Q: I purchased this pair of heavy metal male and female heads at a local thrift store and would like to know about them and how much they might sell for. They are each about 6 inches tall and are extremely detailed. Thank you so much.

A: These are amazing! They are referred to as Benin Bronzes. The Benin Bronzes come from Benin City, the historic capital of the Kingdom of Benin, a major city state in West Africa. Benin City became part of the British Empire from 1897 to 1960 and is now located within the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The modern city of Benin (in the Edo State) is the home of the current ruler of the Kingdom of Benin, Ewuare II, was crowned the Oba (king), of Benin in 2016. The role of the Oba is more ceremonial than political. The Edo State is one of the 36 states in Nigeria.
The Benin Kingdom was active between the 11th century AD and 1897. The Benin bronze casters started crafting bronze figures and plaques before the 13th century. The bronze works are known collectively as Benin art and are an extraordinary example of African art. The busts were made to honor kings and queens both past and present, dignitaries, and other people of importance. They traded with the Portuguese for copper and bronze and in return crafted bronze works that represented Portuguese life and lifestyle.

The Kingdom of Benin was doing quite well toward the end of the 19th century. They had managed to remain an independent kingdom while other areas were taken over by Britain. Britain was in a constant battle to control this area of Africa. Benin and surrounding areas also had a wealth of natural resources that appealed not only to Africa but also Britain. In February 1897 the Kingdom of Benin was invaded by British forces, warships from several areas and Britain, forces came at the Kingdom of Benin from every direction. This aggressive action is called the “Benin Punitive Expedition,” but it was a massacre with an unknown death toll.
The chaotic theft of royal and sacred artworks and other items by perhaps up to two hundred soldiers, sailors and administrators during the sacking of Benin City in the British naval expedition of 1897 is one of the most well-known examples of the widespread practice of military looting by European troops in the later 19th and early 20th centuries.

Through the Benin punitive expedition of 1897, the first bronze works from Africa were recorded. High-ranking British military also looted religious and important works obtained through this takeover. A British Museum is the current custodian of most of the looted art and bronzes. In the 1960s quite a few pieces that had been in private collections were auctioned off. Some of the pieces were sold to private collectors and others to museums around the world. Slowly the British Museum is collecting these looted items and has plans to return most to Nigeria.

Currently there are 160 different museums and institutions in possession of looted Benin Bronzes and to date only a few have plans on returning them. Germany is not only going to return everything that they have but are going to build a museum in which to house them. Most U.S. museums are returning looted items, including the Smithsonian.

Male Benin bronze bust.

Here we are, inching toward the end of another summer. There are several items that are iconic Americana, such as apple pie, hot dogs, baseball, and beer. I have written about many topics over the years but have never touched on beer cans. They have an interesting history and some can be quite valuable, so let’s talk beer cans.

The “official” birthday of the beer can is Jan. 24, 1935. The first beer can style was the flat top. It looked like the beer cans on the market today with one exception — they were made of steel and weighed in at 4 ounces. The flat top beer can also brought about the creation of a hefty “church-key” to punch through the steel. The church-key, a collectible market in its own right, was 1/8” thick. Church keys were already being used, but they were not strong enough to get through the thick steel beer can tops.

Cone-top cans

Next up is the cone-top can. These came about in September 1935, with Schlitz being the first to use them. This type of can appealed to smaller breweries that didn’t have the money to revamp their bottle lines. The cone-top could be filled on the same machinery that was used to fill bottles and capped with bottle caps. The cone-top met its demise by 1960 as the big companies had already driven the smaller brewers out of business. There are four different styles of this particular beer can. You don’t see many cone-tops in shops or shows because they were used primarily by small breweries, so production was limited, Keep in mind, once the can was empty it usually went into the trash. Schlitz is the only big company known to have used the cone-top can.

Pull-top cans

In 1963, the beer can industry was forever changed when the Pittsburgh Brewing Co. introduced Iron City beer in “self-opening” cans. Schlitz placed the moniker “Pop Top” on the pull tab cans and by 1965, around 75% of all cans had pull tab tops. I remember that when I was about 11 almost everyone I knew had a pull top chain of varying lengths hanging in their bedroom.

Pull tabs turned out to be an environmental disaster. Animals ingested them, people were in the habit of popping the top and dropping it in their beer and then swallowed or choked on them, people would step on them and get a nasty cut, and as an amateur metal detector/treasure hunter, I still dig up those pull tops.

July at last! It is truly my favorite month of the year. Granted, the weather here in Kansas has been a bit wet and wacky, including a series of small tornadoes that hopped down an arterial street during the night of June 8th. Thank goodness the only fatalities were power poles and big old trees.

Fourth of July

What makes July so special? First and foremost is the Fourth of July, and when you live on the parade route for a sizable parade, it is a great way to begin a day of family, friends, BBQ, and pool party. When my girls were young we would pack a picnic basket and head out to find the perfect place to sit, eat supper and watch the fireworks.

Picnics played a major role when I was young, even if it was nothing more than my Granny packing a couple of sandwiches and a thermos of iced tea into her wonderful picnic basket, spreading a blanket under the mimosa tree in the backyard, and the two of us sitting down to eat lunch.

