Why does it have an opening on both ends? Can you identify the maker — even though it is unmarked — its age and its worth? I hope you can solve the mystery of its history.
You have a double egg cup. The larger bowl was used for a soft-boiled egg that was shelled and then eaten. Toast, bacon or ham was often added. A boiled egg still in its shell was placed in the smaller section. The tip was sliced off, and then the egg was eaten from the shell.
W.S. George Co. made your egg cup. From 1904 to the 1950s, there were plants in both Ohio and Pennsylvania. The name of your egg cup’s shape is Rainbow. Made in the 1930s, it was decorated with several different designs.
Your double egg cup would fetch $15 to $25 in an antiques shop.
This mark is on my set of Flow Blue cups and saucers. They are decorated with blue flowers and trimmed with gold.
What can you tell me about my set?
Located in Wheeling, W.Va., Wheeling Pottery produced La Belle china. They made pottery and semi-porcelain wares from 1879 to around 1909.
Each set of Flow Blue cups and saucers would probably be worth $25 to $50.
I have a turquoise glass mayonnaise set that belonged to my mother in the 1950s. The set includes two covered jars on a tray with a handle in the center. Made by Fenton Art Glass, the pattern is Block and Star.
Does my set have any value?
Fenton Art Glass Co. produced your rare turquoise set from 1955 to 1957. It is usually called a buffet set.
It would probably be worth $200 to $250.
This mark is on the bottom of a pottery vase that I inherited. It was a wedding gift to my great-grandmother in 1905. Standing 9 inches tall, the vase is decorated with a female golfer against a matte tan background that shades to blue-green. She is wearing a long brown skirt, a white blouse, a hat and a brown cape. The outline of her shape has been incised into the clay.
What can you tell me about my vase?
Weller Pottery Co. made your vase. Samuel Weller established his pottery in 1872 in Fultonham, Ohio, and later moved to Zanesville, Ohio, in 1882. Your vase is an example of his Dickens Ware line, which had three distinct lines.
The soft, tan matte glaze that shades to blue-green, the incised lines (graffito) and the image of a female golfer are characteristics of the second Dickens Ware line. In addition to golfers, this line was decorated with images of monks, animals, Native Americans and Charles Dickens’ characters.
Your circa 1905 vase would probably fetch $1,500 to $2,500 in an antiques shop.
Address your questions to Anne McCollam, P.O. Box 247, Notre Dame, IN 46556. Items of a general interest will be answered in this column. Due to the volume of inquiries, she cannot answer individual letters.