Native American pottery of various authenticity can be found in antique shops. Some of it is simply marked with the word “Dine” (the native term for Navajo, which may or may not indicate authenticity), with not much else to determine maker source. These items can be acquired for just a few bucks, with higher prices reserved to items signed with a known artist’s mark.

Recently, I acquired a very small pot marked in cursive “L. Kee Navajo” and distinguished by what my research discovered was embedded horse hair in the finish. In this Navajo technique, the hair itself combusts on contact with the heat of the furnace but leaves behind the wispy shadow image of the hair.

“Kee” is a common Navajo surname, and I was not able to identify a specific maker for this vase, a common problem in attributing Native pottery. I was surprised by the healthy prices found online for horsehair pottery in general, even with no-name provenance, but I would recommend this style as “buy it if you like it” rather than an “investment” before time has burnished its value.

Native American pottery has been made mostly by women when there have been few economic opportunities available to women. There are some Native American potters, however, who have achieved a national and international reputation.

Joy Navasie (1919-2012)

AKA Frogwoman, Joy Navasie is the second Hopi-Tewa potter to bear that artist name, the first being her mother, Paqua (1890-1955). Both signed their pots with the image of a frog, the signatures being distinguished from one another by Paqua’s frog having distinct straight-line toes while Joy’s have webbing between the toes. Joy and her mother perfected a line of white-slip pottery in a distinctive style and strictly adhering to traditional potting methods.

Joy stopped potting some years before her death. Consequently, there is a finite supply of her work and a strong collector demand for it. Meanwhile, Joy’s several daughters continue the family potting tradition.

Price ranges on Joy’s work run from several hundred dollars to $2,000-$3,000 for the larger pieces such as the one shown here, which measures 3 ½” diameter at the opening, 5.5” tall, and 20” in circumference at its widest point. Painted in black and shades of brown, this example has a painted band at the collar; Navasie often left her pot collars totally white.

This olla has sentimental value to my family because my parents acquired it on a trip to New Mexico that was an anniversary gift from their children. Dad told the tale of a dispute between himself and airline staff about my parents holding the large, cloth-wrapped olla on board the plane for the flight home rather than stowing it in an overhead bin. Dad won.

Joy Navasie’s work is in museum collections, including the Art Institute of Chicago, Crocker Art Museum, Natural History Museum of Utah, Museum of Northern Arizona, Heard Museum, and others.

Peggy Whiteneck is a writer, collector, and dealer living in East Randolph, VT. If you would like to suggest a subject that she can address in her column, email her at  allwritealready2000@gmail.com. ​

With nearly universal expansion of Internet access, a lot of antiquing today happens online rather than on the ground. Despite that trend, I prefer live shopping, in spite of the closure of so many of my favorite live shops.

Most of my collecting interests lie in glass, porcelain, and other ceramics, and I buy these now almost exclusively in live venues unless I’m very familiar with the seller and know they know what they’re selling and how to ship it safely. Sure, restricting online shopping restricts my access to potential additions to my collections, but it also avoids the risks of buying online – some of which I previously experienced and which led to my marked preference for live shopping. This column deals with some of those risks, for sellers as well as buyers.

Customer who buys but doesn’t remit

This happens occasionally in online auctions. It can occur when a potential buyer gets carried away by a hot bidding war and then discovers not really wanting the item that much when it comes time to pay. If you posted the winning bid, you bought the item. If you don’t know how to control your own bidding, online auctions are probably not for you.

The obverse to this is a seller who has every desire to take your money and no impulse to send the merchandise. Over the years, there have been some well-publicized cases involving sellers who have specialized in this kind of scam.

Merchandise misrepresentation

This may be the most frequent and glaring risk of buying antiques and collectibles online. It never ceases to amaze me how often sundry pieces of no-name glass are represented by a seller as a desirable glassmaker’s work when the only thing the item has in common with the work of the alleged manufacturer is that they’re both made of glass.

But it isn’t only manufacturer misidentification that can be a problem online. Sellers can be blind to defects such as chips and cracks in porcelain and glass. I’m willing to cut sellers a bit of slack on this point since I witnessed an especially surprising dealer blind spot while I was working in an upscale antique store. A regular dealer proudly showed an item the dealer was so proud of because of its allegedly immaculate condition despite its age. The shop’s owner happened to be there at the time, and he and I shared a quick glance at each other because it was immediately obvious to us that there were a few chips and defects in the piece. It was just as clear, though, that even this professional, experienced dealer was so overwhelmed by the allure of the piece itself as to just not see its defects.

