CHARITY ROW:
Like the Baldelli coin bank we had a few weeks ago this vintage cat-shaped bank is probably also derived from the design work of Lisa Larson and it is further embellished with flowers and leaves.
I suspect it was made in Japan. It is 6 1/2 inches long, 4 1/2 inches tall and 4 inches deep.
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This is a nice vintage Turnabout “4 in 1″ Dumbo cookie jar. The head and body can be rotated to display four different configurations of Dumbo (and was used for other characters too, like Mickey and Minnie and my favorite, the Donald Duck/Jose Carioca combo).
He stands 13 1/2 inches tall and is in good to very good condition with no chips or cracks. Even the over-glaze paint is in much better than average condition. Often on these jars the paint is largely gone, due to handling wear and washing.
Not surprisingly the design is patented*. What is surprising (to me) is that the patent for a reversible cookie jar of this sort wasn’t issued until 1944 (and again for good measure).
It’s odd when one considers that Dumbo (the film) was released in 1941 and Dumbo (the character) was nominated as Time Magazine’s mammal of the year in December 1941, even in the face of more pressing world events. He had originally been intended to be the cover character for the final issue of the year, but with the attack on Pearl Harbor and the American entry into the World War he was demoted in favor of General MacArthur.
Given the divergent dates between the release of Dumbo and the successful patenting of the reversible cookie jar (note the patent was issued when this piece was made) I suspect this particular piece was made after 1944 and may be from the early post-war period.
*The patent holder was an employee of the American Pottery Company. This company made the cookie jars and then they were sold to the Leeds China company, which was a distribution firm that had the license to sell Disney products.
To further confuse things American Pottery Company was involved in cooperative efforts with the American Bisque Pottery Company (which in turn worked with Ludowici-Celadon Co., Terrace Ceramics and made and decorated jars that were distributed by Cardinal China Company).
Light snacks and drinks will be served. This is a great chance come by and even bring a friend that you want to rope (introduce) to the Warehouse and volunteering.
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Unless they get sold or snapped up by a big bad wolf these two little piggies will be there. They’re circa 1950′s vintage and were imported from Japan by Lefton. They used to be part of a set of three, but one of them has gone off his rocker and is busily building a brick house.
Mr. Froggy went a courtin‘ and since he was a bank he only paid 15% taxes on the income earned while he was doing it.
Meanwhile the hard working blue tailed fly was holding two jobs just to keep current on his mortgage for a little dung heap that was worth less than he paid for it. He paid 30% on his income.
Seething with the injustice of his exorbitant tax rate Mr. Froggy ate Mr. Blue Tail Fly as he was commuting to his second job one afternoon. Then he foreclosed on the fly family dung heap.
He was a model business-amphibian.
Vintage ceramic frog bank. He’s about 10 1/2 inches tall and in great condition. Like investment banks, retirment plans and ponzi schemes everywhere he does not have a hole by which one can remove one’s deposits. You can attempt to fish money out via the slot you put it in or you can smash the whole thing and start over.
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So I was showing off this awesome toothpick pecking bird and she said “I’m so glad you don’t bring more of the stuff you find home.”
Foiled again.
This plastic bird is about 4 1/2 inches tall. When you press down on the bird’s head a little drawer slides out and it picks up a toothpick in its beak.
Retro cool!
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Rupert knew he was special, not just because his mother told his so, but because the light of the world emanated from his hind-end.
Approximately 20 inches tall by 14 inches wide and features a plastic giraffe 3/4 mounted on a brushed copper plate with savannah scene. The photo doesn’t do it justice as it’s not quite as red as the picture above, yet not as pale as the picture below and the strange effect of the light is best viewed in person.
The Watercloset Gallery will be open from 10 am to 4 pm.
This is a Fenton, hobnail, milk glass, crimped-edge epergne. That’s a very high falutin’ name for a centerpiece, but that seems to be what they’re called.
It is 8 1/2 inches in diameter and 6 1/2 inches tall. There are four pieces, namely the base and three flower-like “horns”. All the pieces are in perfect condition and it may have never been used at all.
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Valentines Day is coming and what better way to say to that not quite special someone “You’re so something but it’s not special” than to get them this thing?
This vaguely heart-shaped dish is made of glass pieces and held together with large amounts of lead. The coded message is that you’re subtly saying “I don’t give a rat’s derriere about your central nervous system” at the same time.
Perfect!
It is about 7 inches by 6 inches and weighs nearly 1 1/2 pounds.
George regularly said his prayers as a child.
He forgot to say them for a long time in his later youth and adult years.
Then on one June afternoon in 1875 he found himself wishing he had kept it up.
