howeenterprise.com
Monday, February 29, 2016
Page #10
Learn about antiques and collectibles with Dr. Georgia Caraway
Q. I have inherited a collection of Avon bottles from an aunt and want to sell them. Can you tell me if they are still desirable? A. David H. McConnell founded the California Perfume Company in 1886. He hired saleswomen to go door-to-door selling their first product “Little Dot,” a set of five perfumes. In 1929, the California Perfume Co. became the Avon Company using the CPC name until 1937. By 1979, there were more than one million Avon ladies. Avon-bottle collecting started in the mid-60s when the company launched its “Collector’s Series” of figural bottles. Watch out for an “R” on the bottom meaning a later reissue of an earlier style. Thousands of designs have been created over the year. The plain bottles of the California Perfume Co. command some of the highest prices.
responsible for Nina Ricci’s L’Air du Temps with the beautiful glass stopper in the form of doves. Baccarat has produced decorative perfume bottles since the early 19th century for perfumers including Bourjois, Yardley, Elizabeth Arden, Houbigant, Christian Dior, and Guerlain. The Shalimar bottle, designed by Richard Guerlain, was introduced in 1913 and remains one of the most beautiful fragrance containers. The bottle design was inspired by the garden of Shalimar created by the Shah Jehan for his wife, Mumtaz, for whom the Taj Mahal was later built as a memorial. Collectors look for prestigious makers, commercial bottles in their original packaging, and those that remain unopened. However, if you open a partially used bottle, you may be unpleasantly surprised by the cloying scent. You may want to clean out a bottle by using denatured alcohol or isopropyl alcohol, followed by warm soap and water. Be sure that you are careful not to damage the label or painted surfaces.
Avon collecting was popular through the 1970s and 1980s, but tapered off in the 1990s. However, collectors still meet at Avon bottle shows and clubs keeping the field alive. Go to your local bookstore and ask for Bud Hastin’s Avon Collectible Price Guide. I also found some price information in Warman’s Americana & Collectibles.
Speaking of unpleasant odors, some of the oldest scent bottles, mostly in terra cotta and bronze, date from around 1100 BC, when perfume was used to mask the smell of burnt offerings at sacrificial ceremonies. The word perfume derives from the Latin “per fumum”—through smoke. So not only can you enjoy collecting these lovely works of art, but you can get a scents of Prices for other perfume bottles are history by collecting them. skyrocketing. The great glass artisans, such as Viard, Lalique, Dr. Georgia Caraway, former and Baccarat, created bottle designs director of the Denton County that make these miniature works of Museums for 14 years, and her art more valuable than the perfume friends opened the Howe they once held. Besides these glass Mercantile at 107 East Haning. makers, look for porcelain bottles Store hours are Thursday through by Meissen, Webb & Sons, Saturday noon until 8 p.m. She has Wedgwood, and Sampson Mordan written four Denton history books & Co. and has finished a 5th history about the North Texas State Fair and Crystal Lalique designs are highly Rodeo that will be published in collectible works of art. After Rene August. She hopes her next book Lalique’s death in 1945, his son, will be the history of Howe. Marc, continued to design exquisite PLEASE SHOP LOCALLY. We glass containers. He was can show you Howe!
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