Silver’s piercings often unmask antique’s mysteries

Mysteries are part of the attraction of antiques. Where did they come from? Who owned them before? What are they worth? How were they used? Sometimes the answer is right before your eyes.

Silverware has carried inscriptions since the days of the Romans. In America, the inscriptions on flatware usually are engraved initials or names. Sometimes the inscription is "hidden" so it's a secret message or a puzzle. In the 19th century, serving spoons were sometimes pierced with designs. The piercing acted as a sifter for sugar or a strainer to let extra liquid flow off.

From 1893 to 1902, Reed & Barton of Taunton, Mass., made pierced silver pieces with hidden messages in the piercing. The pierced silver design is a cut-out word written in elaborate script that makes it hard to decode. If you come across a serving piece with an elaborate pierced design, see if there is a word hidden in the pattern.

Silver Magazine recently published an article by three serious collectors who wrote about known pieces pierced with the words "Macaroni," "Cracked Ice," "Teaspoon" or "Crumb Knife." Have you seen any others?

Q: Do you have any information on a line of furniture called Feudal Oak, produced by the Jamestown Lounge Co. of Jamestown, N.Y., in the 1920s and '30s?

A: Jamestown Lounge Co. was founded in Jamestown in 1888 and went out of business in 1983. It was known for its high-quality furniture. Pieces often are found in antiques shops and online sales.

A Feudal Oak chair sells for about $50 to $140.

Q: Can you explain the term "impossible bottles"?

A: The description of a bottle as "impossible" is used by many bottle collectors and can be found on the Internet. You have probably seen a ship in a bottle, the best-known form of an "impossible bottle."

Today there are old and new examples to be found -- bottles with arrows through the sides and bottles with small necks that hold a ski scene, a lock, a deck of cards or a large puzzle. Some, like a ship in a bottle, are assembled by making a clever model, inserting it in the bottle, then pulling strings to raise the masts and the sails. Others were made by putting something in a large-mouthed bottle, then heating the glass to make the top smaller.

Q: Did McCoy make Little Red Riding Hood cookie jars, or is the one I have a knockoff?

A: McCoy did not make a Little Red Riding Hood cookie jar. Hull patented the design in 1943 and made cookie-jar blanks. The cookie jars were decorated by Regal/Royal China and Novelty Co. and distributed by Hull. Regal also made Little Red Riding Hood cookie jars.

McCoy did not register its trademark, and the mark has been copied. Roger Jensen has been using a McCoy mark on new cookie jars and other ceramics since 1990. Cookie jars that are the "real McCoy" have an incised mark, while newer jars have a raised mark.

Q: My Hawaiian doll is marked "Plastic Molded Art Co." on the back. She is 15 inches tall and is wearing a grass skirt and lei. I also have the original box. When was she made?

A: Plastic Molded Arts made dolls and doll parts in New York City from 1949 to 1955. The dolls were inexpensive but resembled some more-expensive dolls. They were very popular.

Q: I was told that new mahogany is not as good as the mahogany used in antique furniture. True?

A: The original dictionary definition of mahogany is a "hard, reddish-brown wood from the genus Swietenia mahagoni," what we call West Indian or Cuban mahogany. But today wood from other trees is referred to as mahogany if it resembles mahogany.

Many of the old sources for Swietenia mahogany are gone. In the 18th century, mahogany came from the West Indies, Florida and Cuba. By the 19th century, the wood used was from Honduras (Honduran mahogany) and Africa (African mahogany). All of the wood came from trees grown in rain forests, and most countries today do not cut wood from these areas.

Today, the wood that comes from Asia called Philippine mahogany is from a different tree. It is not a true mahogany. There are also other woods with a grain similar to mahogany that are stained darker to imitate mahogany.

Q: I need to know if Brookpark is an older manufacturer of Melmac ware or if it's just doing reproductions. The word "Brookpark" is stamped on the bottom of a speckled mixing bowl I have. Can you help?

A: Brookpark dinnerware and kitchen wares were made by International Molded Products of Cleveland from 1952 to 1962. The first dishes came in solid colors. Decal-decorated dinnerware was made in several designs beginning in 1956. Mixing bowls were speckled. The value of a Brookpark mixing bowl today is $10 to $50, depending on its size.

Q: I am trying to find the age and value of a wristwatch with a face showing a cartoon figure of the former mayor of Chicago, Richard J. Daley. The caricature is wearing a blue suit and a crown. He's holding an American flag in one hand and a flag with two blue stripes and four stars in the other. The watch works and looks like new. It has its original cloth band.

A: Collectors call watches like yours political wristwatches. They were first made in the 1970s, and it's easy to find examples featuring Richard Nixon or Spiro Agnew.

Your wristwatch pictures probably the most famous mayor of the 20th century. Richard J. Daley, the father of the Chicago's current mayor, Richard M. Daley, was mayor from 1955 to 1976. The second flag he's holding is Chicago's flag.

Most political wristwatches sell for about $50 to $75. Yours is fairly rare, however, and could sell for more.

Tip: Put a rubber collar on the faucet spout over your kitchen sink. This might save you from breaking a piece of glass or china you are washing.

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.