Victorian Tassel Pin and a Family History - Part 1 of 2

This last weekend we celebrated my mother-in-law's 95th birthday. She showed everyone the brooch that is pictured in this email. We have all heard about this broach and there are pictures of her grandmother wearing it. One picture she is wearing it at the neck and another it is hanging from a chain. We are wondering if you can give any information about who maybe could have designed or made it by looking at the pictures. We see no noticeable marks on it. It is 1 1/2" across and hangs 3 1/2" long. Any information is greatly appreciated. It would make her day to know something about it.

Tassel brooch, front

 Congratulations to your mother-in-law on her milestone birthday!  And how wonderful to have a piece of jewelry that’s also a piece of family history.

I haven’t examined this brooch so I can’t test the metal nor can I feel the weight of the piece.  I can’t give you a monetary value without a personal inspection but I can tell you a little about some of the history and fashion happening when this was made. 

Tassel brooch verso

Victoria was only 18 when she ascended to the throne of England.  A few years later, at 21, she married her 20-year-old cousin Albert of Saxe-Coburg. The young queen loved fashion and jewelry and, although as queen she boasted an extensive collection of court jewelry of court jewelry, she was particularly fond of the jewelry Albert designed for her.  According to Charlotte Gere in Love and Art: Queen Victoria’s Personal Jewellery, she and Albert both kept informed of inventions, explorations and modernizations during the Industrial Revolution:  both were aware of new techniques and innovations in metalwork and jewelry making.

Until the Victorian era, most gold jewelry was 18 karat, putting it out of reach of all but the very wealthy.  By Victoria’s time, jewelry was being made with less expensive 9 and 10-karat gold and with composites.   Industrial methods and inexpensive materials made jewelry affordable to the growing middle class. “Filled” or “rolled gold” comprised a thin sheet of precious metal layered over copper or brass; electroplating gold onto a base metal was patented in 1840.  Jewelry making became industrialized, prices came down and nearly everyone owned and wore some pieces.  

Jewelry fashions reflected industrial innovations, European colonialization, and archaeological fascinations. 

Your brooch appears to have been stamped from thin metal and shaped.  The floral decoration also appears stamped and applied; the wirework filigree and fringe tassel give the piece a sense of importance while keeping the weight of the piece low enough not to damage or pull askew fragile silks and taffetas.   The tassel motif reflects the influence France’s occupation of Moorish Algeria.  Archaeologists excavations of Etruscan and Greek civilizations inspired the granulation design and the filigree twisted wire-work.  The hooks on the back of your brooch show how the piece could be worn as a pin or a pendant.  The eye soldered at the bottom edge could have held another tassel, a pendant or a watch. 

I believe this piece was made in the second or third quarter of the 19th century.   Whether it is made in hi-karat gold, rolled gold or electroplate, it is a lovely piece of history and a precious family heirloom.  I hope it enjoys many more birthdays!

Cape Cod Fire Starters - Yankee Ingenuity to Light Hearth without Kindling

This copper pitcher stood on the mantle at my grandparent’s home.  It is 6 inches tall with a hinged lid.  There is a long wand with a ceramic or stone ball screwed onto the tip.  This thing now sits in front of my fireplace but I don’t really know what it is.  Any information would be appreciated.

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Cape Cod Fire Starters used a wand tipped with an oil soaked pumice stone to light fires without kindling

Well, I’m surprised it stood on the mantle: that seems unnecessarily precarious.  It is much safer and more appropriately placed on the hearth near the fireplace or hung on a mantle nail through the hole in the handle.  You have what we from Massachusetts call a Cape Cod lighter. 

These lighters are designed to light a fire with no kindling needed – a relief when the snows of winter bury your woodpile.  They were very popular in the 19th and early 20th centuries.  I believe similar ones are still made.  The set consists of a lidded pitcher, an under plate and a pumice or ceramic tipped wand.

The pitcher would be filled with whale oil or kerosene.  The porous volcanic pumice or unglazed ceramic end of the wand would be left to soak in the pitcher, absorbing fuel like a sponge.  When you wanted to light your stove or fireplace, you would remove the wand and hold a match to the saturated stone.  The fuel soaked stone would light easily and burn for about ten minutes.  You’d simply stick the torch like wand under your wood and wait for the wood to ignite. 

(I’ve read conflicting accounts of what’s done next.  One camp says remove the still burning wand and submerge it back into the pitcher.  Close the lid and the flame will be smothered.  The other camp recommends removing the wand once your fire is going and leave it on the under plate to burnout and cool.  Either way, the stones can be reused for years before they loose the porosity.  Then the stones are easily replaced.)

