Kovels Antiques & Collecting: Specimen Tables
By Terry and Kim Kovel
European Souvenirs
Going on a vacation this summer? In the 18th and 19th centuries, wealthy American and European travelers made “Grand Tours” of continental Europe to view ancient ruins and collect souvenirs.
The specimen table with a top made of fragments of different types of stone or wood, often arranged as a mosaic or pattern, was a popular choice. A 19th-century Italian specimen table sold for about $3,832 at a Bonhams auction in London. It features different colors of marble and rises on a base with fish-shaped "dolphins," a design element associated with ancient Greek and Roman sea gods.
Specimen tables combined ancient history and geology into a European souvenir that was both decorative and functional. They were popular among the wealthy in the 18th and 19th centuries. PHOTO CREDIT: Kovels.com
Many varieties of Italian marble have been quarried since at least the time of the ancient Romans. Even today, Italian marble, especially from the Carrara region, is considered the best in the world in terms of purity and durability. After all, marble sculptures and monuments from ancient Rome are still standing.
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Q: I'd like to know more about an art nouveau lamp I bought at a yard sale years ago. I believe it is solid brass. There is a statue of a young woman holding a branch with a couple of birds on it next to a column that holds the light bulb. A brass label on the front reads "FEE aux OISEAUX par Hering." What can you tell me about it?
A: The title of your lamp is "Bird Fairy." It was sculpted by Elsie Ward Hering (1871-1923), an American sculptor who made bronze and other metal sculptures and vases. She studied and worked in New York in 1896 and moved to Paris in 1898. In 1900 she moved to Cornish, New Hampshire, and worked as an assistant to sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens. She married another assistant, Henry Hering, in 1910 and did not make many of her own works after that. The value of your lamp depends on the desirability of design, its size and its material. Solid bronze is worth more than brass, spelter or bronze-coated white metal.
TIP: Stained marble tabletops can be touched up by using paste wax and steel wool.
CURRENT PRICES
Jewelry, bracelet, cameo, woman's profile, blue Murano glass, oval, silver spiral twist frame, silver multi-chain bracelet, Patrizia Daliania, cameo 1 1/2 inches, $75.
Clock, wall, chrome frame, white neon bulb, white on black face, round, electrified, mid-20th century, 22 x 22 x 4 1/2 inches, $480.
Quilt, patchwork, crazy, many different fabrics cut in various shapes, triangular pieces around border, Victorian, late 1800s, 68 x 68 inches, $550.
Doll, young boy, Schoenhut, wood, carved and painted features, shaggy blond bobbed hair, spring jointed body, tan sailor suit, 20 inches, $680.
Weathervane, eagle, wings out, perched on ball, directional arrows below, copper, original gilt with old verdigris surface, American, 1800s, wingspan 39 inches, $1,230.
For more collecting news, tips and resources, visit www.Kovels.com
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