Pair of 1950s wooden bobsleds worth over $200
Rarer models manufactured at beginning of the 1900s can go for up to $1,000
Q This bowl and its serving utensils are among my most favourite things, left to me by my mother almost 30 years ago. The interior is smooth, and a delicate shell pink. The bowl is oval shaped, rimmed in silverplated brass, and features an exterior and handles textured something like snakeskin! It is as if something was pressed into the material to give it this effect before the very Asianlooking embellishments were added. There are no identifiers anywhere. The bowl measures 28 x 19 x 10 cm deep (11 x 7.5 x 4 inches). I hope you can shed some light on where this set was made and when. — Heather, Ottawa
A Your intuition about how this design was created is spot-on. The technique — known both as “Chine Ware,” and (more commonly) “Slater’s Patent” — is created by first pressing fabric into soft clay and adding the surface design features afterwards. It was jointly patented circa 1885 by the Doulton company and one of its artists and managers, John Slater, who managed the Burslem factory. Japanese design was a strong influence in the 1880s, and dozens of design patents for salad bowls were registered at that time. Many related to sea life such as your lobster-lined egg-shaped bowl, and other lively features such as the balland-claw feet, the Asian Prunus branches and swallow decorations. Your bowl missed the pedigree stamps at the Doulton factory since marked examples of this body design do exist. It will serve you well for about $225.
Q I was wondering if this old item was of any value. There are two, and the other one is the same but has a red front on it. They came from my grandfather’s home. The decal on the hood, which has blue and yellow wings on each side of a disc, reads ‘Trailmaster Bobsled — A Bavarian Derivative.’ There’s missing paint on the hood but the rest is in good shape. The slats and runners are wood. It’s roughly 152 cm long (60 inches). — James, Moncton, N.B.
A This model is an early bobsled, an item first invented 120 years ago in Switzerland, and which has gone on to achieve much fame in the Olympic Games. Your consumer model dates to the 1950s, and is very similar to the Bob-O-Link, made by Withington of West Minot, Maine. I suspect it may be a different model made by that company. The length can be extended to adjust for more passengers. Rare bobsleds from the beginning of the 1900s can go for up to $1,000, but this one is fairly common. This, along with the attention needed to restore the hood paint, pegs its value at around $100. Add another $125 for the red one with better condition paint.
Q I welcome your opinion please on these two matching brass boxes, which my mother purchased about 50 years ago at auction. I believe they were part of the Bullock estate, “Glenwood” which was home to a very successful businessman in Gananoque where I grew up. They measure 30 x 23 x 28 cm (12 x 9 x 11 inches) and have no identifiers. The box with the galvanized bucket is also lined with felt. — Heather, Ottawa
A These boxes were meant to hold coal, wood or even peat, and would once have sat on either side of a grand fireplace. Their small size suggests coal, but they may have housed kindling or small logs as well. The sheetembossed brass was in common use during the early 1870s, as was the gadroon-framed sunburst design seen here. Boxes, made later on, most often featured genre tavern scenes instead. The coverings are a later restoration. Fireplace implements have become a collecting category of their own, and these boxes are hard to find in pairs. I value this pair at $150.