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Super-interesting that the social media people told the Roots to call them if you have a return. I wonder how that works for those of us without an online social presence.
I’ve never seen anything like that. Personally, I would hold up and research it into the ground before listing it, but I’m definitely an analysis paralysis type.
RE: Cookie jars, I think that’s a category worth searching/sorting solds every now and then. There’s a super-ugly cookie jar that looks like a gingerbread boy — it may be Hull dripware — that goes for decent money despite being almost difficult to look at.
My search/sort thought applies to plates as well. I occasionally just look to see if anything’s desirable, or if one I find is worth anything (spoiler — it hasn’t been yet.)
For categories like collector plates, mugs, cookie jars, etc. — things that thrift shops are awash in — I do tend to try to learn about good sellers. Most of the time, I look things up on the fly anyway, but poking around in solds is a good way to learn/train your eye. Death Wish coffee mugs, who knew?
I think cites to sources would also be helpful, for verification and for those who want to learn more. For example, I don’t know what a “product based catalouge approach” means. I’m not asking for an explanation here, just pointing out that a cite/link would be super-helpful for people who want to do more reading.
My suite of special interests includes identification, authenticity, attribution, and forgery, so I’m always happy to blather on about them, whether they’re strictly relevant or not.
Can’t wait to see how your listing goes, OP. What an exciting find.
Here’s another one for sale:
https://nafeironworks.ecrater.com/p/13644593/antique-kerosene-stove-fuel-bottleI’m not sure if this conversation has run its course or not, but for many, many items there is literally no way to get them authenticated. There is no certifying board, no organization, no person you can pay to certify/grade your piece. You can research your item and sometimes learn, for example, that a true first edition of a book will have an “A” in the gutter on page 100, or that the first run of a certain type of porcelain was marked “made in England” while subsequent runs were made in Portugal or China, but there’s not necessarily a third party “authenticator” to provide you with a Certificate of Authenticity.
Furthermore, labels and marks can be faked. “Tiffany” is sometimes etched into the bottom of art glass by other companies. Labels can be removed from one piece and glued to another. Signatures can be written or painted on later. Alternatively, identifying labels can be removed and now-unlabled items attributed to other makers/companies.
On a related note, eBay is totally awash in deliberately misattributed art. I have a whole side project going about it. But there are many sellers who are either creating works themselves or ordering them wholesale and offering them for sale as the work of listed artists. The listings are carefully worded to create the appearance of authenticity and valid attribution, but in the end all they actually say is that the painting is a painting (which it is) and that it’s signed with the name of a famous artist (which it is.) So they stay on the right side of eBay’s rules about fakes and forgeries.
I think if the OP puts in all the careful measurements and includes tons of great photos, the collecting community can decide for itself if the item is good or not.
I think this is the same print: “Appalachian Autumn.”
https://www.ebay.ie/itm/APPALACHIAN-AUTUMN-1989-Signed-Lee-Roberson-Framed-Print-/253453305608?hash=item3b02fe8708Hmm. I don’t know about that mark. It seems only to refer to the company and not to the composition of the metal, which is a bit of a red flag for me. It feels more modern — I feel like it’s maybe a mid-20th-century to present-day piece made to refer back to antique cordial/liqueur glasses. There may have been a decanter at one time. I would have passed on them.
I don’t let ugliness and impracticality deter me as much as shoddy workmanship and poor materials.
A couple of things.
First, generally speaking, if I see something I don’t know anything about, but I find it interesting and I feel like it has value — I’ll buy it, if it’s cheap enough, and then take it home and research the heck out of it. I always learn something, even if I never identify the exact piece — plenty of “incidental learning” goes on during the course of the research. I’d have paid like $1 or $2 for a goblet.
In my limited experience, silver plate goblets (assuming this is plate — would love to see the marks on it) don’t do all that well, although there are some exceptions. [You can take a look here] (https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?__isEmpty=&_from=R40&_nkw=silver+plate+goblet&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&LH_Sold=1&_sop=16)
If there are no marks at all, or maybe just a square of sticker residue, that’s usually not a great sign, and suggests a decor piece made more recently in India rather than a older piece.
British and American silver and silverplate are clearly marked. There are lots of different indicators of silverplate, marks-wise — “E.P.N.S.” “Quadruple Plate” etc., and all sterling should be marked. Tons of sites out there that get into the sterling marks.
Silver and silverplate are areas which there’s just a TON to know and learn, and I haven’t really done a ton of study in those areas. That said, I always turn over pieces to check out the markings, feel the piece in my hand, and generally try to develop my spidey sense.
(That’s true, generally, actually. I pick up and check out millions of things. When you’ve picked up — for example — a hundred pieces of pottery, your body learns all kinds of things about it pottery, and so you know when something feels ‘different’… if it’s heavier than you’d expect, or more delicate. If the glaze is unexpected. If it stands out in some way. You might not know it just from looking at it, and it’s harder to learn from reading about it. It’s just the weight and feeling and sense of something in your hand… developed over time, from handling everything.)
