for about three weeks, and while it has some Thomson attributes, he's skeptical.

The Ugly Elk - is worth a pretty Pennny

Finding value in discarded items at a estate sale

It was pushed behind a door hanging forgotten. I felt bad for this painting, dusty and dulled from time. I bought it deciding on it as a last minute thought with a few extra dollars in my pocket. I took it home and cleaned up the frame although not cleaning the painting (Very luckily for me hint: leave painting cleaning to the pros) I lovingly called it the Ugly Elk and hung it proudly in my dinning room. Oh and I know its not an elk.

A cold winters night and the internet proved to me that it was not such a "Ugly Elk" anymore.   The painting was done by a Edith Harper, one of the foremost woman artist in the early 20th century. So now my "Ugly Elk", hangs still in the dinning room while I decide what to do with it. The upside I got alot more out of the painting then what I paid for it. The downside..I had have to have it insured.

Welcome to our new space where we share hints and trips for finding real collectibles at estate and garage sales. Be sure to check our website for upcoming internet sales. www.notyourmothersestatesale.com