Peggy Whiteneck is a writer, collector, and dealer living in East Randolph, VT. If you would like to suggest a subject that she can address in her column, email her at  allwritealready2000@gmail.com. ​

Wedgwood is an English company that makes many patterns of dinnerware. Whole dinnerware sets, of course, are seldom collectible in multiples because of the space that would require. Wedgwood is probably most famous among collectors for its decorative jasper stoneware, featuring relief scenes against an unglazed colored background.

Wedgwood is a very old company; the founder, Josiah Wedgwood, began making jasperware in 1774 (Incidentally, Charles Darwin was Josiah Wedgwood’s grandson! And, Josiah’s granddaughter was Charles Darwin’s wife, making that couple first cousins).

Today, Wedgwood belongs to the Fiskars Group, which also owns other well-known brands such as Georg Jensen, Royal Doulton, Royal Copenhagen, Royal Albert, and Waterford (https://fiskarsgroup.com/). Jasperware is most noted for its raised white scenes against a light blue background, sometimes referred to as “Wedgwood Blue,” but there are several other background colors for Wedgwood jasper, including a dark blue, lilac, green, yellow, crimson, and basalt (black).

Crimson Jasperware is considered rare as it was made in a relatively short window from the late 19th century through its suspension in 1910. Other expensive jasperware uses unusual color combinations, such as the Portland vase of dark blue on pink, and even the current retail pieces on these examples can run up to three and four figures.

The Portland vase, still being made, is an iconic example of Wedgwood jasperware. It has been made in several base colors, including dark blue, light blue, and black. This vase was also made in the rare crimson color with white relief, a genuine antique for which four figure prices are the rule, even for damaged examples. The design was Josiah Wedgwood’s copy of the Barberini vase from Roman antiquity. The Wedgwood relief design continues even to the underside of the base. A large Portland vase, with both the classical relief and background in a color Wedgwood calls “flaxen,” retails at Wedgwood for $18,500!

Jasperware has been imitated, and wannabe items are usually entirely unmarked. Authentic Wedgwood will always be engraved as such on the bottom of its pieces. Be sure the mark’s spelling is correct; even when fake pieces are marked, the mark is often misspelled “Wedgewood” (with a second “e”). AI often also uses this misspelling, so take care in your research!
The themes of decorative reliefs on Wedgwood vary widely, from classic Greek and Roman motifs to leaf and flower decorations to ships and buildings. The variety of relief themes is, to my eyes, one of the most attractive aspects of Wedgwood forms that range from vases to dishes to Christmas ornaments and more. Relief work is applied by hand and shaped by craftsmen who serve an apprenticeship of up to 10 years before becoming master craftspeople.

Most Wedgwood found on the secondary market today will be relatively modern. Letters embossed in the surface of the base were introduced in 1860 as an aid to dating the pieces. The dates began with the letter O and proceeded alphabetically until 1906, repeating the alphabet for subsequent years after “Z.” Any marks after 1891 will have ‘England’ included. You can find a fairly complicated list of older and antique Wedgwood marks at https://fineart-restoration.co.uk/news/identifying-wedgwood-makers-marks-and-dates/. The most expensive secondary market pieces were made in the 19th century or earlier.

Since it is waterproof, jasperware vases can be used to display cut flowers (although I imagine the inside of a Jasperware item could be discolored by standing water if the water has a high mineral content).

“The key is thoughtful use. Avoid dishwashers, microwaves, and extreme temperature changes,” according to heirloomblog.com.
Secondary market prices, such as eBay on the most commonly seen light blue Wedgwood jasperware, can be very affordable as the market has been pretty much glutted. Collectors interested in value are advised to focus on other colors. Whatever its background color, when buying on the secondary market, carefully inspect the relief (as well as the overall form) for chips and nicks, which will affect value.
.

Peggy Whiteneck is a writer, collector, and dealer living in East Randolph, VT. If you would like to suggest a subject that she can address in her column, email her at  allwritealready2000@gmail.com. ​

As with most old toys, antique dolls showing no sign of ever having been played with by a child are the ones that appeal to adult collectors, who are often willing to pay four to six figures for 19^th-century examples by famous makers such as Schmitt & Fils, Jumeau, and Simon & Halbig. Look for a maker’s mark on the bisque portions of an antique doll, often found on the back of the neck or head or elsewhere. Such dolls are unlikely to be found in the average shop – but you never can tell what you may be lucky enough to find!

The history of dolls goes back to early centuries BC, and antique dolls can be found in virtually every culture from Africa to Asia. In fact, archaeological evidence indicates dolls were the earliest known toys. While dolls in unused condition are desired by modern collectors, an unused doll in ancient cultures would have been kept from children if it were believed to be charged with magical powers.

