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Antiques! => Antique Questions Forum => Topic started by: talesofthesevenseas on December 12, 2010, 07:59:32 PM
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Well, I ditched the idea of getting an antique cookie jar when I became totally enchanted by this little figural salt cellar. I'm usually not into figurines, but I love this one, and she will look just great with the fancy blue & white china in the dining room.
She has what I think must be a Meissen imitator mark? Anyone know? She should date from the late 1800's to early 1900's. Whatever she turns out to be, I really like her!
(http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x124/talesofthesevenseas/SaltLady2.jpg)
(http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x124/talesofthesevenseas/SaltLady4.jpg)
(http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x124/talesofthesevenseas/SaltLady5.jpg)
(http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x124/talesofthesevenseas/SaltLady6.jpg)
(http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x124/talesofthesevenseas/SaltLady1.jpg)
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Not sure on the mark.
I haven't seen a double salt cellar especially that was covered by a lady sitting partially blocking the opening. I would think it was for something else?
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I don't think she will hold very many cookies. :(
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Well, it came from a seller who specializes in salt cellars, so I'm pretty sure that is what she is. The opening doesn't need to be very big, salt spoons are tiny... kinda like the infamous McDonalds spoons of the 70's if you know where I'm heading with that, LOL!
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Tales where do you find these treasures?? Love her!!
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Thanks Sapphire! This one was on Ebay, she popped up on a search for blue in the pottery and glass section. She's an unusual purchase for me because I never, ever buy figurines. I've never liked them much. But this one is an exception. I was smitten as soon as I saw her!
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Tales so nice !!! I came across some tiny salt spoons tonight also would go perfect with her!!!!! let me know if you get her will be happy to send you out 2 spoons!!!! Heres a photo of one.
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A couple more similar to yours, double crossed swords......
http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/6940275
http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/6940276
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Oooh! Wendy! Love the spoons! I already won the auction, so I will send you a message. Thanks, those would go beautifully with "The Salt Lady"!
Sapphire that second female double salt cellar looks very similar, it was probably the inspiration for this one.
I don't think that Meissen had a single sword hallmark, so I suspect this is an imitator, but I have no idea who. Maybe Chris Marshall will know.
Here's another Meissen double salt cellar with another 18th century boy, but not in blue:
http://www.collectibles-articles.com/antique/Antique-Meissen-Double-Open-Salt-Cellar-Rare-Pepper_360317886537.html (http://www.collectibles-articles.com/antique/Antique-Meissen-Double-Open-Salt-Cellar-Rare-Pepper_360317886537.html)
Another very similar to mine in pink:
http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/meissen-purple-indian-figural-double-salt-cellar (http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/meissen-purple-indian-figural-double-salt-cellar)
Another very nice boy in blue-
http://llauctions.auctionflex.com/showlot.ap?co=23728&weid=11365&weiid=4917636&wcmid=37&mindate=19900101&maxdate=20501231&lso=lotnumasc&pagenum=1&lang=En (http://llauctions.auctionflex.com/showlot.ap?co=23728&weid=11365&weiid=4917636&wcmid=37&mindate=19900101&maxdate=20501231&lso=lotnumasc&pagenum=1&lang=En)
All these above are listed as Meissen. It looks like Meissen produced a lot of these. I found them by Googling double salt cellar.
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Scatter brained me wasn't thinking of salt spoons. Was thinking of salt cellars for cooking.....one way track tonight.
Really like it! Have to keep an eye out on these!
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*Ah-ha moment!*
I think I know what the mark on the Salt Lady signifies- I found out that Meissen marked it's pieces that were inferior in either painting or molding with a "cancelled line". That would make sense for this piece, since I know that she has a manufacturing flaw- See where the handle connects to the basket on the right in the first photo below.
So she may be a Meissen piece after all. This would add up since I can't find any repros/fake Meissen that look like her, or any of the other Meissen figural double salt cellars. That's kinda cool. I don't mind the defect and knew about it when I bought her. (I've got one or two defects of my own!) I also paid considerably less than what the other Meissen examples are going for.
(http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x124/talesofthesevenseas/SaltLady4.jpg)
Here is the "cancelled line" mark:
(http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x124/talesofthesevenseas/SaltLady6.jpg)
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She's wonderful tales, I love it! I love this Meissen bowl, too.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Meissen-Blue-Porcelain-Divided-Bowl-/190477882764?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c595dd58c
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That bowl is absolutely freakin' gorgeous!!! Are you going to bid on it?
The "Salt Lady" is the only antique blue piece I have allowed myself to buy. I decided a long time ago that it was too great a danger that future generations might mix up the heirloom china pieces with anything I bought. So I have never allowed myself to buy anything but modern Blue Danube pieces to add to the collection- Pieces made during my own lifetime are my contribution. The Salt Lady is the only exception I have made to that rule that I set for myself. I figured that she was unique enough that I could indicate that she was an addition, without mixing up the overall collection. I have passed up so much beautiful blue china over the years!
