Category: Functional items

A little history for the 1925 Broadmoor Polo Association Foxhall Keene Trophy Pitcher

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Functional items, Item highlight, Silverplate items, Tips for the beginner, Vintage, Vintage, Vintage!Leave a comment

Several years ago, I happened across this wonderful trophy that is in the shape of a pitcher at a local flea market.  When I first saw it on the shelf, I didn’t see the engraving on the side of it.  When I read what it said, I got to wondering about who Foxhall Keene was and what exactly what the Broadmoor was as well.

The first thing to do is to look at the pitcher itself.  It was made by the Wilcox Silverplate Company, and it dates to somewhere between the 1910’s and the 1920’s.  This helps solidify the date that’s on the pitcher, so the next thing to do is to figure out what the Broadmoor was.

Just what was or is the Broadmoor?  The Broadmoor is a hotel and resort that’s located in Colorado Springs, Colorado.  The original hotel is Broadmoor Main, and it was built in 1918.  The resort has had hockey and golf championships, and there’s even polo that is played there.

There’s only one question left for this trophy—who in the world is Foxhall Keene?

Foxhall Keene was quite the competitor.  He was a golfer who competed in the U.S. Open, an amateur tennis player, and he was also a pioneer race car driver who vied for the Gordon Bennett Cup (this was a racing cup that ran from 1900 to 1905 with several clubs racing for it).

Not only did he do all of this, he was also an American thoroughbred race horse owner and breeder.  To top it off, he was a world and Olympic gold medalist in polo.  Not only that, but he was also rated the best all-around polo player in the United States for eight consecutive years.

And that’s where the trophy comes into play.  When the Broadmoor started to play polo at the resort, they named this trophy after Foxhall Keene because he was so accomplished in polo.

It’s always fun for me to find out what the history of a piece is, just like this trophy.  What kinds of finds have you run across that you have found out the history of?

Whimsies for every type of collector

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Beginning to collect, Functional items, Tips for the beginnerLeave a comment

Glass workers spent their “off” hours after completing their regular work schedule creating unusual glass objects known as whimsies.  This includes candy-striped canes, paperweights, pipes, hats…the list goes on and on.
 

A whimsy can also be an item that is made of a product that you usually don’t see it made out of.  This can be something like a Fenton plate made out of hobnail pattern slag glass.

Whimsies were often taken home and given as gifts to family and friends.  They can rarely be attributed to a specific glasshouse or glass worker.  Some say that color or style indicates region or factory, but no one has come up with a perfect identification key other than to talk to the person that actually made the piece.

Highly collectible and usually pricey, whimsies can be a fun collectible.  What examples have you found?

Cardboard Store Displays

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Beginning to collect, Functional items, Tips for the beginnerLeave a comment

Just about every company that has ever existed, they have used some form of advertising.  In the age of the internet, you find tons of ads online.  Before the advent of the Internet, one of the best forms of advertising was with a store display.  Companies still use them today.  They are made out of just about any material that you can think of, but one of the more common materials to use as an advertising piece is cardboard.

Once the sale on a certain item was over, or even when an item is discontinued, the display is taken down and discarded.  Sometimes the displays are kept, either in the storeroom of the business, or the person running the store takes it home with them.

The great thing for collectors is that these displays are put up for sale after a while.  The possibilities are endless when it comes to the products that are advertised on a display.  It could be Jell-O, Duracell Batteries, or even Kodak Film.

Store displays can be great ways to decorate a room since many of them have more than one color printed on them.  The ways that you could come up with to show your collection of displays are just as unique as the store displays themselves.

What kinds of store displays have you run across?

A little history of cameo jewelry

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Functional items, Jewelry, Tips for the beginner, Vintage, Vintage, Vintage!Leave a comment

Cameo jewelry has been a popular item for many years now, and it comes in many scenes and sizes.  Just what in the world is cameo jewelry?

Cameo is a method of carving an image into stone or shell that has a flat edge to it.  More often than not, you will see a product that has multiple colors in it to give an extra pop to the carving.  The cameos that are made of semi-precious stone like onyx and agate have examples that date all the way back to ancient Greece and Rome.  The ones that are made of shell are more modern.

The cameo that is pictured above is the type that you would find that’s made in the late 1800’s into the 1900’s.  As you can see, the piece features a picture of a person.  I’ve seen several different motifs including more than one person, an animal, and the occasional flower.

The price of all cameos depends on what it’s made of and the quality of the carving on it.  Some of the places to check are the hair, nose and facial features.  The more features that are present and are vivid, it makes the cameo just that much better.

The great thing about this type of jewelry is that it can fit any budget and liven up any outfit at the same time.

What examples of cameo jewelry have you found?

What a great way to repurpose a reproduction!

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Functional itemsLeave a comment

I’ve been attending auctions since my 8th birthday, and I had my first tiny space in an antique store at the age of 13.

There are times that I have to stop and think from time to time (and possibly even do some research) on an item that I am looking at.  There have been times that I chose to take a chance on an item that I’m unfamiliar with.

My taking a chance occurs when the item in question is very inexpensive.  Learning is a huge part of what I do every day.  My latest acquisition is the head vase that’s pictured below, which is marked NIPPON.

NIPPON never made any head vases.  I knew that—it registered wrong in my mind.  But I went ahead and carried it out to my car anyway.

It is well worth the price for the piece to become my display piece to showcase designer scarves, jewelry, and even hold vintage hats.

So, in the long run, it was worth the small amount I shelled out for it.  What kinds of finds have you re-purposed like this?

What are some of the different types of marbles that you will run across?

