Decor With Hearth-Warming Flair

A garniture is a decoration for the top of a fireplace mantel. Most antique garnitures comprise a clock with two matching vases, candelabra or other pieces. Some sets have three or five vases and no clock.

The clock garniture was first used in 18th century France to decorate the lower mantelpiece that had become fashionable. The early examples were made of gilded bronze, porcelain and marble.

By the 19th century, clock garnitures were widely used in England and the United States.

By the early 1900s, when mantels had become larger and often included a top section, the garniture went out of style.

The best garniture sets have clocks in metal cases with gilded bronze known as ormolu. Less-expensive pieces were made of spelter, a soft pewter-like form of zinc that often was lacquered to resemble bronze.

Expensive pieces were made with real marble. Less-expensive examples used slate or wood painted to look like marble.

If you’re considering buying a clock garniture set, be sure that the clock is working, that there are no broken or missing parts and that the vases or candelabra match.

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Question My Arts and Crafts-style chair is marked “Quaint Furniture, Grand Rapids, Michigan.” Who made it?

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Answer Albert and John George Stickley founded the Stickley Bros. Co. in 1891 and produced furniture inspired by the pieces made by their brother Gustav. They used the “Quaint Furniture” mark from 1891 to about 1932.

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Q My china dish is a molded pair of hands with a decoration of grapes and leaves at the bottom of the palms. It is marked with a buffalo and the letters “KT&K.;” All I know is that it’s more than 100 years old.

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AThe buffalo mark on the back of your dish was used from 1878 to 1885 by Knowles, Taylor & Knowles, a ceramics company that worked in East Liverpool, Ohio, from 1870 to 1929.

Your dish is an ironstone copy of a well-known glass dish called “Double Hands With Grapes.” It was made by Atterbury & Co. of Pittsburgh about 1880.

Knowles, Taylor & Knowles apparently made a mold of the glass dish to make its own ceramic version.

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Q My two old Ken dolls are both marked “Mattel.” They have brown painted hair, but they don’t look alike. One is slim, with a crew cut and no facial expression. The other has more hair, a smile and a thick, muscular body. What happened?

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A Collectors call Ken’s late ‘60s redesign his transformation “from geek to sleek.”

Ken was introduced by Mattel in 1961 but marked “1960.” He was marketed as Barbie’s boyfriend. His hair went from flocked to painted the first year. His body stayed skinny until 1969, when he appeared with a more expressive face, bigger muscles, pinker skin and a 1968 copyright date.

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Q Can you give me some information on my straight-necked, pint-sized, aqua bottle? On one side, there’s an eagle carrying a ribbon above a shield. The words on the other side say, “Dyottville Glass Works, Philada.”

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A You have an American Eagle historical flask made between the early 1830s and 1850 at the Dyottville Glass Works in Philadelphia.

Dr. Thomas W. Dyott, a druggist, patent-medicine vendor and physician, purchased the Kensington Glass Works about 1819. By 1833, he had expanded his business and renamed the factory.

Dyott’s legal problems forced him out of the Dyottville firm in 1838. The glassworks continued operating until about 1923.

Your flask was made in aqua, olive-yellow, puce and amethyst. The aqua flasks are the most common. Yours is worth about $110. A puce flask in perfect condition recently sold for more than $5,000.

Collectors know the flask as McKearin No. GII-38. The number is a reference from the “American Bottles & Flasks and Their Ancestry” book by Helen McKearin and Kenneth M. Wilson.

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Q My father’s pressed-glass dish has a molded design of an old-fashioned steam train in the center. It is marked with a mold number, 61801, and the date 1-21-42. Dad worked for a while at the Phoenix Glass Co. in Monaca, Pa. I have wondered whether the plate was ever sold to the public.

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AThat plate commemorates the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869.

There were several early versions of the plate. The 1869-70 version had a train facing to the left. Another version made about 1882 pictured the train facing to the right.

The Phoenix Glass Co. might have made some of the plates in 1942. However, in 1943 about 90 percent of the production turned to glassware for World War II ships and airplanes.

If you’d like a listing of helpful books and publications on antiques, send a self-addressed, stamped (55 cents) envelope to the Kovels, Los Angeles Times, King Features Syndicate, 235 E. 45th St., New York, NY 10017.

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Current Prices

Current prices are recorded from antiques shows, flea markets, sales and auctions throughout the United States. Prices vary by location because of local economic conditions.

* Pez candy dispenser, white lamb’s head, blue and pink accents, pink stem, 5 inches: $25.

* Kenneth Lane cuff links, black plastic, studded, 1970: $50.

* Lunch box, “Bless Our Happy Home,” vinyl, Hallmark, dated 1973: $65.

* Beatles wallet, vinyl, Day-Glo pink, autographed, copyright Ramat & Co., London, 1964: $85.

* Green River advertising sign, “Whiskey Without Regrets,” cardboard, 1935, 25 by 19 inches: $110.

* Mettlach stein, No. 1527, cavaliers drinking at table, pewter lid shows woman and shield, 1 liter: $550.

* Federal game table, inlaid mahogany with curly maple, hinged top, circa 1805, 36 inches: $625.

* Kathe Kruse cloth doll, painted face and hair, dress, original underwear, 1930s, 16 inches: $700.

* Patchwork quilt, calico, circle with heart border, signed squares, 1850, 84 by 98 inches: $1,275.

* Herman Miller table, oak top, brushed chrome base, 1938, 18 1/2 by 24 inches, pair: $3,000.