The big hunt for Russel Wright (1904-76) Fiesta pottery, chrome objects and furniture that began in the late 1970s and ‘80s, has leveled off, as have prices. It all depends on where you shop and what you buy. A new generation of collectors has discovered his many design categories. They turn up at auctions, shops and eBay. The good news is that interesting examples can also be found at garage sales and flea markets, and they are affordable. Rarities can be found on the Internet, with 1st Dibs offering many pricey rarities.

Wright’s 1937 American Modern tableware design is the best-selling dinnerware of all time.

Whenever you party on the patio or serve from a buffet, think of Russel Wright. His ceramic dinnerware with casseroles and spun aluminum serving pieces marked the beginning of informal entertaining. And, of course, the cocktail hour introduced his chrome-plated cocktail accessories, the glasses lined with silver. Russel and his wife Mary changed the way we entertain.

Even the shape of dinnerware changed, as did color concepts with the introduction of Wright’s American Modern dinnerware. Plates lost their rims and pitchers were elongated. Colors were mixed and matched in wondrous hues of turquoise blue and olive green.
Mary Wright designed and created her only complete dinnerware line in 1946, Country Gardens, for Bauer Pottery in Atlanta, GA. The colors and forms had an Asian look that didn’t sell well at the time. It was shortly discontinued. However, these days with the interest in Asian design, they could enjoy a revival.

The Wrights introduced their then-revolutionary entertaining concepts in a book, “Guide to Easier Living,” published in 1950. It was timely since Americans were moving to the suburbs in droves. Needless to say, the middle-class housewife embraced the idea of easy care and easy moveable furniture.

American Modern and Iroquois dinnerware fit in perfectly with this casual dining. Even more so was Wright’s line of plastic Melmac dinnerware named Residential.

During this same period, the Wrights created outdoor furniture and multi-purpose pieces for the Stratton Furniture Co. of Hagerstown, MD. Among them were coffee and dining tables with built-in leaf extensions

CLUES:

Spun aluminum pieces are signed. His early casual line was signed and marked “China by Iroquois.” Pieces made after 1950 are marked “Iroquois China by Russel Wright.”

Prices depend for the most part on rarity and quality of designs, and they run the gamut. The 75-acre Russel Wright home and design center, Manitoga, is located in Garrison, NY. Tours are available. It was built in 1941.

Japanning or Chinoiserie

Whether you call it Japanning or Chinoiserie, if it was made before the 20th century, call it expensive. Even some examples made in the early 20th century can be priced at over $60,000. This decorating technique was used not only on furniture but a variety of objects as well as humble everyday items. However, when an 18th-century piece of American Japanned-finished furniture makes a rare auction appearance the price can be astronomical. Currently, Japanned cabinets made by quality American furniture companies can be priced for $4,000.00 or more.

Japanning is the European and American version of a technique begun in China and Japan. Basically, Asian motifs depicting people, scenes, and flowers (called Chinoiserie) are first painted, then layered in lacquer or raised with plastic that is lacquered. It first gained attention with a book published with how-to instructions, “Treatise of Japanning and Varnishing,” published in London in 1688. By the end of the century, European “Japanned” furniture was being made in France, Italy, Germany, and Holland.

Not all Japanning was done by professionals. By the end of the 17th century, it was considered a proper pastime for young women who “Japanned” everything from small chests to mirror frames and furniture. Needless to say, not all Japanned objects are of equal quality.
Considering the vast number of objects Japanned at the time it is surprising that more haven’t survived. It went out of fashion briefly, but interest was revived when Victorian versions made appearances at the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London.

America was far behind in furniture fashions in the early 18th century. Japanning was done in Queen Anne style pieces in Boston into the mid-18th century. It was done on white pine. Later, when the look of plain pine became popular, many dealers stripped 18th-century pieces.

CLUES:

Victorian versions can be recognized by their gilt and mother-of-pearl inlays. Japanned Queen Anne-style items have been faked since the 1920s. When buying at auction be sure to read the catalog description carefully. If it says “18th century Queen Anne,” you have a fighting chance it is a period piece. If it says “in the manner of” or “the style of,” it isn’t a period piece. If buying from a dealer get a certificate of authenticity and a money-back guarantee.

If you like the glitzy looks, there are many 19th- and early 20th-century decorative accessories from mirror frames to small boxes priced under $100. Maybe you will get lucky and discover an 18th-century item the seller doesn’t recognize. Check out museum displays; 18th-century items can be worth thousands of dollars.

Painted Porcelain Plaques

Back in the 1970s and ‘80s, 19th-century small or miniature painted porcelain portrait plaques were hot collectibles. When they came to market they always looked properly old. They appeared to be painted on porcelain as well as ivory. Sometimes the backs were even covered with what seemed to be 18th or 19th century newsprint. Chances are, your mother or grandmother bought one. Was it worth as much as she paid for it? These days it could be worth thousands of dollars or less than $100. If you have one, check the following facts.

When considering a pur-chase or a sale, use a strong magnifying glass or a jewelers’ loupe. A decal will show a small dot matrix. Another trick of fakers was to place transfer print plaques under convex glass. This gives the effect of a hand painted piece. Details such as jewelry or hats are touched up with paint. The result is that they are raised under a magnifying glass.

When the small plaques are supposedly framed on ivory, they may actually be on plastic.