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According to the mark on the bottom, your set came from the Cape Cod Shop.  The Cape Cod Shop was one of the best-known makers of these fire starters.  They had a retail store on Fifth Avenue in New York from the 1890s through the 1930s selling these and other brass and copper fixtures for homes.   Your fire starter is their “classic” model made from brass with the company’s distinctive flared fishtail handle.  They also made a more expensive Mission Style in riveted copper, brass or wrought iron for those furnishing their homes in the Arts and Crafts taste.

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I found a copy of a Cape Cod Shop ad for the New York retail shop.  The building at 30 West 15th, in New York’s Flatiron District, was built in 1908 (it’s now an expensive co-op!) so this helps date both the ad and your pot.  The ad lists the price of your pot at $5.50. 

Pots like yours can be found in antique shops or an eBay selling in the $15-50 range.  Your set is missing the under plate so a true collector would not pay top dollar.  What you do have - with your delightful example of Yankee ingenuity – is a useful tool and a great conversation piece. 

"Orientalist" Paintings Mirror History and Archaeology in the 1920s

Can you identify the artist who painted this picture?  It’s 28 by 38 inches without the frame. The central figure is a half nude woman with a drape around her hips.  In the background is a scene of other women lounging around.  It is signed Anso

The 19th and early 20th centuries, saw a rise in fascination with the history, literature, religions, geography and art of the near and far east.  Artists and writers embraced the mystique of Middle Eastern, Arabian and, Egyptian cultures.  Archaeology further enhanced the allure of the east, classical literature and the Bible. 

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Harem Dancer painting with decidedly 20th century features

 Heinrich Schliemann (1822-1890) earned enough wealth in the California gold fields to retire at 36 and pursue his dreams of locating the sites mentioned in Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey.  Schliemann was particularly fascinated with the city of Troy and, in 1873 while excavating in what is now Turkey, he located a stash of gold and jewelry including the “Jewels of Helen”.  Publications about his findings, and later disputes with Turkish government and his alleged theft of the jewels kept interest in archaeology robust. 

 In dance, choreographer Mikhail Fokine’s 1910 ballet Sheherazade, told the story of illicit love, death and sex in an Arabian harem.  In film, Rudolph Valentino’s iconic performance was in 1921’s “The Sheik”.  In world news, the Greco Turkish war of 1914-1922 kept ideas of near and Middle Eastern culture in the news.

 In 1922, English academic and archaeologist Howard Carter discovered the tomb of King Tutankhamun.  This further inflamed westerner’s infatuation with all things Egyptian and exotic.   Visit any of the Bay Area’s Art Deco movie theaters to scenes of this phenomenon.  

 Painters, too, latched onto this enchantment with the exotic.  As early as 1893, French painters formed The Society of Orientalist Painters; in Britain, artists captured a perceived ideal of the Empire’s superiority by portraying scenes of he boorish harems, slave markets and baths.  Scholars dismissed the trend as simplistic, accusing painters of using eastern exoticism to condone scenes of nudity, subservience and sex. 

 I believe the artist is of your work is Austrian painter Eugen Anton-Hofmann who lived from 1862 to 1955.  Although I can find no documentation that he ever traveled far from his native Vienna, his best-known works are of female nudes in what he perceived to be slave markets, abductions or harems.

This painting, "The Abduction" by Eugen Ansen-Hofmann, sold at Sotheby's in London for $28,000 in 2007

 Your painting depicts a nude woman with decidedly the 1920s or 30s western features of a bow mouth and shingled bobbed hair.  This points to the approximate year the work was done. The golden amphora to her right, the diaphanous veil around her hips and the sketches of other nudes in the background all point to this painting as portraying a western artist’s notion of an unfamiliar yet tantalizing scene.  The sketchiness of the incomplete background leads me to think that this painting may be a study for a more complex scene involving other characters. 

 It’s a lovely and alluring painting.  At auction I believe it would sell in the $3000-5000 range. 

Lydia Pinkham: Marketing Entrepreneur and Health Advocate →

I bought a sewing box and contents at an estate sale recently.  In it were things I couldn’t identify a name or use for.   

This item is 2 ½ inches long.  It is in two parts like a clamshell and I think it is ivory.  I appreciate any identification you could give me.

