ANTIQUES VALUED
You never know what you have
Q: I recently purchased this shallow glass bowl at a garage sale. It is 43 centimetres in diameter and there is not a scratch on it. I noticed the etched signature “Susan A. Point 1996” at the outer edge. According to my online research, she is a very wellknown aboriginal artist.
Suzanne, Aylmer
A: You have found quite a treasure. Susan Point was born in Alert Bay, B.C., in 1952 and raised in the First Nations community of Musqueam, which lies within the city of Vancouver. She also works under the name Susan A. Sparrow, and her work is in the style and tradition of the Coast Salish people.
Not only is she an officer of the Order of Canada, she also holds the National Aboriginal Achievement Award, the highest honour of the aboriginal community. Point is a prolific artist, working also in printmaking, jewelry and painting, and some of her work is quite monumental — such as the massive cedar owl showcased at Vancouver International Airport.
Your carved glass bowl is a found treasure, and will easily bring $1,500 at auction.
Q: This desk was a wedding present to my mother in 1941 and was made in the Netherlands by the Pander factory, owned by my grandfather and his partner. During the German occupation, the factory was commandeered to make glider planes to be used against the British, although this plan never came to fruition. I’m wondering if you could give some insight about the desk.
Koos, Kingston
A: Apparently the senior Mr. Pander (Harmen) purchased a failed aircraft company in 1924, while he was managing director of the furniture company known as Pander and Son. Thus the company did have some history of producing small airplanes — including gliders — in the years before the Second World War, but the aircraft division went out of business in 1934.
Furniture was another matter, and Pander and Son was well known for producing items of great quality. It was patronized by royalty and built a reputation for interior decorating.
Your desk is very good quality, and is made after a style called North Netherlandish, dating from about 1750 and known for what’s called the “kettle” shape. The main wood appears to be burled and could be root wood.
This would have been an expensive gift at the time. Today it will retail for about $2,500.
Q: I received this vase from my husband’s grandmother. She was from Floradale, Ont., and received it as a wedding gift around 1929. It’s 18 cm tall and the bottom has a Royal Doulton mark and the initials MW along with the number 5237 or possibly 5287. The leaves on each side are different — one looks like an ivy. It’s in great shape with no chips and clean inside.
Jean, Kitchener
A: Collectors call this natural foliage ware. It’s part of a line made in Doulton’s Lambeth factory in the United Kingdom, probably around 1922, and originally marketed as “Autumn Foliage Ware.”
The leafy patterns were created by pressing real leaves into the soft clay, removing them, and decorating the impressions with autumn colours before the piece was fired. The material is salt-glazed stoneware, and the style was popular from the mid-1880s to about 1914, and less so afterwards. The “MW” may stand for a known artist’s assistant named Minnie Webb. It is handsome to the eye and the ivy leaves are not as commonly used. Your vase is worth about $175 today.
John Sewell is an antiques and fine art appraiser. To submit an item to his column, go to the “Contact John” link at johnsewellantiques.ca. Only email submissions accepted. Appraisal values are estimates only.