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Beginning to collect, Functional items, Glassware, Tips for the beginnerLeave a comment

Marbles are a fun area to dive into and collect.  There are plenty of different types of marbles that you can find—cat’s eyes, steelies and even Latticinio core are just a few of what you will find.  Here are some more that you will come across:

Gooseberries – this is an example of a colored glass marble.  Gooseberries have numerous thin white threads of glass that are distributed evenly around the surface of the marble.

gooseberry marble photo ciurtesy of imarbles.com

Sulphides –this type of marble consists of clear glass spheres that have a white or silvery figure suspended in their center.  The figures consist of animals, birds, people, numbers or even letters.

Sulphide marble photo ciurtesy of imarbles.com

Corkscrews—this type of marble was made with 2 or more colors that have a spiral design.  In corkscrews marbles, the spiral design rotates around the marble from one pole to the other, but the design does not meet.

Corkscrew marble photo ciurtesy of imarbles.com

Clouds—this is an End of day marble that came with colored flecks of glass that aren’t stretched.  The flakes look like clouds that are floating over the core.

Cloud marble photo ciurtesy of imarbles.com

This is just a small sample of all of the different types of marbles that you can find.  Which ones have you run across?

There is such a thing as a Malt Nutrine serving tray?

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Advertising, Beginning to collect, Functional items, Tips for the beginner, Vintage, Vintage, Vintage!Leave a comment

Advertising is a fun area to collect—you never know what kinds of pieces you will run across.  You might find a piggy bank advertising a local bank, a ruler advertising a grocery store or even a baseball program advertising Spalding baseballs.

Another area that advertising collectors buy are serving trays.  There are quite a few advertisements that you will find on a tray—they range anywhere from Coca Cola to Budweiser.

Did you know that Anheuser Bush made a serving tray for a product they made that was called Malt Nutrine?

image 0

Malt Nutrine was made by Anheuser Bush in 1905, and it was a non-alcoholic beverage.  Not only that, it was thought that Malt Nutrine could help cure insomnia.

This would be a killer piece to display with fountain drink collectibles.  You can see this terrific serving tray in my Etsy shop here.  Head on over and check it out!

Take a seat and look at some chair designs!

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Beginning to collect, Functional items, Furniture, Tips for the beginner, Vintage, Vintage, Vintage!Leave a comment

When it comes to furniture, there are quite a few different designs and forms out there—there’s more than enough to make your head spin.  This is also very true for chairs—take a seat and look at several of the designs that you will run across when you are out at your favorite place to shop:

Fauteuil—this is an upholstered armchair that has open sides, and this type of chair has also been referred to as an elbow chair.

*Picture courtesy of Wikipedia*

Adirondack chair—this is a very distinctively styled chair for the outdoors, and it is usually made out of wood.  Originally, the chair was made with a flat seat and a flat back composed of 11 flat wooden boards (it also featured wide armrests that are parallel to the ground).

*Picture courtesy of Wikipedia*

Ladderback chair—this chair gets its name from the horizontal slats that serve as the back support.  The design of the chair is reminiscent of a ladder.  Some of the other names of this chair are ladder-back chair, slatback chair or even fiddle back chair.

*Picture courtesy of Wikipedia*

This is just a few of the designs that you will see.  What have you run across?

Great vintage items that you can decorate your home with

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Functional items, Vintage, Vintage, Vintage!Leave a comment

There are many items that you can use to decorate your home or apartment.  It could be anything–a great picture for the living room, a lamp for your bedroom, a vintage book for the corner of a desk or table, or even a vase on a table holding a bouquet of your favorite flowers.

One such thing that you can use is this terrific lot of two silhouettes.

One of the great things about this pair is that they don’t take up a ton of room on the wall–the small one measures 9 inches by 12 inches while the large one measures 9 3/4 inches by 12 3/4 inches.  You can see the pair in my Etsy store here.

Another great item to decorate item to decorate with is this terrific planter from McCoy.

The planter dates to the 1950’s and it has a Greek Key pattern on both the top and the bottom of it.  Not only would it be a great planter, it would be great as a pencil or pen holder for a desk.  You can see this great find in my Etsy shop here.

Another great item to decorate with that doesn’t take up a ton of room is this great table lamp.

The lamp dates to the 1950’s and sports a gazelle (or even a deer) motif, and it would be a great gift for the avid hunter.  I love that it’s green and brown and would look great with just about any color combination in any room.  This great lamp can be seen in my Etsy shop here.

As a matter of fact, you can see more terrific items to decorate your home with in my Etsy shop here.  Head on over and check them out!

Wow, those are great flower vases to decorate with!

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Functional items, gift ideas, Glassware, Vintage, Vintage, Vintage!Leave a comment

Flower vases can be as varied as the flowers that they can hold.  They can be made of a wide variety of materials like pottery and glass, and the color combinations are limitless.  Blue, gold, red and green are just some of the colors that you will see.

Like the materials and the colors, the companies that have made vases are countless.  Hull, Hall, Fenton and even Stangl are just some of the companies that have made an example.

One vase that would look terrific just about anywhere is this one by West Coast Pottery.

This cool gray and maroon fan vase dates to the 1950’s, and it is mold number 901.  You can check this vase out in my Etsy shop here.

Another vase that would look great holding flowers is this one that was made by Fenton from 1970 to 1974.

The vase has the Drapery pattern on it, and it has a color called rose satin. The vase can be seen in my Etsy shop here.

Another company that made quite a few vases is Hull Pottery. They made a wide variety of vases like this one from the 1940’s.

It sports the ROSELLA pattern on it, and the pattern looks like it sports Dogwood blooms.  You can see this terrific vase in my Etsy shop here.

As a matter of fact, you can see all the vases in my Etsy shop here.  Head on over and check them out!