Wemyss pottery has distinct periods
Distinguishing marks on antiques — especially silver or ceramics — can lead a collector to history and age.
However, the mark’s information can sometimes be confusing. A date might be the year the pottery business started. A name could be the name of the seller, not the maker.
And sometimes, especially with Asian ceramics, recent copies are so accurate that even the old mark is reproduced.
Wemyss Ware is a trademark on Scottish pottery produced in Kirkcaldy, Fife, by Fife Pottery beginning in 1882. It was the brainchild of Robert Heron, the pottery owner, and Karel Nekola, a talented decorator from Bohemia.
In the 1930s, Bovey Pottery of Devon, England, bought the rights to make Wemyss Ware and hired Joseph Nekola, Karel’s son.
The pottery by Fife and Bovey is so similar that experts judge the maker by slight color differences. Joseph died in 1952, and little Wemyss was made in the 1960s and ‘70s. But in 1985, Griselda Hill Pottery started making it and now owns the Wemyss Ware trademark.
A Wemyss Ware ceramic pig sold at a recent Humler & Nolan auction for $472. It is marked “Plichta, London, England” and “Nekola Pinxt Plichta.” Jan Plichta was a pottery and glass wholesaler who worked in London and, by 1916, bought many things from Bovey Pottery.
The Latin mark means “Nekola painted design (for) Plichta,” evidence that the pig was made before 1952. Very early flower-decorated pigs have auctioned for more than $30,000.
Q: I have an Elvis doll made by Hasbro in 1993. The box is labeled “Elvis Jailhouse Rock, 45 RPM.” The doll has never been on display, and the box has never even been opened. Can you tell me what is in the box and whether it has any value?
A: In the 1990s, Hasbro made three Elvis Presley dolls to honor the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll. Your doll’s box includes a numbered 12-inch poseable Elvis doll dressed in a red jacket with black trim, a white shirt, black pants and white shoes. He has a removable guitar to commemorate the photo shoot for his hit record “Jailhouse Rock.”
The doll is packaged with a doll stand that has an Elvis facsimile signature and a certificate of authenticity. The other dolls in the series commemorate Elvis “Teen Idol” and the Elvis “‘68 Special.”
Each doll’s value today is $30 to $40. Sometimes Elvis memorabilia sells higher around Jan. 8 (his birthday) and Aug. 16 (his death).
CURRENT PRICES
Current prices are recorded from antiques shows, flea markets, sales and auctions throughout the United States. Prices vary in different locations because of local economic conditions.
■ Kitchen, kettle, apple butter, copper, rolled rim, iron bail handle, 1800s, 11½ inches, $130.
■ Kitchen, broiler, rotating, iron, scrolling, stylized heart, three-footed, straight handle, 1700s, 4¼ inches, $700.
■ Teapot, glass, crazy quilt, murrine, pink, blue, white, Richard Marquis, 5¾ by 5½ inches, $3,120.
■ Candlestick, skyscraper, silver plate, brass, rectangular, post-shaped handles, Louis Rice, 1920s, 8¼ by 3¾ inches, $3,620.