ON THE COVER -
September Issue 2005
Back to School Collectibles....by Robert Reed
Just about every time the school bell rings it has meaning for collectors  as well as the nation's children. Treasures from the classroom reaching into both the 19th and 20th centuries are now sought by everyone from professional educators to those with just a school desk full feeling of nostalgia. The favorite back to school collectible for some are those Dick and Jane readers from the 1940s and 1950s.

THE ANTIQUE DETECTIVE
Variety of Collectible Antique Jewelry

The fascination with antique and costume vintage jewelry just keeps on growing. Auction prices are all over the map. Even more unusual pieces of Victorian jewelry can sell for under $1,500. Such was the case at a September jewelry auction at Skinner Galleries. A charming Victorian 18Kt gold, enamel and seed pearl brooch with a Raphaelite cherub motif sold over an estimate of $800/1,200 for $1,410.

"Hi-Yo Silver, Away!" - The Lone Ranger.....by Roy Nuhn
It was more than seven decades ago, on January 30, 1933, when America heard for the first time the thundering hoofs and a "Hi-Yo Silver, Away." The Lone Ranger had arrived. With his faithful Indian companion, Tonto, he would spend the next 25 years chasing bad guys and making the Old West a better place to live.

Blue Mountain Pottery....by Judy Pentz Sheluk
In 1947, a group of skilled craftsmen experimented by making pottery with the red-brown clay found along the shores of Georgian Bay in Collingwood, Ontario. The first studio was located inside a converted barn at the base of the Blue Mountain, and it was there a vintage washing machine was used to mix the clay, which was cured for 12 hours before application of the glaze.

Q. I read with interest your recent article on Japanese wood block prints. I have a wood block triptych by Toyokuni 111(Kunisada) and would like to sell it. I know there are many fakes on the market so I’m not sure where I should start. Do you have any suggestions?

Q. I am refinishing a mahogany stand from the early 1900's. I have read a great deal about finishing but I am confused about filling. Everything I read says the mahogany should be "filled" but I don't know what to fill it with. The stores have a confusing variety of wood fillers and patching material. Is this what is meant by filling the mahogany?. It doesn't have any holes or dings in it so why does it need filling?

America's Romance With the Armchair....by Robert Reed
It might be difficult to determine the fairest armchair of all in historical America. There were many styles with many origins. According to one expert writing many decades ago it could have been the Windsor armchair. Initially such chairs, with and without arms, were made in small villages in a certain region of England. However the American cousin of such chairs was, in the opinion of Harold Bond author of the distinguished Encyclopedia of Antiques, much more attractive.

Mystique Surrounds Afro-American Quilts....by Anne Gilbert
One of the most exciting aspects about Afro-American quilts is the continually unfolding information about them. Until the 1980s little was known about them, and in fact, author/African quilt expert Cuesta Benberry said, “I have not seen any quilts having an African influence during my forty years of research.”  She went on to say that “in the case of “ slave produced quilts their talents depended on the skills of their mistress, who instructed them.” A lot has changed since then. Now, not only have many Afro-American quilts been so-identified, along with distinctive patterns, but how they were possibly used as signals to slaves escaping via the underground railway.