Couples therapy
Bisque figures made for a great wedding gift,
This revolver has been passed down through four generations, from my great-grandfather, who went to the United States during the Civil War and returned with it. It weighs 1.3 kilograms and is 32 centimetres long. The identifying serial number is in the 5000s. It also has the leather holster. The gun is in very good condition and includes all the nipples, wooden handle grips and cocks and fires as intended. There is surface rust that I’m afraid to clean for fear of damaging the patina. BILL Baden ON
Guns are a very specialized field, so I consulted an expert colleague. What you have is an 1858 self-cocking six-shot Starr Army revolver. It’s a percussion pistol, black powder, cap and ball.
The designation “Army” indicates its calibre (44 — 1.12 cm or 0.44 inches) rather than its actual use; nevertheless, of the total 24,000 pistols produced in the late 1850s and early 1860s, 16,000 were purchased by the Union Army during the American Civil War. Government purchase of this pistol was discontinued due to a high failure rate in parts.
The condition of your pistol rates as “good,” and, although it’s a relatively common firearm, its value will be around $1,000. You might improve this condition to “fine” by using a light-duty rust remover. The good condition of your holster is a real plus, and it should be worth about $650 on its own. These figurines were a wedding gift from my grandmother in 1962. They were sent from Belfast, Ireland, and may have been purchased in an antiques store as she owned nothing like this. They stand 42 cm high and have the number 2038 stamped into the base at the back of both figures. The colour is only on the front. The back is white. I never met my grandmother, and I would be interested in anything you could tell me about the figurines. PAT Perth
What a perfect couple for a wedding gift. This pair of bisque (a type of porcelain with a matte finish) figures was certainly made for an Irish market, with the prominent shamrock decoration. They are Germanmade and likely date between 1890 and 1920, when large numbers of all sorts of Victorian depictions were made.
This is a seldom-seen couple and hard to find in a large size in perfect condition. But the bisque market is very quiet, since no one is starting bisque collections these days. Where these might have commanded as much as $250 a few years back, today they will not break $100, in spite of being an outstanding pair of figurines. Even though this clock has been in the family for some time, none of the surviving family members know anything about it. I think it’s a brass-copper compound and it measures 13 cm high. ROSA Pembroke
The detailed scenes depicted on all sides of your novelty clock bring to mind the world of fairy tales and nursery rhymes. There is such merriment here, including dancing couples, musicians, tree houses with sharply peeked roofs and horses drinking from troughs.
This relatively inexpensive clock, which would run for about a day when fully wound, may have been made with young people in mind. It appears to be stamped sheet brass with an oxidized copper finish. It would have retailed for $1.25 around 1900. The inner workings of the clock were likely American made, and the body is reminiscent of many English-made coal or wood boxes. Your clock’s charm far outweighs its monetary value, which I would peg around $45.