Frankl helped popularize modern furnishings

Modern-style furniture was first designed in the 1920s but did not become "mainstream" until the 1950s.

Paul Frankl, one of the famous modern designers, was born in Vienna in 1886, moved to New York in 1914 and later to Los Angeles. He was an architect, painter and designer of furniture and other household goods. One of his first "modern" pieces made in 1925 was the "Puzzle" desk. It was unlike earlier European designs with curves and carvings. The Puzzle desk was like a box.

Desks were made of painted wood with silver-leafed pine drawers and chromium-plated metal trim in art deco patterns. The drawers were of random shapes and sizes, and because of the shiny, silver finish against the dark background, they created interesting patterns. There were drawers and shelves on all sides.

Later in the 1920s he created the Skyscraper style of wooden furniture. By the 1930s it was being mass produced in metal. Pieces did resemble skyscrapers. Frankl died in 1958.

Q: We have three Bossons wall masks in premium condition. I used your Web site, Kovels.com, to determine a price for two of them, but I couldn't find a price for the third one. It's the 6-inch "Anne Boleyn" mask. Can you help?

A: W.H. Bossons Ltd. of Congleton, England, made wall masks, plaques, figurines and other decorative ceramics from 1946 until it closed in 1996. The Anne Boleyn mask was issued in 1986 and continued to be made until 1994. Today, the mask sells for $80 to $100.

Q: My father-in-law gave us a 7-inch tall blue teardrop-shape glass vase with a matador and bull worked into the design. It is signed "Orrefors, Edvin Ohrstrom, Ariel." Can you tell us about it?

A: Edvin Öhrström (1906-1994) was an artist and sculptor who worked at Orrefors in Orrefors, Sweden, from 1936 until 1958. The Ariel technique, which creates a design by trapping air bubbles between the two layers of glass, was developed by Öhrström and two others in 1937. Many Ariel pieces were made.

Orrefors merged with Kosta Boda in 1990 and is now part of Orrefors Kosta Boda AB, a glassworks group which includes Kosta, Boda and ?fors. It became part of the New Wave Group in 2005.

Tip: If you keep wicker furniture inside, be sure to have a humidifier or lots of plants nearby. The wicker will crack if too dry.

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.