What you have is a tatting shuttle.   Tatting is a method of lace making popularized in the mid 19th century as a less expensive and time intensive alternative to point or bobbin lace.  If you were right handed, thread would be wound around your left hand fingers and worked with the shuttle in your right.   Tatting was portable: the only thing required were hands and a shuttle.  The shuttles could be wound with 10 or 15 yards of thread and could safely slip into a pocket.

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Lydia Pinkham had a genius for promotion.  She was the first woman to use an image of herself in marketing. 

 I’m not at all clever with needlework but I watched tatting demonstrations and to me it looks like a form of crocheting on a very detailed scale.

If you’re interested in learning to tat you can find instructional videos online.  I’d recommend a trip to Lacis in Berkeley. In addition to housing a lace museum, Lacis stocks tatting threads, shuttles and a selection of books detailing techniques, history and contemporary and historic patterns.

What I find more interesting is the fact that your shuttle was a promotional giveaway by one of the most inventive and tenacious women entrepreneurs of the 19th century.  

Lydia Estes Pinkham grew up in an abolitionist teetotaling Quaker family in Lynn, Massachusetts.  Throughout her married life she supplemented her husband’s income by brewing and selling her vegetable compound brewed specifically to treat women’s maladies.  By 1876 she had moved the production from her home kitchen to a factory nearby. 

From the very first, Pinkham separated herself from the crowds of patent medicine by marketing her compound as being made “by women and for women.”   Her image graced all packaging and advertising, the first time a woman’s image had been marketed as a corporate icon. Women wrote hundreds of letters asking for advice; in response the company published more than 160 pamphlets of “Health Hints” addressing not only “female complaints, headaches, menstrual cramps, stomach ills, infertility and lack of vitality” but cooking and housekeeping advice, first aid, home economies, sewing, and happy babies.

According to the Pinkham Company Archives at Harvard’s Schlesinger Museum, your shuttle was part of one of many successful direct-to-consumer and focus group ad campaigns.   Appearing in newspapers and women’s magazines in 1917, the ad promised, “This tatting shuttle will be sent free” upon return of a three-question survey. Interestingly, the survey did not ask about women’s experiences with Pinkham’s Compound: it asked where the ad was found and if the reader had seen ads for any similar products. 

Your shuttle is made from a celluloid compound designed to mimic ivory.  As a collectible, it will appeal to vintage sewing fans, advocates of women’s history, and aficionados of patent medicine.  Similar ones sell in the $15-40 range.

Scrap Metal for Japan - Lithograph Illustrates Sliver of History

Q.   Enclosed is a picture of a black and white scene of a cargo boat at a dock. The title “Old Iron for Japan 36” and a signature are written in pencil.  On the front is a plaque reading “Federal Arts Project” I cannot read the signature so anything you can find out about the print or the artist would be appreciated.

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Old Iron for Japan, by Glenn Anthony Wessels.  1936 lithograph on paper

A.  Your lithograph print captures a sliver of time when between the Great Depression and the beginning of the Second World War when previously cordial economic allegiances between the US and Japan began to erode. In 1936, the artist himself, Glenn Anthony Wessels might have felt rumblings.

At the same time the US was in its great Depression, Japan was growing as an economic powerhouse.  Their burgeoning economy was, however, held in check somewhat by the lack of raw materials in Japan. Japan was dependent on western resources – particularly metal and oil from the US. 

Attitudes towards Japan began to change in after Japan invaded Manchuria in 1931.  And even more so after the Japanese atrocities in China Feelings ran high in Europe and Australia where it was felt that the US was supporting Japan by supplying raw materials – especially scrap iron - used for armaments.  Atrocities by Japan against Chinese civilians in 1937, Japan's alliance to Germany and Italy, and Hitler's support of Japanese expansion into Asia triggered protests in the US.  By 1940, Roosevelt had put economic sanctions in place and stopped the export of scrap metal to Japan.

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A group of Chinese demonstrators at the waterfront in San Francisco carrying signs protesting the sale of scrap iron to Japan. December 20, 1938. Photographer unknown. Gelatin silver print. Collection of Oakland Museum of California.

In 1941 the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. In 1943, due to the surging wartime economy in the US, the Federal Arts Project and the Works Projects Administration ended.

Glenn Anthony Wessel, like so many artists of his generation, stove to capture the realism of everyday life in the first half of the 20th century with an almost documentary efficiency.  In addition to his local murals, Wessels work can be found at the Seattle Art Museum and the Oakland Museum of California; the Achenbach Collection at the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco has a print of this very lithograph.