By the early 19th century, factories on the continent and in England turned neoclassical paintings, portraits of beautiful women and famous people into decals and miniature plaques. Lady Hamilton and Napoleon were popular subjects.

Pass on a piece when the back is covered with felt and you can’t see makers’ marks. The seller may not even know what is behind the felt backing.

Most fakes are porcelains signed Wagner. However, when it is a hand-signed and hand-painted plaque by the renowned artist Wagner, it could sell for thousands of dollars. You have the clues so do your research if you plan to buy or sell.

Curio Cabinets

Whether a collection is large or small, over the centuries, furniture was made just to show it off. It began in ancient Rome, with royalty and the wealthy, who used table tops to show off small treasures. However, it was more common for them to use an entire room devoted to their collections. Wealthy Greeks built entire rooms to house their treasured books that were then placed in small cupboards. Not too different than today, when rooms of corporate offices often display collections related to their businesses or just because the CEO collects them.

Collections became status symbols during the Italian Renaissance, which lasted from the middle of the 14th century until the end of the 16th. It was the first time special types of furniture were designed to show them off. Among them: the credenza that later evolved into the sideboard. Sometimes it used the base topped with an open cupboard to display more collections.

King Louis XIV owned the first display showcase for his diverse collections of every-thing from porcelains to silver.
By the mid-17th century, Oriental designs and lacquered pieces were imported from the Far East. And in England, Thomas Chippendale designed massive, library breakfront bookcases in the Gothic style.

In 18th-century France, the four Martin brothers created a type of lacquer referred to as “vernis.” Curio cabinets using it have never stopped being reproduced. They are referred to as “vernis Martin” cabinets.

Victorian collectors in England and America collected on a more humble scale, though their collections often covered every visible space. By the mid-19th century, the curio cabinet was apt to be a towering, heavily carved Étagère, combining upper and base mirrors with shelving.

Modern and contemporary- style curio cabinets are made today to fit in with current decors and collectibles.

The “vitrine,” originally a French, small cabinet on legs with three sides of glass, was revived during the Art Nouveau period. It was lacquered with colorful painted subjects.

The vitrine, Victorian etageres and court cupboards are still being reproduced, as are variations of the vernis Martin curio cabinets.

Anne Gilbert has been self-syndicating the ANTIQUE DETECTIVE to such papers as the Chicago Sun-Times and the Miami Herald since 1983.
She has authored nine books on antiques, collectibles, and art and appeared on national TV.
She has done appraisals for museums and private individuals.

Antique Toy Farm Tractors

Farm toys have been collected for decades. One of the most popular categories is the small toy farm tractor. While late 19th century and some vintage examples are priced in the thousands of dollars, new ones can be less than $50.

Historically, two of the earliest makers of farm toy tractors included the Hubley Co., founded in 1894 in Lancaster, PA. They made molded metal toys that were painted and detailed at the company foundry. The Arcade Manufacturing Co., Freeport, IL, founded in 1885, made the first commercially made toy tractor, “the Fordson.”

The Wilkins Toy Co., in Keene, NH, was making cast iron toy tractors around 1886. They were sold in the Montgomery Ward and Sears, Roebuck and Co. catalogs for a few dollars. These days, prices could be in the thousands of dollars if they can even be for sale. They are among the makers of the “Golden Age.” Others are arcade, such as those from the Dent Hardware Co., founded in 1898.

The Ertl Co. was founded in 1945 in Iowa by Frederick Ertl, who made some of the most important John Deere toy tractors. He is credited with starting collector interest. It began with a sand cast toy farm tractor he made in his home furnace in Dubuque, IA, in 1945. These days, one of his tractors could sell for more than $900. The Ertl Co. is one of the biggest farm toy tractor makers these days.

By the 1970s, collecting toy farm tractors was hot. A price guide on the subject by Bill Vossle in 1978 set it off.

Some older cast iron toy tractors, like the Fordson, have been reproduced and can be mistaken by buyers and sellers. Newer pieces often have thin paint and few painted details. Repros are usually smaller than the originals due to newer molding and production techniques.

Things to consider: Are all the pieces intact, including tires and steering wheels? Is the paint new, chipped off, scratched, worn off in places or even completely missing? Are all the pieces intact, including steering wheels and tires?
Limited edition toy farm tractors are offered in small quantities, usually as a onetime production or with a specific number of pieces.
Toy farm tractors with original box adds to the value.

Knowing the type of material the toys are made of helps to date them. Cast iron was used from the 1880s to the 1920s. Pressed steel was used from the 1950s to 1986. They were stamped out of steel that was rolled flat. After World War II, plastic became a popular material for the toy farm tractors. They continued to be made into the 1990s. In the 1980s spun-cast tractor toys (aluminum, zinc, and pewter) were made in a mold.

To learn more, check out the National Farm Toy Museum site. Their collectors corner page shows a group of new reproductions as well as vintage collectibles. Keep tabs on current and recent past auctions to get an idea of pricing and rarities.

Make sure you get an authenticity agreement before paying too much for a reproduction.

Anne Gilbert has been self-syndicating the ANTIQUE DETECTIVE to such papers as the Chicago Sun-Times and the Miami Herald since 1983.
She has authored nine books on antiques, collectibles, and art and appeared on national TV.
She has done appraisals for museums and private individuals.