Antiques & Collecting: Scutching knives

A knife with a painted wooden blade might sound like something strictly decorative. If it’s a flax knife, or scutching knife, that’s not the case. Before mechanization, making flax into linen fabric was a very long, complicated, multi-step process.

Scutching, removing the tough stalk from prepared flax stems, comes partway through this process. The resulting flax fibers are then further processed, spun into thread and finally woven into linen.

The fibers are separated from the stalk by scraping or beating, not cutting; so scutching knives are made of wood.

There are simple wooden scutching knives that date to prehistoric times, but most that exist today are from the 18th or 19th centuries. Most are plain wood, maybe with a little carved trim, but Swedish scutching knives are often painted.

This one, which sold for $90 at Leland Little Auctions, features favorite motifs: a blue background and multicolor flowers. Dated 1876, it may have been a wedding gift.

I have an Anniversary Edition Original 1959 Barbie doll in the original box with accessories. She has blond hair in a ponytail and wears a black-and-white striped swimsuit. Can you tell me how much she is worth?

The first Barbie doll was created by Mattel co-founder Ruth Handler in 1959. She had a blond or brunette ponytail and wore a strapless black-and-white striped swimsuit and black high-heeled sandals with holes in the soles to fit on an included stand.

She was packaged in a narrow cardboard box with several rows of Barbies in different outfits and different hair colors printed on it.

The Anniversary Edition was released in 1994 in honor of the doll’s 35th anniversary. This was a reproduction of the original doll.

The packaging has a clear front and is marked “35th Anniversary Barbie,” but includes a replica of the original box among the doll’s accessories. The 35th Anniversary Barbie is worth about $50.

Even without the packaging, there are noticeable differences between the 35th Anniversary Barbie and the original.

The anniversary edition is marked on the back of the neck; the original is not. The original doll was made of vinyl with a partly solid body; the anniversary doll is hollow plastic.

The anniversary doll’s swimsuit has clear straps, but if the doll was played with, they may have deteriorated over time.

Tip: Sap bleeds from the knots in old wood and it stains the paint. This discoloration is one way to determine if paint is old.

Current Prices

Pie safe, walnut, painted brown, gallery top, two doors over drawer, side panels, eight tin panels, painted yellow, punched pinwheels, tapered legs, c. 1850, 55 x 44 inches, $315.

Candlestick, silver plate, allover raised scrolls, flared cup, baluster stand, round foot, removable bobeche, weighted base, marked, Elkington & Co., 1851, 10 inches, four pieces, $320.

Coin-operated machine, vending, Pulver, Hi Hi Bubble Gum, 1 cent, cylinder top, multicolor graphics, clown blowing bubble, banners, teal base, 1950s, 16 x 9 inches, $900.

Silver-American, tea set, Talisman Rose, rosebud finial, raised leafy scrolls, pedestal foot, coffeepot, teapot, sugar and creamer, waste bowl, Frank M. Whiting, five pieces, $2,030.