This little ceramic figurine is about 4 1/2 inches tall.
Moriage is a Japanese ceramic decoration technique where ceramic items are decorated with the application of raised slip lines and dots. This gives the pieces a wonderful textural quality although they are prone to being easily damaged.
There is a lovely coffee or large tea-pot, a smaller pot that could be used as a tea-pot or overly generous cream pitcher, a lidded jar that’d work for sugar, tea storage or biscuits, six plates, five teacups and six saucers.
So, it is a nearly complete set for six except for one teacup.
The main scene features Kannon (a.k.a. Guanyin) a Bodhisattva of kindness surrounded by four rakan. Above her head is the traditional heraldic symbol or crest of the Shimazu clan.
According to our source (see item #1230) these ware were produced for export from about 1915. The end date of production of these is less clear but it is seemingly ends during the early Showa Period (i.e., the reign of Emperor Hirohito). Given this uncertainty these pieces could date from the 1930′s to the 1950′s (my guess is the 1950′s).
The tea cups have a lithophane geisha on the bottom much like the ones in the Kutani golden dragon set we had last August which makes sense since I think they bear the same makers mark, which consists of the words “Made In Japan” and a view of Mt. Fuji.
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I know it feel like no one knows how it is, but we’ve been there Wally, we have. The first step though is to recognize you have a problem . . .
Eight inches in diameter, by Wallyware.
Each one of the decorations on Polish pottery is applied by hand. Can you believe it?
Frankly I’m surprised that there’s as much of this out there as there is AND that it’s relatively affordable.
Approximately 10 1/2 inches tall and 8 inches in maximum diameter. It is signed by the decorator, Paulina Sobierajska.
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One hogshead is equal to about 63 US gallon. The Hogshead Tavern is also the place that the kids from Hogwart’s hang out when they can’t stand the quasi-respectibility of the Three Broomstick’s.
All of which has nothing to do with this sign. It is 29 inches tall and 21 inches wide and probably is an artifact of the faux-colonial / nationalist revival of the the 200 year anniversary of the beginning of the American revolution.
But really, who cares about reality when a plausible fiction is so easy to get at? Tell the kids whatever you want*, they won’t know the difference. . .
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*I recommend the truth: “Listen kid. You know the big final good vs. evil showdown, the Battle of Hogwarts? It was there that Harry, Hermione and that Weasley kid finally blew it and lost to Voldemort. Sure that’s not what the books says but I know, I’ve been there, I bought this sign at the liquidation sale after the Death Eaters foreclosed on the mortgage.”
“Now go to sleep.”
That’s one of the great things about having a banker that doesn’t, that can’t talk, absolute secrecy is guaranteed. There is some risk in ensuring the security of deposits though; your money might be exchanged for even a small piece of steak or for a hearty Good- Boy!
Not to mention the perils of unexpected “laundering”.
But hey, risk is part of investing and even seemingly stable financial instruments sometimes turn out to be junk. The question to ask is who’s move deserving of your trust, some nameless faceless cog in the international banking machine, or this guy with his big eyes and innocent yet noble looks. . .
Good-Boy!
Now where’d I leave that steak?
8 inches tall. He has a slot in his back for deposits and a plug on the bottom for withdrawals.
Stylized blown and hot glass application cat after the work of Livio Seguso (born 1930, active in Murano). It is about 8 inches tall, 8 inches long and 7 inches deep. There is an etched or incised signature Seguso A.V. on the underside as well as a gallery label from Florence, Italy.
In perfect condition.
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Our good friend Cannibal Pig was redeemed (regardless of his past) via a federal witness protection program, not withstanding his possibly carcinogenic nature.
But yet he’s (potentially) so tasty.
He’s 15 1/4 inches tall and as a sign of his reformed nature he’s only armed with a spoon. This is fine IF you believe that a cannibal pig can be reformed . . .
I’m not sure I’d trust him!
Admittedly this isn’t in the same class as Johnny Rotten’s words at the Winterland Ballroom, but I sure feel fooled.
I thought that this was some sort of print block or ornamental swag or something but really, it’s a block of tea. Which is kind of cool and something I’d never thought of before.
Purportedly it is a brick of Hunan mǐ zhūan chá (roughly translated as Brick Tea). It is 7 1/2 inches wide, 9 1/2 inches tall and about 1 inch thick.
As you can see in the pictures it was pressed in a mold that left lettering and decorative embossed marks. Given that we don’t know how this was stored and that it came covered in a fine layer of dust we make no assumption that this is safe for human consumption.
It is a nice little decorative piece that doubles as a conversation starter. Who knows, maybe it’ll be good to have on a shelf for when the end of the world comes and everyone else runs out of caffeine.
