What's Selling on eBay
By Mike McLeod and Louis Craig
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The following items sold recently on eBay. The comments are those of expert appraiser Louis Craig.

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$722 (7 bids): Antique Fishbowl Aquarium of Vaseline Glass. Solid brass stand is very ornate with flowers, ships, claw feet, marked “patent pending” and polished. Very large Vaseline glass bowl has a couple of very small chips on top edge that you really have to look for. Bowl has some water stain that really does not show when filled with water, grass and ornaments. Bowl also has marks, swirls, air bubbles. Bowls of this type do not come in much better condition then this. Size: 43 inches tall; bowl is 13.5 in. tall x 15 in. wide x 5 ½ in. deep. (Photo, courtesy of eBay seller yourx1.)

LC: These items were popular in the l920-30 period. Free-standing fishbowls with elaborate stands are often seen in Holly wood sets of the ‘20s-‘30s. They are seldom ever found with the bowl as it always got broken, hence the pricey cost. Most people who have a stand do not know it was for a fishbowl, and of course, because the bowls are unavailable for replacement, the stands get used for something else. The large piece of Vaseline glass alone would almost justify the price. The price is okay.
 

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$944 (26 bids): Antique Oak 17th/18th Century Wainscot Armchair. Attractive carved back rails and panels, ca.1680 to ca.1730. This attractive armchair has a lovely, dark, polished surface and has had restorations and alterations over its long history. This antique Jacobean oak wainscot armchair came from a house clearance in East Sussex. Measurements: 3 ft. 7 in. x 2 ft. x 1 ft. 7.5 in. (Photo, courtesy of Stormtrooper1066.)

LC: Wainscoat armchairs of the Pilgrim Period furnishings are more available in Great Britain than the U.S. I have not been able to find one for so little. The Miller’s antiques guides for many years back have examples of this chair in its chair sections, and they never go below $4,000 and sometimes for as much as $36,000. While there really is not much market for an uncomfortable chair today, there is still a market for period furnishings, and reproductions are known.
 

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$750: Cologne Bottle Silver Overlay Red Crystal. Estate sale find: guaranteed authentic, antique, ca. early 1900s, heavy silver, overlay red crystal cologne perfume bottle, in great antique condition with no damages. It measure about 5 inches high x 3.5 inches at the widest. (Photo, courtesy of eBay seller onepeople43.)

LC: Perfume bottles are always collectible. Silver overlay was an invention of the Art Nouveau Period, and this type of bottle is very collectible. It was done in a number of products including bowls, wine coasters, decanter bottles and boxes for chocolates. The price is okay. It could have been lots more.
 

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$6,150 (17 bids): Meissen Teapot from 18th Century, Early Bottgerporcelain. Meissen porcelain teapot with Goldchinoiseries, early 18th Century, Böttger Period. The pot is in mint condition and only rubbed off, as you can see on the pictures. It is not marked. (Photo, courtesy of eBay seller g*orlov.)

LC: Bottger was not a period; it was the name for the creamy-white porcelain which was invented in 1720. After 1723, the crossed swords of Saxony were used as the mark. It was painted in an underglaze of cobalt blue before any decoration was added. All pieces of Meissen were marked, and later in the very late 18th and 19th Centuries when the undecorated wares were decorated by outside contractors, the mark would be ground through, canceling it.

Kandler was the potter from 1730 responsible for Meissen's fame. This seems like an extraordinary price for a Meissen teapot which exhibits fairly heavy use and some mistreatment. The shape seems 19th Century to me. Also, I do not think gold fired to porcelain was invented until the middle of the 19th Century.

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$810 (33 bids): 1869 Patent Model Salesman’s Sample Wood Washing Machine. Very rare and wonderful, 1869, original United States Patent Office Model of an American Primitive / Folk Art Wooden Washing Machine on legs. This diminutive handmade mechanical washing machine measures approximately 4.75 inches tall by 9 inches by 5 inches at the base. Offered here is the original patent model with its ingeniously designed "rubber" (the paddle used to agitate the clothes inside the machine) and the corresponding ribbed surface on the bottom of the inside surface of the tub. There is stenciled lettering on the side of the washing machine that reads "H. B. Tibbits / Vineland, N. J." It came to us with most of the original Patent Office tag and a copy of the original patent document dated March 9th, 1869. The invention was issued Patent Number 87,731. This miniature is 100% original and has not been restored, repaired or altered in any way. (Item sold by eBay seller walnuts.)  

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Louis Craig is the owner of Craig/Southeast Appraisal Service, a past president of the Georgia ISA and is USPAP certified. He can be contacted at LCraig1122@aol.com.

  

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