The markets for 20th century realism and the markets for works by former WPA artists are strong.  Your lithograph, “Old Iron for Japan” would likely sell in the $200-400 range. 

Suffragette Jewelry - Real, Legend or Somewhere in Between?

My recent document about Victorian Acrostic jewelry brought up a question about Suffragette Jewelry.  Reference guides often classify any jewelry set with green, white and violet stones or enamel as “Suffragette” jewelry.  This is a lovely story and it falls in line with the fashion of acrostic jewelry. However, just because G, W and V, the initial letters of each gem, can represent the phrase “Give Women Votes”, history does not support the theory.

By the mid 19th century, women’s organizations formed specifically to lobby for the right to vote.  In 1897, these disparate groups came together and formed the Women’s Suffrage Society.  By 1903, women had achieved very little.  Suffragist Emmeline Pankhurst broke away from the WSS and formed the Women’s Social and Political Union. 

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Designed by Sylvia Pankhurst, the Holloway brooch was awarded to members of the Women's Social and Political Union who had been imprisoned in Holloway Jail

The WSPU, whose motto was “Deeds Not Words” used militant tactics to fight for women’s rights. Their violent demonstrations often ended in arson, property damage and bloodshed. As documented by Andrew Rosen in his 1974 book "Rise Up, Women!: The Militant Campaign of the Women's Social and Political Union, 1903-1914" British and US press were highly critical of these women who replaced polite petitioning and letter writing with vandalism. They coined the term “suffragette" as a disparaging diminutive meant to trivialize the efforts of these women.

In rallying followers and supporters, the WSPU adopted the colors green (hope), white (purity) and purple (valor).  WSPU supporters wore sashes and carried banners in these colors but there is no historical evidence of the colors being adopted as a universal symbol of suffrage.

Some romanticists insist that women wore green, white and violet colored jewelry as a clandestine message to “Give Women Votes.”  But “Give Women Votes” was not used as a rallying cry.  It implied that women did not deserve to vote on their own merits.  The common demand of the suffragists was “Votes for Women.”   Suffragists were more likely to sell their own jewelry to finance their politics than they were likely to invest in secret message jewelry.

All this being said, there is such a thing as Suffragette jewelry.  In the recent film “Suffragette,” Meryl Streep, portraying Emmeline Pankhurst, proudly wears a Holloway Prison brooch.  This brooch is in the form of a fortified fate hung with chains and arrow – all symbols of captivity – was presented to women incarcerated there. Helena Bonham Carter’s character wears all Hunger Strike medal with silver bars documenting dates she was fed by force in while in prison.  Carey Mulligan’s Maud is awarded a green white and purple ribbon when she is released from jail for the first time.   

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This Hunger Strike Medal in ribbon with enameled bar documents the lengths of the recipient's strikes

In the exception that proves adage, some pieces of jewelry were specifically made and marketed as “Suffragette Jewelry.”  London jewelers Mappin & Webb offered five items in “enamels and gems” in their 1908 catalog. While Mappin & Webb was the only company to advertise such pieces, I’m sure that individual dealers produced commission commemorative pieces.  

Documented Hunger Strike badges and Holloway Prison brooches are rare and costly.  In 2010, Bonham’s Auction in London sold a Holloway brooch for $1500; Lockdale's, another British auction, sold a hunger strike medal for over $12,000 in 2015.  If these are out of your budget, Suffrage pins, convention ribbons, banners, badges and ephemera can all be found in the few hundred dollar range.  

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This Votes for Women pendant is still an affordable Suffragette item

Victorian Jewelry with Hidden Messages

At a recent fundraising event, a Danville woman brought a lovely pendant for identification.  She did not know much about it but thought that it may have belonged to her grandmother.  I am not a gemologist and am not accredited to evaluate jewelry.  However, I do love old pieces – especially family pieces that may have some history. 

Her flower basket pendant was set with 6 gemstone “flowers” in red, green, pink, purple, red and clear; the basket itself was dotted with small bits of turquoise.  At first I thought the colored stones might represent birthstones of family members but taking into account the symbolism of the flowers and basket I determined that what she had was older than she thought. She had a Victorian pendant with a secret acrostic message. 

