By any name, Welsh cupboard serves as storage, display unit

Are a Welsh dresser, a Welsh cupboard and a hutch different? The problem is that names for certain pieces of furniture have changed through the years.

Today, all three terms are used for a piece of furniture that has a bottom section that's a table or sideboard with cupboards and a top that's an open shelf. The two parts fit together to make a large storage and display unit.

In the early 1900s, the names had slightly different meanings. A Welsh dresser was the lower cabinet or table part. A Welsh cupboard was the entire two-part piece of furniture. Some special features add to the value of a Welsh cupboard. Notched or scalloped shelves, fancy trim or even unusual configurations of drawers and openings make a piece more desirable.

Modern Welsh cupboards are being made, but it is the old ones that sell for thousands of dollars.

Q: What is a dresser doll?

A: There are several definitions for the term "dresser doll." From about 1900 to 1920, a dresser doll was assembled from a cloth skirt and a doll modeled from the waist up. The doll was made with holes near the bottom edge so it could be stitched to the large cloth skirt. The skirt hid teapots, powder boxes or small objects on a dresser. These dolls are also called "half-dolls." Most of them were made in Germany.

After 1920, a Philadelphia importing company, Ebeling and Reuss, sold a different type of ceramic woman they called a "dresser doll." It was actually a powder box. The top half lifted off to reveal the powder in the bottom half. Many are found today marked "Nancy Pert, Dresser Doll, Erphila, Made in Germany." They sell for about $50 each.

Q: My mother always has called her dish a "Gibson Girl" plate. It's dated 1907 with "copyright by Philip Boileau" under the girl's picture on the front. But the girl looks a little different from the Gibson Girl I saw in an old copy of your book, "Kovels' Antiques & Collectibles Price List."

A: Your mother's plate isn't a Gibson Girl plate. Instead, it pictures one of the "Boileau Girls."

Philip Boileau (1863-1917) was an artist and illustrator known for his portraits of beautiful women. Boileau was born in Canada, lived in Europe for several years and eventually moved to the United States. He opened a studio in New York City in 1902. His work appears on postcards, magazine and book covers, prints, calendars, beer trays and other items.

Gibson Girl plates feature scenes from the book "A Widow and Her Friends," which was published in 1901 and features drawings by Charles Dana Gibson (1867-1944).

Q: I run a small business from my home selling books. I was listing one today and out fell a yellow and green chewing gum wrapper that had been used as a bookmark. It reads, "Souders Sweet Wheat Chewing Gum." The label claims it is good for dyspepsia, heartburn and sour stomach and that it freshens the breath and is good for the teeth. Can you tell me how old it is and how much it is worth?

A: Sweet Wheat Chewing Gum was made by Royal Remedy and Extract Co. of Dayton, Ohio. The company was founded by Irvin Souders in 1876 and was incorporated in 1888. It made flavoring extracts, perfumes, cologne and "special remedies." Sweet Wheat chewing gum was introduced in 1889.

Value of the single gum wrapper is about $75 to $100.

Q: I have a small Danish plate, about 3 inches in diameter, that I bought at an antique show. It pictures Kronborg Castle. The back is marked with what looks like an "A" with a few extra crosspieces. The same castle is pictured on plates by both Royal Copenhagen and Bing & Grohdahl, but the mark doesn't seem to belong to either.

A: Your plate is one in a series of "plaquettes" made by Royal Copenhagen. Each plaquette had holes at the back so it could be hung. Or it could be used on a dinner table as a butter pat or as an individual ashtray (when it was OK to smoke at the table).

Most of the small plates were marked with the number 2010 and a letter that told the name of the scene on the front. At least 80 different scenes were used and new plaquettes are made every year. Most are sold in Denmark, often to tourists as souvenirs. The price for a new one today is about $18.

The "A" mark was used by Royal Copenhagen on faience (tin-glazed earthenware), not porcelain. The mark was discontinued on the plaquettes in 1969, when it was replaced with the more familiar mark used on the company's porcelain.

Tip: Smoke stains can be removed from a stone fireplace with an art gum eraser. Soot on the carpet in front of the fireplace can be removed with salt. Sprinkle dry salt on the soot, wait 30 minutes, then vacuum.

Ralph and Terry Kovel's column is syndicated by King Features. Write to: Kovels, (Las Vegas Review-Journal), King Features Syndicate, 888 Seventh Ave., New York, NY 10019.