Antiques Q&A
Our expert dishes out information on springtime-themed antiques, from a stuffed rabbit to a brightly blooming plate.
Our expert shares facts and figures about antiques.
Question: I found these unopened packets of Fleck’s Easter egg colors and trims a few years ago. I haven’t heard of this company. What can you tell me about it? Answer: Jacob J. Fleck, a druggist, arrived in Tiffin, Ohio, in 1883. He started out making medications and dietary supplements for farm animals and horses. Wooden buckets with labels for these products surface occasionally in auctions and can sell for several hundred dollars. In 1889, Fleck developed premeasured packets of food-grade dye powder for coloring Easter eggs. Orders for the Easter egg colors soon came from across the United States. Ready-cut gummed paper animal heads to further decorate Easter eggs were eventually added to Fleck’s product line. J.J. Fleck closed in 1997. These colorfully decorated packets are from the late 1940s and 1950s and can be found priced $10 to $20 each at antiques markets.
Question: This 9-inch china plate came from my aunt’s estate. It’s decorated with a colorful leaf pattern. The mark impressed into the bottom reads, “WEDGWOOD/ MADE IN ENGLAND.” It’s in excellent condition. How old is it?
Answer: Majolica is a Victorian-style glazed earthenware developed in 1850 by the English pottery founded by Thomas Minton. Minton’s art director, Leon Arnoux, named this new ware majolica after the Spanish tin-glazed earthenware of the 14th century. Victorian majolica is recognized for its smooth and glossy finish, distinctive color patterns and elaborate molded designs. Minton competitor Wedgwood, the famous pottery established by Josiah Wedgwood in 1759, began producing majolica a year later. Majolica remained popular into the 20th century. This dessert plate is a later example. Wedgwood started marking its products “Made in England” in 1898. Prior to 1929, the company also dated its wares with a three-letter code; since that is lacking in this example, it would appear the plate was made after that. Similar Wedgwood majolica plates sell for $50 to $75.
Question: This stuffed toy bunny is about 10 inches tall, not including its floppy ears. Its head turns from side to side, and it has a squeaker in its chest. It has no label or metal button, but there are two small slits in one ear where one might have been attached. I’ve been told it’s a Steiff toy. Is that true?
Answer: Of all the makers of stuffed toys, Steiff has the strongest collector following. The German manufacturer has been exporting stuffed toys since the 1880s. While famous for its teddy bears, first introduced in 1903, the company has made hundreds of other stuffed toys and dolls. Collectors demand toys to be in excellent to mint condition. Often stuffed toys had ribbons or tags, which must be intact to command full price. Your Steiff rabbit is missing a ribbon around its neck, its name tag and the trademark metal button that was attached to one ear. Steiff has made as many as 30 rabbits—large and small— over the years. This one dates to the 1950s and, lacking the aforementioned accessories, is valued at about $40 to $60.
RESOURCE: by Jean Wilson and Shirley Conway (1984: Wallace-Homestead Book Co., out of print). Question: I bought this small cup at an estate sale. It is not quite 3 inches tall. It is unmarked. Can you tell me anything about it?
Answer: Roseville Pottery Company started in Roseville, Ohio, in 1892 and moved to Zanesville in 1898. You have a piece of Roseville’s creamware line called Juvenile Ware, which was introduced in about 1920. Forms include cereal bowls, pitchers, creamers, plates, eggcups, and cups and saucers. They were decorated with handpainted transfer pattern designs. The chicks were a popular motif. Additional designs included rabbits, piglets, pelican-like ducks, a cat holding a parasol and a sunbonnet girl. A band of color—in this case, green—accents most designs, and all have a few lines of dark piping. There are two glaze types—a matte glaze, like the one on this mug, is referred to by Roseville collectors as Juvenile I; high-glaze items are known as Juvenile II. Single mugs decorated with chicks sell for $40 to $60. Question: I remember these Easter-themed cottage cheese containers from my childhood in the 1950s. Do they have any value beyond nostalgia?
Answer: In the era before plastic containers, food processors packaged cottage cheese in sturdy card-stock-weight waxed paper containers. Continental Can Company of Newark, New Jersey, and Lily-Tulip Corporation of New York, New York, produced these containers for the Easter season. Markings on opposite sides near the top edge indicate where holes could be punched to allow for attaching a pipe-cleaner handle. The container could then be filled with decorative grass and reused as an Easter basket. Pint and quart containers can be found priced $5 to $15 each. H