Antiques & Collecting: Pottery reproductions

Keeping the past alive is part of the appeal of antiques. The most valuable, most desirable collectibles are original antiques, but reproductions can have their own interesting stories.

This figural vase by Henriot Quimper pottery sold for $42 at Richard Opfer Auctioneering, a low price compared to antique Quimper pottery.

This style of pottery has been made in Quimper, France, since the late 1600s, but this vase is a 20th-century reproduction made to sell at Colonial Williamsburg as a souvenir.

The date of 1682 on its base is one of the details copied from the original piece of pottery in Colonial Williamsburg’s museum collection. It is called “Mr. Nobody” after a character from a popular play at the time.

The original piece was Delftware, a popular tin-glazed pottery usually decorated in blue and white. Quimper pottery has a similar tin glaze, and the potteries that originally made it in the 17th and 18th centuries have since merged into factories that are still operating today.

I have a kitchen table set that belonged to my mom. It is from the 1940s-1950s. The legs and frame are maple, as are the chairs. The top of the table, however, is metal which matches the maple in color and is expandable to make the table longer. She also has a matching maple hutch. Just wondering if this is worth pursuing.

The kitchen table of the mid-20th century served many purposes. It was used as a dining table, a food preparation area, a gathering place for family and friends, a worktable and much more.

Tabletops made from materials like metal or laminate, which were easier to clean than wood and more resistant to damage, became popular.

People always like the look of wood, so finishes resembling wood were available. This kind of kitchen furniture was utilitarian and inexpensive.

Furniture from the mid-20th century usually sells for low prices if it is not made by a major designer. Tables like your mom’s sell for up to $150. Similar kitchen hutches sell for about $300. The entire set would sell for about $600.

Tip: Don’t put pottery or porcelain with crazed glaze in the dishwasher. It will crack even more.

Current Prices

Firefighting, fire mark, cast iron, tree, green and red, textured ground, Mutual Insurance Co., Philadelphia, 11 x 7 1/2 inches, $105.

Toy, dollhouse, two-story, three porches, side porches swing out to open sides, wallpapered rooms, balcony, two chimneys, lithographed paper on wood, Bliss, c. 1900, 24 x 20 inches, $150.

Picture, needlework, map of England, labeled, oval border, flowers, silk, frame, England, early 1800s, 28 x 25 1/2 inches, $280.

Cut glass, goblet, cranberry to clear, thumbprint and diamond, teardrop stem, round foot, polished pontil, 6 inches, six pieces, $370.