Saturday, September 17, 2011
no one expects the publikkklan inquisition.
RANDOM 341 OBJECT
Glamorous MODERNISTIC Glass PAPERWEIGHT - Signed/Dated-$17
I suppose there are several reasons a designer might create a paperweight in this shape. He or she may have been blessed with rare artistic sensibilities. Then again, it could be drugs.
RANDOM SEARS
i don't think i paid that much for my 1891 set. it fit 3 bags or 4 bags for $3 each. $9 or $12. but they kept their value on ebay.
RANDOM 341 OBJECTS
Old ART POTTERY Squat VASE signed + Ohio FLOWER FROG-$29
Who could resist such a cute little vase as seen on the left? It’s almost the size of an inkwell. The flower frog is likely from one of the Ohio art pottery houses, but it isn’t signed. The little vase IS signed.
Sweet! It is likely by a studio potter. I’ll show you the signature in a second if you’ll just keep your panties on.
I don’t have a clue whose mark that is, but I’ll bet they’re famous, and their works bring jillions and jillions of dollars . . . in my dreams.
My best guess as to the maker would be Weller Pottery. My best guess as to the number of holes is 16. I counted them three times, and that was the average.
Friday, September 16, 2011
RANDOM 341 OBJECT
VINTAGE Miniature TOY CHILDS / DOLL Royal GAS STOVE-$29
Other than the size, weight and condition, here is all I know about this cute little stove.
I was chatting with a friend while sitting at the back of the little country auction down the road. We were talking about the obstructionism currently being caused by the rightwing, flat earth, anti-science party in Congress who think “The Flintstones” is a documentary, and I guess we were getting a little loud. The auctioneer cupped his hand over his mike and said “SHHHHHHHhhhhhh.” We all looked up, and he was glaring right at me. So I bought the danged thing just to get him off our backs.
You’ll note some very mild surface rust, but overall it’s in very, very nice shape.
RANDOM 341 OBJECT
8 ESTATE Antique Indian SWEETGRASS BASKETS – MAINE & NE-$100
The most unusual part about my discovery of this little collection of baskets is not what they are - but where I made the discovery. I discovered them in my own attic, where they’d been for many years.
However, I remember the circumstances under which I came upon them as clearly as if it were just yesterday. It was 2000 miles west of where the baskets were made, which is likely the state of Maine, in the tiny town of Lodge Grass, Montana where I was visiting a friend and trading beads with the Crow people on the reservation where he lived. It is about 50 miles north of Little Bighorn.
During my visit my friend heard about a family of two daughters and a son just outside Lodge Grass who were selling their parent’s collections and accumulations. We jumped in his truck that ran only in second gear and headed south out of town. It was short but bumpy ride as that truck’s engine screamed out to be shifted, but we made it.
There were several pieces of old locally made pottery and a few locally woven baskets, but what caught my eye was this little pile of mostly sweetgrass baskets from around 1920 that had somehow traveled so far away home; Maine all the way to Montana. The two above I’d call sewing baskets. They looked out of place in Montana – kinda like dried lobster pemmican with blueberries.