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Set of three Oregon Centennial Plates.
These ever popular plates were produced in commemoration of the 100 year anniversary of Oregon’s statehood in 1959. They were made by Johnson Brothers (England) for sale by Meier & Frank.
As I recall they came in something like six colors including brown, yellow, green and the three we have here (Blue, multicolored and red).
All three of ours are in excellent condition and are 10 3/4 inches in diameter.
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Another fine product from Fitz & Floyd, purveyors of vast amounts of stuff you don’t need, but stuff that looks cutesy* enough that you buy it before wondering why.
This lovely renaissance cat is actually a ceramic ‘toby’ or character mug. It stands about 5 inches tall and looks like it holds about a pint. There is a largish chip on the foot ring that can’t be seen from above. Otherwise the mug is in near mint condition.
This may have been part of a larger set as one could (if one were so inclined) buy a matching pitcher.
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*That’s noise you heard was not a hairball in my throat, that’s me reacting to egregious anthropomorphizing of an otherwise OK cat.
I get that sometimes you need to put a warm layer on your hairless equatorial kierros kissa (Finnish for lap cat), but a puffy shirt? And a rose laden hat? It makes me wonder if this is a by-product of another ‘keep Portland wierd’ event (like a Feline Portland Rose Pirate Festival). . . but really?
You get a dime store hero.
He may not be Neo but he can act as well and he won’t offer you the choice of two pills. The painful truth of reality is all he offers (unless it’s actually the blissful ignorance of illusion in disguise). Truth and fiction are mirages contained within illusions and only he knows the difference; but he’s not saying.
Maybe the machines will tell you instead or maybe he’s one of the machines or maybe . . .
Two cubic inches of lucite or similar clear plastic resin containing 10 pennies dated 1972.
Vintage 12 inch Imperial Globe By the George F. Cram Company on brass tone wire base.
It is in excellent condition and probably dates to the early-1960′s. There are a number of interesting details shown on this globe. Both Korea and Vietnam (officially split in 1954) are shown as single nations, but a fine dotted ‘cut’ line indicates where they were partitioned. Interestingly Germany is not shown as east and west, nor is the split marked.
Egypt is shown as the United Arab Republic (Egypt) a left over from the short-lived (1958 to 1961) political union of Egypt and Syria. Since Syria left the marriage it is just shown as Syria, with out the cumbersome left over married name (which Egypt used until 1971).
Bangladesh is still shown as a province of Pakistan, Trucial Oman is still around and the former Belgian Congo is known as “The Congo” which means this globe is from that brief period between independence in 1960 and the name change to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1964 due to confusion with its neighbor, also known as the Republic of the Congo.
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Suppose you’re looking for something for a relative we’ll call ‘Uncle George’.
George lives out of town and you won’t have to face him when he gets his present.
You’re also running out of time.
We’ve got your back.
Just get this inflatable fruitcake.
If you send it airmail it should get to Uncle George in Hoboken in plenty of time. Unless they notice that the return address city and zip code don’t match, in which case you’ll be sending next years present from Guantanamo.
Air mail, inflatable fruitcake, Hoboken, Guantanamo. Air mail, inflatable fruitcake, Hoboken, Guantanamo.
It’s like a mantra for modern America: Air mail, inflatable fruitcake, Hoboken, Guantanamo, Om.
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An interesting little table top tree which is made out of ceramic and was decorated by Margie. It is 12 1/2 inches tall and lit from the inside by a single night-light bulb. The light is transmitted through little holes with plastic bulb shaped pieces. It is in good shape except for one chipped branch (see picture below).
This tree is carbon neutral (mostly) and you don’t have to pick up errant needles for the next six months.
Even the Grinch would be proud of you. Then he’d steal it just because.
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Two kings and a shepherd walk into a Deversorium VI* , there is a bored night-clerk behind the counter.
The first king looks around with incredulity, “When I made my reservation on-line it didn’t look like this!” “You’re not kidding, what a dump!” the second king said. “I demand to see the manger!”
The clerk looks at them with the practiced disdain of the service industry professional, “What are you two? A couple of wiseguys?”
“See you later guys, I’m gettin’ the flock outta’ here . . .” said the shepherd as he ducked out the door, “and don’t call me for bail when the centurions come.”
Stray nativity scene figures, at the Estate Store for a limited time.
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*Deversorium VI -We’ll leave the star of Bethlehem on for ya
. . .And then through the cloying and savage Portland mist he saw the ancient temples of his people. They laughed at his folly for trying, now they’d cheer his bravado and success.
Decorative metal trees. 51 inches tall and suitable for use out of doors.
