Antiques & Collecting: Table, or art?

When is a pile of rocks considered art? An unusual table made of glass and “stone” was offered in an Andrew Jones auction in Los Angeles, with an estimated price of $2,500 to $3,500. It didn’t sell, but other related sculptures by the artist, Woods Davy, have sold from $1,000 to $7,000.

He first collected natural stones and turned them into sculptures without altering the shapes. Then he started making “stones” that look like they came from a riverbed using concrete, metal and glass. He positions them in impossible, strangely balanced shapes, which are held together by concealed steel rods and adhesives.

This table is 22 inches high with a round glass top 42 inches in diameter. Poking through the glass is a rock with its top 28 inches from the floor.

He used old natural forms in a new unbalanced way, which is known as postmodernism. That is the name of an unusual period of art developed in the 1950s that fuses past styles with the look of modern magazines, films and other unexpected sources.

But is this just a great table? Or, is it art?

I have a wooden table that is marked “Larkin Soap Company.” Does that mean it was used in the company office or was it made by a soap company? How old is it?

John D. Larkin (1845-1926) worked for a soap factory in Buffalo in the 1860s. He became a partner and moved with the company to Chicago.

He met and married a girl from Buffalo, and they moved back to their hometown in 1875. There he started his own company, John D. Larkin, and sold “Sweet Home” soap. By 1881, he had a full line of related products and gave a free colored picture card with each bar of soap.

Cards were not enough, so he started giving better premiums including, handkerchiefs, towels, dishes and even furniture. The desk was the gift with 10 dollars’ worth of soap.

Soap sales changed by the 1940s, premiums were no longer popular and the company closed in 1962. Your table was made from 1899 to 1904 when the company name matched the label on your table.

Current Prices

New Martinsville lamp, flowering vine, opaque mottled pink, chimney shade, brass collar, c. 1904, 8 x 3 inches, $45.

Red Wing Pottery water cooler, No. 8, cobalt blue stripe, metal handles, 17 x 11 inches, $155.

Sextant, brass, ebonized wood, ivory inlay, oak case, Spencer, Browning & Co., 12 inches, $340.

Inkwell, silver gilt, crystal, seated women, knight’s helmet, grapevines, repousse, Austria, 1800s, 6 x 7 inches, $780.

Tip: Sniff the photo album you plan to use for old photographs. If it smells, it probably is made of vinyl or some other unsafe material. Don’t use it. It will discolor the photos.