Whatever the maker, the most desirable dolls of interest to collectors today are porcelain dolls that have their original clothing and shoes. Knowledgeable collectors will also look for hidden flaws before buying. They may ask, for example, to have the wig removed to inspect the head for cracks or chips. Firing cracks are common in the bisque porcelain that forms the heads of most antique dolls and do not affect value. Firing cracks are jagged and often have a slight space between, say, the back of an ear and the place it attaches to the head, but a straight-line crack across the neck or head is damage, and that will affect value.

The doll companies mentioned in the first paragraph are no longer in business today. But another famed doll maker, Madame Alexander, is still in production. Its dolls date from the 20^th century, and while the oldest and rarest of them are exceptional and can sell for thousands of dollars, many Madame Alexander dolls can be purchased for less than $100.

The Antiques Roadshow has an instructive video on determining whether a porcelain-faced doll is antique vs. newer. Antique dolls will usually have moveable glass eyes that look remarkably real, although some well-made newer dolls may also have glass eyes. A better clue is that the face of a newer doll will feel entirely smooth to the touch, whereas an antique’s face will feel slightly grainy.

A doll doesn’t have to be made of porcelain, of course. Children have also played with homegrown dolls such as apple head dolls, corn husk dolls, and rag dolls. For Native Americans, corn was an important staple food source with a spiritual aspect. According to the Los Altos History Museum, the first corn husk dolls were made by Northeastern Native Americans, who made the dolls without faces to reflect a tribal myth as described on the museum’s website. Corn husk dolls were attractive to pioneer-era white families because they were easy and affordable to make from materials at hand. The dolls were also adopted by enslaved African American families because they could be made from husks left over after the harvest season.

Peggy Whiteneck is a writer, collector, and dealer living in East Randolph, VT. If you would like to suggest a subject that she can address in her column, email her at  allwritealready2000@gmail.com. ​

The oldest rattles date from about 4,500 years ago in the Middle East. Speculation has given them other roles besides toys, such as warding off evil spirits (through the sounds a rattle makes). “But perhaps parents also needed to distract their children now and then so that they could have a bit of peace and quiet to themselves. Today, we use screens; back then it was rattles,” notes archaeologist Mette Marie Hald from the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen.

Earliest rattles were made of wood or clay. While early examples are unmarked, those dating from the 18th century and beyond were more likely to be made of silver and should have hallmarks, usually found on the handle mount.

According to the website for the British AC Silver Co. “Early rattles featured coral handles…(because) a coral handle was the perfect antidote for teething babies, as it was both smooth and cool. (Also), coral was considered to be a means of guarding a child against witchcraft,” a belief dating back to Roman times “where babies’ cradles would be festooned with coral hung on string to defer evil forces. Although this practice declined, the reputation of coral as a protective device continued.” Some of these rattles used mother of pearl or ivory handles rather than coral for a baby to chew.

At least intuitively aware that later fancy rattles with multiple pieces could pose hazards to babies playing with them directly, many of the early 18th- and 19th-century examples were made for the belts of moms or nursemaids, where they could be shaken to distract a restive baby rather than given to the baby directly. Some portraits of babies show rattles pinned to their dress or hung around their neck.

Hazards from some rattles have continued into the present day. In 2006, the iconic Tiffany Co. paid a $262,500 fine for failure to report a hazard posed by its silver infant teething rattle. The circular rattle contained a central bar that was vulnerable to breakage and the release of the small animal figures on the bar, which posed a choking risk to babies; in at least one of three reported examples of breakage, a tiny animal was found in the baby’s mouth – luckily, before he had time to swallow it. In the settlement, “Tiffany denies it violated the Consumer Safety Protection Act by failing to report defects with its…rattles in a timely manner.” By the way, these rattles retailed for a mere $150!

The famous Jean-Jacques Rousseau was not a fan of rattles or other toys, not because they were physically dangerous to babies but because they were, shall we say, frivolous. “A little twig covered with its own leaves and fruit, - a poppy-head, in which the seeds can be heard rattling, - a stick of liquorice (sic) he can suck and chew, these will amuse a child quite as well as the splendid baubles, and will not disadvantage him by accustoming him to luxury from his very birth” (Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. Émile, ou De l’éducation). 

Peggy Whiteneck is a writer, collector, and dealer living in East Randolph, VT. If you would like to suggest a subject that she can address in her column, email her at  allwritealready2000@gmail.com. ​