Artistic standouts worth investing in
This is the ninth occasional feature on This Old Thing where we revisit items submitted for appraisal some years ago and see how their values have changed. This week we look at a paperweight, a vase and a stove, comparing their current values with those of nine-and-a-half years ago.
Q
My late grandmother used this glass paperweight as a bathroom doorstop for over 50 years. We know it’s a Baccarat carpet ground millefiori paperweight made in France in 1848. It has a diameter of about 7.6 centimetres (3 inches.) It’s dated, signed with the letter ‘B’ and there are eight images of animals surrounded by various patterns of colour and design. The top of the glass has scuff marks from the bathroom door coming into contact with it over the years but there are no deep scratches or chips of any kind.
Cathy, Prince Albert, Ont.
A
You are absolutely right about this: it’s a fabulous and rare example of a French Baccarat paperweight from ‘the golden era’ for paperweights (1840s and
1850s). The millefiori canes (millefiori means ‘a thousand flowers’ in Italian) are made over a period of many weeks by bundling, stretching, then slicing long, multicoloured glass rods into tiny pieces. Scratches used to be polished out by collectors but today buyers want them ‘as found’ and left alone. In 2008, I estimated this weight at $7,500. Today it would break the $10,000 mark. Q My husband’s parents used this stove to heat their basement. The top and front is a tan-coloured ceramic. The sides and back are a thin metal with a brown coating. We believe the stove was used strictly for heating, since there are no burners for cooking. We think it used either coal or wood. It’s made by the Guelph Stove Company, of Guelph, Ont., and it’s 46 centimetres wide (18 inches) and 100 cm tall (39.5 inches.)
Val, Bowden, Alberta A
This is a wonderful model #36 old Canadian Deco stove and it’s rare. The company history is a bit sketchy but they were operating in 1901. At one point, the T. Eaton Co. owned the Guelph Stove Company. They were advertised as making ranges and furnaces from 1941 to 1943. In 1964, the carmaker Studebaker bought it. This is the ultimate Deco piece, with its typical waterfall sides, black highlights and the mottled cream enamel that’s simulating bird’s eye maple. This eye-catching stove was worth $1,500 in 2009. Rare Deco items are always in demand and the keen eyes for them are often unpredictable as to their limits. It would easily bring $2,000 or more at auction today. Q This Moorcroft vase was handed down to us by an aunt. It’s 22 centimetres tall (8.5 inches) and in perfect condition. We’re very interested in knowing how much it’s worth. Joyce, Oakville A This is one of the best designs and it’s a star performer in the Moorcroft family. It’s known as Moonlit Blue and was first introduced in 1922 by William Moorcroft, who operated his English pottery company in England from about 1913 to 1945. Moorcroft did a few landscape designs and this one is typified by the tall, stylized trees and defining blue background colouration. The larger pieces generally bring more money but certain designs, like this one, command serious money — even when they’re not particularly large. This is a modestsized vase with beauty, rarity and the prestigious Moorcroft name going for it. Ten years ago this added up to a value of about $2,750. I have no doubt that today it is worth $3,000 or more.
John Sewell is an antiques and fine art appraiser. To submit an item to this column, go to the Contact John page at www.johnsewellantiques.ca. Please measure your piece, say when and how you got it, what you paid and list any identifying marks. A high resolution jpeg must also be included. (Only email submissions accepted.) Appraisal values are estimates only.