Tpaul...question

[DammitJanet]

You have said in previous posts that you are in to decorating and antiques. I was wondering if I could ask you a question or two? Maybe? LOL.

My mom had some furniture and some plates/ pewter/ silver stuff that was left to me when she died. I can tell you what the furniture is and how old it is because I remember when she bought it.

I believe it is known as Chippendale or Queen Anne stuff. I have a writing desk, a sofa, a buffet(?), and piece that has 4 drawers and a pullout piece. Got no idea what that is called. What I assume is called a buffet is a two piece set that is two shelves on top and a drawer and two doors on bottom.

I could take pics.

Now the plates are wedge wood blue but what pattern...sheesh... tip of my tongue. They made a new set of these but the ones my mom has are old because she died in 05 and she had been sick for years. She collected these back in the 70s. They are old. From England I think...darn you know it I think.

I also have a silver water server that has a spout that looks like a trophy.

My mom and I used to go antiquing together...one of the only things we did together that I liked...lol. I have little antique glasses with stems. I have ice tea spoons shaped like mint leaves that have been passed down through our family for generations...at least 100 years old. None of these things are touched obviously...lol.

Ok..my question...are any of these things worth anything or are they just sentimental...or would you actually have to see them to tell? I could take pics to send you.

 

[DammitJanet]

up

 

[klmno]

Janet, I'm not sure TPaul has started frequenting the WC yet- maybe try posting on General for him or PM him.

 

[DammitJanet]

oh...good idea.

 

[gottaloveem]

If that silver water pitcher is made of sterling silver, it is worth some bucks. Even if it is silver plated, depending on the manufacturer and age could be worth something. Do you know who made the pitcher? Are there markings on the bottom you can describe to me?
We are in the sterling silver business. So I might be able to help.

Love,
Lia

 

[DammitJanet]

Lia...I have quite a few sterling and probably sterling plate stuff. All of it is old...at least it is as old a me I am sure. I think older. Some of the pewter is a few years newer because I remember her buying it but I dont know if it was new or bought at an antique store.

 

[Hound dog]

Janet

You might enjoy watching the antique roadshow on pbs. I love that show......been watching it for years.

I have a figurine lipstick holder probably from the 1920's that was my grandma's. Now she never had any money, so I doubt it was anything extravagant. But it was pretty and she loved it. I've been watching that darn show to see if anyone ever brings one like it on the show. I've never, in all my years of yard saling, antique/thrift store shopping ever seen another one.

I have pieces now from mother in law that honestly I think husband and I need to add to our homeowner's policy.....including the china and silver. I know that china is quite old.....although I can't tell you what kind it is cuz china just isn't my thing. Same with the silver.

You could have a couple of antique shops appraise the items for you.......since you're not selling.....they should give you information about what you have as well as a good estimate of what it's worth.

 

[DammitJanet]

Thing is we dont have an antique store in our town. Odd I know. Now while we were traipsing back from Ohio, we stopped in this little junk store to ask about a motel in this little tiny town in the middle of nowhere and they had a stack of these dishes...I have remembered the name, Blue Willow....like mine but I dont know how many, in a locked case and the price tag was $400. It wasnt a full set and I dont know how old those were either. I cant be positive it was the exact same pattern that I have either because I think they came in several patterns. Well I know they had to because I have several different patterns...lol.

My mom just bought all this stuff because her colors were blue and white and it was all antique stuff. When I was young my thing was old beer cans and old soda cans and bottles but those went in the trash when I moved out...sigh.

I know when the furniture was bought. It was when I was 8. That would make it 40 years old now. I even know the store it was bought from...lol. I remember going with my mom to buy it. Pity is my boys ruined two wing chairs. I still have them in the hopes that maybe I can somehow have them repaired someday. They were old and they sat in them and the legs fell off. They also need to be reappolstered.

I just for some reason have this attachment to this furniture and "stuff" that was my moms and wont let it go even though I had such a challenging childhood. This stuff is something that I just hang onto almost as a security blanket that I actually had a past.

 

[donna723]

Janet, when I get curious about what something is worth, I look on eBay to see if I can find something similar and check what things like it are going for. It's a pretty good indicator.

You are so lucky to have all those things! We moved from St. Louis to Florida when I was about 12 and my mother gave away darn near every single old family thing we had! Years later I would KILL to have that antique dining room set and some of those dishes! It all went to her goofy, greedy cousins! She even gave away the handmade embroidered long christening gown that my grandfather wore as an infant in 1890 - and he wasn't the first one who wore it! I would loved to have had that for my own kids ... and their kids! We even had the ancient rocking horse that my grandfather played with as a kid, and it was a hand-me-down then! It was the size of a real pony, carved like a merry-go-round horse, with a real horsehair mane and tail and a real leather attached saddle ... all gone now!

 

[TPaul]

Dear Janet,
Sorry I have not seen this post earilier. I have been so busy that I only get a few minutes on the board each day lately.

The furniture most likely, from your description sounds like a Queen Anne style. Pictures would help to know for sure. There where many companies that reproduced those styles of furniture from the very early period pieces. Post some pics of those and I will see if I can tell for sure. Also look for a makers mark on these items also. Many times they are on the back of the items or on an inside of a drawer.

The plates are problably from the Spoke on Trent or Staffordshire area in England. They produced many different patterns. From one of your post, you said they resembled blue willow that you saw in a shop. The blue willow pattern is an oriental themed decoration. It normally has a pagoda in the background, two flying birds, representing two young lovers, trees, a water feature, etc... There are many variations of the pattern. The above though are always present in the different pattern variations. Is there a makers mark on the bottom of the dishes?

Your spoons sound like mint julip spoons. If you get pictures of the silver stuff and pewter, I will see if I can help on those.

 

[DammitJanet]

Exactly Tpaul on the blue willow! The pagoda is there!

I also have some small plates that have a man and a woman tending a garden with a mark on the back that says Silverdale on the top then Manley England on the bottom.

I will try to get pictures of the other stuff later today. Most of it is packed away except for the furniture but I am on my way out the door to a doctor appointment right now.

 

[TPaul]

Glad that was right with the blue willow, it is a pretty pattern. Many companies made that pattern for years and still do. A nice older set is nice. tpaul