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KOVELS: ANTIQUES AND COLLECTING
BY TERRY KOVEL KOVELS.COM Ferock is a name that appears on art pottery but is not well known. In 2012 a vase marked “Ferock” was sold at a Humler & Nolan auction in Cincinnati for $2,760. The auction house and a few collectors knew who made it and how rare it is. Frank Ferrell (sometimes spelled Ferrel) worked in Zanesville, Ohio, in the early 1900s. He also worked for Weller (1897-1905), Roseville (19181954), J. B. Owens and Peters and Reed, all nearby Ohio potteries. He is best known for his work at Roseville designing pottery lines. The Ferock vase that just sold was made for the University of North Dakota from North Dakota clay. It was shown at the National Corn Exhibition in 1909. The Arts and Crafts style was interpreted with angular designs on one side and raised fold-like markings on the other. The 12-inch-high vase is covered with a matte, crazed, light beige glaze. It is pictured in two books about the University of North Dakota School of Mines pottery. The university’s pottery opened in 1892 and its pieces were sold, but student work was not offered until 1909. It closed in 1949. Because the vase has such a complete history and was made by an important designer, it attracted the bids of serious collectors and brought a high price. Collectors today search for the less-publicized but well-designed pottery of the 19001950s era as well as later studio pottery. The best pieces of wellknown art pottery like Rookwood and Weller can sell for more than $10,000 - too expensive for most collectors. ** * Q: About 25 years ago, I bought a solid copper lithographic printing plate at a yard sale. It weighs 15 pounds and is 10 by 6 1/2 inches. The image is a navigational aid
sold in 1966. Vintage tea carts sell well today. Value of your tea wagon: $250-$300.
for the “Mahukona Harbor and Approaches” of Hawaii. It’s also marked “No. 4101 C&GS.” Does the plate have any value?
*** A: Copper printing plates like yours were made to print surveying charts for the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey (C&GS). The survey that resulted in the manufacture of your plate was done in 1910. Today the U.S. surveying agency, which manages a national coordinate system for mapping, charting and other engineering applications, is called the National Geodetic Survey. It’s part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Survey plates as old as yours and in excellent condition can sell for $150 or more. *** Q: I have an Ada Lum cloth doll with embroidered Chinese features and a long braid in the back. It is dressed in blue “pajama-style” jacket and pants, woven sandals and a straw hat. There is a tag on the doll’s wrist that says “Farmer, an original Ada Lum Doll” and “Made in Hong Hong.” Can you tell me something about the maker? A: Ada Lum began designing and making dolls in Shanghai in the 1940s. At first she made them just for friends, but as more people wanted them she started a business making dolls. When the Communists took over in 1949, Ada Lum and her family fled to Hong Kong, where she continued her business and employed other Chinese refugees. At first she worked out of her home, but by 1962 she had a shop in the Mandarin Hotel. Her dolls were popular during the 1950s and ‘60s and many were bought by American tourists. Ada Lum died in 1988. Value of your doll: about $75. ***
Q: I have a sugar and creamer set from the Pine Ridge Sioux Indians. I purchased them at a yard sale about 20 years ago. On the bottom it is signed “O. Cottier” and “Pine Ridge Sioux.” It is also This Ferock vase has an unfamiliar mark, marked with a pine tree design. I but its Arts and Crafts design and important did some research. Olive Cottier history brought an auction price of $2,760 at is a sister of Ella Irving, aka Ella Humler & Nolan in Cincinnati. Woody aka Ella Cox, whose pottery is in the Smithsonian Institution. Just wondering if there is any value to my sugar and creamer Q: I have a 1920s tea cart set. made by the Paalman Furniture Co. of Grand Rapids, Mich. It’s in A: In the 1930s, the Works excellent condition. Can you tell Progress Administration (WPA) set me its value? up a program to teach students at the Pine Ridge Indian reservation A: Tea wagons, also called boarding school how to make “tea carts,” became popular pottery. Experienced artists and in the early 1920s. They have potters were brought in to teach. a tray top, one or two shelves Olive Cottier (1909-1974) and below and wheels so they can her sisters, Ella and Bernice, be pushed from the kitchen to were students in the program. dining room. Some have leaves Sometime after the WPA program that can be extended for use as a ended, Ella bought a building in table. Paalman Furniture Co. was Pine Ridge, S.D., where the sisters one of the best-known makers of continued to make pottery from tea wagons. The company was local clays. Ella and Olive made founded by John H. Paalman in the pottery and Bernice decorated 1916. He worked for several other it. Their pottery closed in the furniture companies and was a 1980s. Your sugar and creamer designer and manager for Stickley set is worth about $75. before leaving to form Paalman Furniture Co. The company was ***
Tip: Save your broken dishes, vases and other decorative china to make mosaic stepping stones or tabletops for your garden. Chipped vases can still be used for flowers or turned upside to make toad homes. *** Take advantage of a free listing for your group to announce events or to find antique shows and other events. Go to Kovels. com/calendar to find and plan your antiquing trips. *** Terry Kovel answers as many questions as possible through the column. By sending a letter with a question, you give full permission for use in the column or any other Kovel forum. Names, addresses or email addresses will not be published. We cannot guarantee the return of any photograph, but if a stamped envelope is included, we will try. The volume of mail makes personal answers or appraisals impossible. Write to Kovels, (Name of this newspaper), King Features Syndicate, 300 W. 57th St., New York, NY 10019.
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Kane County Chronicle / KCChronicle.com • Tuesday, July 30, 2013
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