Granny’s picnic basket was purchased with Green Stamps. It was an oval wicker basket, and inside it held lavender-colored Melmac plates, cups, Bakelite handled cutlery, and there was still plenty of room to pack some food. That picnic basket saw many years of use.

Melamine or Melmac was perfect for picnic baskets such as the one my Granny had and you can still find vintage picnic baskets filled with the miracle plastic dinnerware at a reasonable price. There is also the opposite end of the picnic basket spectrum, the deluxe package with crystal glassware, silver cutlery, and china dishes. Some can even be found with a small stove and coffee or tea pots. The fancy picnic basket setups were more than likely not available at the Green Stamp store and while you do see some that were made in the USA most come from the UK or other areas of Europe.

I hope that this article inspires you to get a picnic basket, a blanket, and go somewhere peaceful with someone you love and dine in the great outdoors with minimal fuss. If you have little people in your life, now is a good time to start a new tradition. My memories of my Granny and me are just as vivid fifty plus years after the fact as they were when I was young. Come to think of it, that picnic basket went with us everytime we traveled out of town to visit family.

Prices for a picnic basket with Melmac dinnerware can be found online for $50 or less. Prices for the deluxe picnic “boxes” sell for several hundred dollars up to $6,000 depending upon the contents.

Melmac, even the new pieces, cannot be put in the microwave, and if you are going to put it in the dishwasher, use a detergent that does not contain bleach as it will fade the color over time.

Please let me know if there is a topic that you would like to learn more about. I aim to please.

Happy picnicking!

I love doing this type of appraisal. I have to dig into the history of a location and sleuth about to find the truth. Please keep in mind that I don’t often publish a paid appraisal, but this is just too special to not share.

Question:

I have a houseful of items inherited all the way back to my great-grandparents. This particular glass vase came with a note from my mom which has piqued my curiosity about the provenance and value. The vase stands over 14” tall and the note states:

“This vase is over 450 years old. It came from the second church in America, the Church of St. Thomas in Puerto Rico, which was built on land donated by Ponce de Leon, in 1512. The church is now known as San Jose Church.”

“Venetian glass was made on the island of Murano, near Venice, from the middle of the 13th century until around 1900. This piece was an altar vase”

Any insight that you can provide will be greatly appreciated.

Answer:

First, I want to touch on Venetian/Murano glass. In 1291, the Glassmaker’s Guild forced all glassmakers in Vienna to move their ovens to the Island of Murano. A few popped back up in Vienna in the following years, but Murano has remained the innovative center for glass- makers Murano glass really hit its peak popularity in the 15th and 16th centuries. In the 1960s archaeologists located shards of Venetian glass dating back to the 8th century. Murano glass makers are still going strong today.

In 2013, the National Trust for Historic Preservation named the San José Church in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, to its 2013 list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places. This annual list spotlights important examples of the nation’s architectural, cultural and natural heritage that are at risk of destruction or irreparable damage. More than 240 sites have been on the list over its 26-year history, and in that time, only a handful of listed sites have been lost. I am happy to report that in 2021, restoration was completed on the church.

Old San Juan’s San José Church was built in 1532, the second oldest church in the Americas. The church was constructed from 1532 to 1735 by the Dominican Order as part of their Saint Aquinas monastery. It was renamed by the Jesuits, who took over the monastery in 1865. One of the few surviving examples of 16th-century Spanish Gothic architecture in the Western Hemisphere, the building displays four centuries of architectural design and masonry traditions, including the extraordinary Isabelline Gothic vaults, a rare Catalan architectural design. The land upon which the church was built was donated by Governor Don Juan Ponce de León, who was also first buried there.* Based on the architectural style, we can see the Spanish influence, which more than likely was due to Ponce de León.

Ponce de León was buried in the crypt of the church from 1559 to 1836, when his remains were exhumed and later transferred to the Cathedral of San Juan Bautista. However, his coat of arms is still located near the main altar. His grandson, Juan Ponce de Leon II, is buried in the crypt beneath the Sanctuary’s floor.

As many of you may remember, Juan Ponce de León was a Spanish conquistador. He was born in 1460 to a poor yet noble family. While still a young man, he served as a page at the court of Aragon, where he learned social skills, religion and military tactics. He joined the military and this would go on to serve him well later in life as he began his explorations.

In 1493, Ponce de León allegedly sailed to America with Columbus on his second voyage, thus beginning his career as a conquistador. In the early 1500s he set sail again with his own crew and discovered what is now Haiti and the Dominican Republic. He established farms, towns and built defenses, also sold cattle and produces to ships returning to Spain. He declared these colonies in the name of Spain and his wealth grew. In 1504 he was declared Provincial Governor of the area and returned to Spain, where he married and had three children.

Hearing persistent rumors of gold in Puerto Rico, in 1508 the Spanish crown officially sent Ponce de León to Puerto Rico. He took 50 sailors and his family. It is speculated that Ponce de León had already discovered the gold on his previous trip. A year later, he was named governor of Puerto Rico and soon rose to become one of the most powerful Europeans in the Americas. From most accounts, Ponce de León was a good governor before his political rivals forced him from office in 1512. That political rival was Christopher Columbus’ son, Diego Colon. The third governor of Puerto Rico was Ponce de Leon’s grandson.