Antiques of the Week

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Early account of Titanic sinking in New York American newspaper

Early account of Titanic sinking in New York American newspaper

April 13, 2012 – Unless you’ve been at the bottom of the ocean yourself, you probably know that this month marks the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Titanic. So perhaps it’s no surprise that we’re seeing an increase in searches for objects related to the ill-fated ocean liner. Of course, there are the obvious things, like identification plates from one of the Titanic’s lifeboats, the New York American newspaper’s first account of the sinking, and a first-hand account of the RMS Carpathia’s rescue of the Titanic’s passengers, but there’s also been an increase in interest in movie-related memorabilia, including the dramatic posters from the 1959 movie, A Night to Remember, and a prop table from James Cameron’s blockbuster. Whether it’s the historical version or the fictional one, one thing is certain – the tragedy seems to continue to hold the world, the marketplace, and our searchers in thrall!

Loevsky & Loevsky art glass table lamp

Loevsky & Loevsky art glass table lamp

Nothing drives away a cold, dark night like the warmth of lamplight, and if you’re interested in antique lighting, you certainly have plenty of options! At Prices4Antiques, we’ve seen searches for oil lamps, table lamps, floor lamps, hanging lamps and even bicycle lamps, and over the past week, the most popular lighting objects have been a Badger Brass Company bicycle safety lamp, a Loevsky table lamp with water lily art glass shades, a Hinks and Sons cut crystal oil lamp, an elaborate Aesthetic Movement floor lamp from Hollings & Company, and a Danish Modern copper pendant light designed by Jo Hammerborg. There are so many beautiful options to choose from at auction, so get out there and let your light shine!

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Quick Meal, six-burner enamel stove, manufactured by The American Stove Co., St. Louis, Mo., circa 1920 to 1925

Quick Meal, six-burner enamel stove, manufactured by The American Stove Co., St. Louis, Mo., circa 1920 to 1925

Perhaps cold weather is encouraging folks to spend more time in their kitchens, because at Prices4Antiques, we’ve seen kitchen-related searches, well, heating up! Among the thousands of items people searched for this week, we’ve seen queries for Favorite Piqua Ware skillets, an American Stove Company “Quick Meal” stove (with three ovens!), an Akron Lamp Company gas iron, a Shawnee Pottery “Smiley Pig” cookie jar, and a brass clockwork spit jack for roasting over an open fire. Suppose it shouldn’t be a surprise – after all, as they say, the hearth is the heart of a home!

Frosted crush glass snowball Christmas lights, circa 1950s

Frosted crush glass snowball Christmas lights, circa 1950s

It’s time to light the lights! The Christmas lights, that is. Perhaps it’s no surprise that the holiday spirit is at work at Prices4Antiques where we’re seeing a trend in searches for Christmas-related objects. Just this week, we’ve seen searches for strings of Christmas lights, both the classic frosted snowball lights and a colorful string of novelty Dumbo-theme lights from Walt Disney. Antique Christmas tree stands are also getting a lot of attention, including a decorative cast-iron stand, a tree stand with a picket fence border, and a beautiful Lador music box base that, when wound up, plays music and rotates the tree. Some of those family treasures can be real treasures!

To search the Prices4Antiques antiques reference database for valuation information on hundreds of thousands of antiques and fine art visit our homepage www.prices4antiques.com

Jesse Harrison Whitehurst quarter-plate daguerreotype of two little girls holding hands

Jesse Harrison Whitehurst quarter-plate daguerreotype of two little girls holding hands

This week marks the 224th birthday of Louis Daguerre, inventor of the daguerreotype, a photographic process that allowed images to be captured on silvered copper plates, a revolutionary process that permitted people for the first time to capture exact replicas of what they saw before them. These images remain popular with collectors today and at Prices4Antiques, we see regular searches for them. The most common searches this week have been for a portrait of little girls by Jesse Harrison Whitehurst, an image of John Cabell Breckinridge by W.R. Phipps, a stereo daguerreotype portrait by Jules Duboscq, an occupational portrait of a fireman in uniform, and a photograph of a young woman whose family wanted to capture a final image as she is clearly near death. The ability to retain the faces of loved ones long after they were gone was an amazing gift, and it’s wonderful to see that so many years later, the results of Daguerre’s invention continue to be treasured for the remarkable objects they are. These gorgeous, poignant photographs are just a few of the thousands of photographica records in our database and just a few of the records viewed by searchers this week at Prices4Antiques!

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