Important collectors once were displayed in rooms, not cabinets
When people in the 1600s said “cabinet of curiosities,” they were really talking about a room, not the cabinet we think of today.
This elaborate type of room often had displays of skeletons, minerals, horns and plants, and some man-made fantasies such as a mermaid or a piece of the “true cross.”
Such rooms were a sign of social importance. A simpler cabinet suggested the owner was a scientist or researcher with less status.
A recent James Julia auction sold a Victorian bird’s-eye maple specimen cabinet with carved trim, columns, cases, drawers of various sizes, locks, keys and a mirror. It had been refinished, so the 63-inch-high cabinet sold for $1,936.
The cabinets sell quickly, no doubt to be used by a 21st- century collector.
Q: How much is a World War I helmet worth?
A: Steel helmets, sometimes called trench helmets, were developed in France in 1915 to provide protection to troops fighting in the trenches during World War I. Most soldiers wore leather or cloth hats before that.
The British and Germans developed their own version of the steel helmet.
When the American Expeditionary Forces entered the war in 1917, they only had wool hats. Helmets were bought from Britain to outfit troops until the U. S. began making a version known as the M-1917 later that year.
Those helmets were coated with sawdust while the paint was still wet, making a harder, non- reflective surface.
There are collectors who want anything from World War I, and re-enactors who want authentic equipment. Complete World War I steel helmets in good condition sell for more than $100.
Current prices
Prices are recorded from antiques shows, flea markets, sales and auctions throughout the United States.
■ Yo- yo, tin lithograph, space shuttle, astronaut in rocket, red, yellow, blue and white, Japan, 1950s, $ 15
■ Donald Duck bank, Donald holding coin, white porcelain with red, yellow and blue paint, 1940s, 6 inches, $ 60
■ Corncob holders, skewers, sterling silver, corncob- shaped handles with spearshaped spikes, signed, Webster, 1960s, 3 inches, set of 8, $ 135
■ Fishing rod, wooden halibut rod with copper reel, Mathews Conveyer Co., c. 1910, 39 inches, $365