The Victorian era was characterized by multitudinous codes of civility and gentility.  This rigidity gave rise to surreptitious coded systems of conveying messages and even flirting.   A folded upper left corner of a calling card conveys congratulations while a folded lower right means leaving town; a snake bracelet is a symbol of eternal love and a buckle motif signifies safety; swallows mate for life so an image of one shows fidelity; an anchor conveys hope, a horseshoe luck and clover a happy home.  Pearls symbolize purity, emeralds rebirth and aquamarine connotes peace.  Individual flowers held meanings; arrangements of flowers could convey more complex messages.

Popular legend says that Marie Antoinette’s jeweler was the first to create acrostic jewelry and that Napoleon Bonaparte popularized it by commissioning jewelry to spell out important names, events and victorious battles.  So while acrostic jewelry may have had its start in France, it was in Victorian era England, with its delight in the surreptitious, that the trend became popularized. Gemstones set in rings, bracelets and brooches spelled out “Regard” Dearest” and “Adore.”  

The woman’s basket of gemstone flowers was a Victorian acrostic– a piece of jewelry that spells out a word.  The gems left to right are Ruby, Emerald, Garnet, Amethyst, Ruby again and Diamond – spelling out “Regard”  

This pin would transmit a very clear message.  The basket symbolizes home; the turquoise dotting the basket connotes strength and tranquility; the six gemstones “flowers” are arranged in the style of forget-me-nots.  The pendant’s recipient would understand this to be a token of long term affection and a desire to marry.  

I’m not a gemologist so I cannot calculate the intrinsic value of the metal and gemstones.  I only know that pins and rings like this – Victorian tokens of special regard – are highly sought after by jewelry lovers and usually sell for more than the value of the gold and stones.

Happy Mother’s Day.  In honor of Moms everywhere, I’m pretending I’m wearing a Moonstone, Opal, Topaz, Hematite, Emerald, and Ruby brooch.   

What's It Worth? Whimsical figurines from Red Rose Tea

By Jane Alexiadis, Correspondent

Q: I recently stayed at a house where many of the window sills had displays of these little figurines. Most are less than 2 inches tall. I hope they're not valuable, because window sills seem pretty dangerous places to keep breakables. I didn't break any but loved seeing them every morning.

A: The homeowner must be a tea lover. The photograph shows three of a set of 12 Wade porcelain figures distributed in boxes of Red Rose Tea. Collectively and affectionately called "Whimsies," these little figures have been given away as a premium in boxes of Red Rose Tea for half a century.

The figurines are made by Wade Pottery of Burslem, England. Wade has been producing utilitarian products like whiskey flasks, industrial ceramics and souvenir vases since the early 19th century.

In 1927, Wade employed Jessie Hallen to design a line of ceramic garden gnomes. Her work was popular, and soon, she was modeling flowers, animals and portraits. By 1930, she was made head of the modeling department. Her modeling talent, combined with the superb marketing skills of Major George Wade, soon secured them licenses to design and produce Disney figures. Radio programs and comic characters soon joined the Wade production line.

Marketing acumen was still going strong when, a generation later, in 1952, Wade's daughter Iris became art director. In 1954, she came up with the brilliant notion of producing series of small, inexpensive porcelain figures with the idea that these "whimsies" would encourage collectors to strive to assemble full sets.

At about the same time, the successful and innovative tea company was expanding into the United States. Red Rose Tea, historically one of the first companies to sell prepackaged blended teas and tea in bags, began expanding into the U.S. market. Along with witty commercials, the company began a tradition marketing of promotional giveaways.

According to their website, Red Rose's first premium was a set of "fortune telling" tea cups and saucers. This was a short-lived idea -- perhaps because of the expense involved or the fragility of the china.

In 1959, Red Rose began publishing and distributing collector cards. Each complete set had 48 images, ranging from songbirds of North America in 1959 to dinosaurs in 1963 to butterflies in 1965 (I collected these!) to its final U.S. series, the space age in 1969.

As no single family was likely to drink enough tea to collect all of the cards, brisk trading began among collectors and enthusiasts. It was quite a coup to assemble a full set!

In 1967, Red Rose in Canada contracted with Wade ceramics of England -- which, since 1954, had been producing series of small ceramic figures -- to make special figures to be included in each box of tea. By 1983, the series spread to U.S. markets with a set of 15 animal figures. A different set of 20 animal figures was given away from 1985 to 1996; 15 circus figures were issued in 1994-1996, and 2002-2006 saw the 10-figure Noah's ark collection.

Your little scarecrow represents September from the 2008-2012 calendar series. Very early, scarce or colorful figures can sell in the $10-$30 range. A set of 12 calendar whimsies sells in the $20-$40 range. Your scarecrow currently trades for about $2.