How cute, I thought when I saw the small porcelain dresser set on a tray inside a glass case at the auction house. There was nothing fancy about it: It was gilt-trimmed like many of…
Category: collectibles
Pie birds help steam escape from your pies
Posted in collectibles, Cooking, and Kitchen
When I saw the tray of ceramic birds, I thought they were those cute little items you stick into a potted plant to water it as the soil dries out. These were much too lovely and…
Should you collect the Tubman $20 bill?
Posted in collectibles, Ephemera/Paper/Documents, and history
When I learned that Harriet Tubman would be the face on the new $20 bill, I rejoiced. She is a woman so deserving of such an honor. Then the collector in me asked a practical…
Retablo carvings on mirror tell stories of life in Peru
Posted in Art, Carvings, collectibles, and Figurines
From where I stood, staring across rows of heavy furniture at the auction house, I could barely make out the carvings framing the mirror. I could see that they were colorful and a little crude,…
Dainty hankies are reminiscent of a different woman
Posted in Clothing, collectibles, and Personal items
My Big Mama Annie Lee never went to church without white gloves and a white handkerchief. I especially remember her gloves folded over her left hand and on her right arm, the pocketbook where she kept her handkerchief. In…
Guess the function of this novelty item
Posted in collectibles, and Personal items
I stood staring at the cute little item in the glass case trying to decide whether I wanted to actually handle it or not. As I wavered, a staffer came up and asked if she…
The antiques shop was in a lovely brownstone on one of those venerable old streets much like the venerable old place that it had become. Its front hallway was narrow, partially blocked by an oversized mahogany cabinet…
These Star Wars figures brought big bucks, but yours may not
Posted in Auction, collectibles, and Movies
I was in an editing program in Tucson, AZ, in 1983 when the Star Wars enthusiasts in our group corralled us all into going to see the latest movie in the trilogy, “Return of the Jedi.”…
Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources to help them determine the value – and sometimes the origin – of their items. Today’s question is about the…
The transcendent beauty of Chinese snuff bottles
Posted in Art, bottles, and collectibles
The bottles were breathtaking. The colors looked as if they’d just been lifted from a rainbow and the carvings from a work of nature. They were Chinese snuff bottles, and I was looking through more…