Thu, Aug 07, 2008
Pioneer Landscaping Drivers/End-Dump Administrative & Professional Focus HR Benefits Administrator Insurance Lincoln Heritage Insurance Agents General MG Properties Maintenance Supervisor Dental DR. JAMES KNOCHEL DDS RECEPTIONIST Dental Thomas Buza, DDA Dental Hygienist Health Care Visiting Angels Caregivers at Home: Tea set doesn't require extra insuranceTribune Media Services
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 05.11.2008
Q I need info on an old Homer Laughlin tea service for homeowner's insurance.
— Nancy, Tucson
A Unless you plan to buy a separate policy (very expensive!) for the set, it is covered in your household insurance. If you seek value, I can tell you that this is a set painted on Homer Laughlin Eggshell blanks. As Eggshell first appeared in 1937, that's the earliest it could be. Decorated by the Royal China Co., it features heavy use of hand-painted gold. Photos are not good enough for me to make out the pattern. If complete and in excellent condition, retail value is $200 to $300.
Q I want to sell 36 original telegrams of the making of the first "Ben-Hur" movie. They have come down through the family.
— Jessie, Bangor, Maine
A One of the most expensive silent-era films, "Ben-Hur" opened in December 1925 and cost about $4 million. Made by MGM, it starred a young Ramon Novarro. To this day, some film historians consider the film's chariot race better than the Charlton Heston version in the 1959 "Ben-Hur."
Our reader adds that her 1923-1925 communications involve the developer of the first wide-scope camera, used in making the movie. She adds that she has newspaper articles and photos concerning the first wide-scope camera.
But regarding "Ben-Hur," the only wide-scope camera touted involves the 1959 version when director William Wyler used a revolutionary Panavision 65-millimeter camera. That camera holds the record for all wide-screen processes using a single strip of film.
Sometimes, family lore muddles facts. As in the parlor game Telephone, facts become garbled in the retelling. In this case, it is critical to link the telegram writer to a seminal camera.
Camerawise, the content of those early telegrams is critical. If the communication involves principals in the making of the film or development of a new camera used in the industry, they can be significant.
In any case, the communications will interest film historians. Film museums and libraries may also be interested, but there is nothing like putting an item on the open market to optimize results. That means auction.
You need to catalog those telegrams, photocopy several that you think most significant, explain how you came to have them, and "shop" the lot to auction houses that sell books, manuscripts and entertainment memorabilia. Then you can make a smart decision on selling.
Q I believe this art is a Tang horse on pure silk. It was framed by an art store in Chicago in the 1970s. Value?
— Arthur, Lima, Ohio
A From A.D. 618 to 907, the Tang Dynasty was a period in China's history when power and prosperity ruled and China became the leading country in the world.
The horse has always been important in China. In the Tang Dynasty, depictions were common as stylized terra-cotta sculpture. Tang horses had broad bodies with wide necks, thin legs and expressive faces. Today, the market is flooded with repros of Tang horses; originals are rare and pricey.
The reader's print on silk shows an ink wash frontal image of a galloping horse. It is not Tang, it is not pottery, and the horse is modern. The mat and frame identify it as a contemporary piece of decorative art. Resale value is as décor.
● Send e-mail to smartcollector@comcast.net or write Danielle Arnet, c/o Tribune Media Services, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 1400, Chicago, IL 60611. Please include an address in your query. Photos cannot be returned.
|
0 Comments on this story