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I love it so much but I don't think it's a good idea. I don't do too well with glass and delicates, we have a zoo in this house and I'm too scared for things like that to get broken. Especially when I let the two parrots fly around. Maybe that's why I like cast iron and wood items so much, don't have to worry about them at all! Maybe when I get a china cabinet or some other enclosed glass cabinet.
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LOL as I read your post I was watching "Avatar" and could just see your parrot flying off with that lovely shell dish clutched in his talons!
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Lol I watched it yesterday! I imagine them grabbing it and tossing it. I have two Lorikeets now too and they are seriously neurotic. They throw their ceramic bowls, their toys, their little plastic cat balls just to see how many times they will bounce around the cage...I imagine them grabbing it by the handle and it hitting the wall. EEEKK!
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I feel your pain girlfriend! I have a Triton cockatoo and hubby has a rose-breasted 'too! Mine is the destructo-boy. I keep the china hutch safely locked!
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Looks like I will have to retract my "ah-ha moment". According to the Meissen Ebay guide, Meissen does not produce seconds, despite a whole lot of internet lore to the contrary! So I think my Salt Lady will probably turn out to be imitation Meissen.
http://reviews.ebay.com/Meissen-Collector-apos-s-Guide_W0QQugidZ10000000000076613 (http://reviews.ebay.com/Meissen-Collector-apos-s-Guide_W0QQugidZ10000000000076613)
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Uh oh, that kinda stinks. I looked yours up on ebay and it was sold as a Meissen, and it is not. I still think she's beautiful and was worth buying, but I would ask for a small discount if you decide to keep her. Because it's not fair to you that she's an imposter. :P
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Nah, I am not worried about it, I bought it knowing that it had a flaw and I had my doubts all along because I knew the mark didn't look right. I knew when I bought it that it very likely would be an imitator, but this piece so much I didn't really care. I've been looking at Meissen salt cellars and I still like her just fine! :)
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Then that's all that matters! :)
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The Salt Lady arrived this morning and I'm quite happy with her. The colors are a little more muted in reality than they appear in the photos, which is good, since I was a little concerned that they might be overly bright compared to the rest of the blue and white china.
What looked like label residue in the photo is actually a rough place where whatever her original marking was, it appears to have been scraped off. So it looks like she is a factory second from somewhere. It's difficult to know weather or not Meissen released seconds or not. I found only the one Ebay guide that claimed that Meissen did not release seconds. All the other sources I found said that they did. I guess the jury is still out on that one!
Age-wise I think that the early 1900's estimate by the seller is probably pretty a fair one, and I would guess that she was probably produced about the time that the Meissen pieces were popular, or a little after. The skirt is a transferware design, while the rest is hand-painted, except for the cheeks, which I think are air-brushed, so like the chinahead doll, I believe that would put her production in the 1920's, at about the end of the time when open salt cellars fell out of popularity. Her face is very nicely painted, not skewed at all, and she has the same "rosebud" pursed painted lips that you see on the chinahead dolls from around this time and tiny dots of blush color in the nostrils. Whoever did the face did a really good job.
There is just the tiniest bit of rubbing visible to the blue at the edges of the basket, some wear to the base bottom and a bit of dust staining in the deepest crevices. This is most noticable on the two flowers, which do not have the shiny finish glaze. The flowers were formed by making layers with the petals like a real flower would have. They could not have been popped out of a mold and there is dust grime down inside them.
No chips anywhere, it looks like she has had a pretty easy life in a china hutch.
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Sounds like you are very pleased with your purchase, Tales. It should be a nice addition to your kitchen collection.
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Found a little more on open salt cellars in general. It looks like they were used up until about WWII or the depression, (sources vary on this) so she could have been produced a little later than the 20's, but by then the switch had been made to shakers and salt was no longer sold in blocks. That helps a bit to confirm the age.
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You can buy salt blocks today but they are for deer and Bessies. ;D
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In this house, we prefer open salts. I think it's because we also watch the cooking channels discovered it was WAY easier to have a bowl of kosher salt sitting out on the counter than to drag down the huge box. From there, it has gone to the table for our everyday use.
I have sets of mini/individual salt and peppers for my "dress-up" table but as I was watching ppl at Thanksgiving this year, I was thinking about how I could use the "open" concept but still keep the individual settings...
Anyway, needless to say, I think she is very cool. Esp if you have blue china.
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Oceans, they made some neat little carnival glass "salt dips" in the 20's and 30's that were small and intended to be at each person's place setting. I bought my mom a bunch of the cobalt ones a few years ago that were all little animals from the 1930's sitting in baskets, like these below. These are tiny, about 2" long. There are also lots of non-figural ones. Just run a search for salt dip on Ebay and you'll see lots.:
(http://i15.ebayimg.com/02/i/001/44/24/c47e_12.JPG)
(http://i19.ebayimg.com/02/i/001/73/aa/cb22_1_b.JPG)
(http://i.ebayimg.com/09/!B-szK-!!Wk~$(KGrHqN,!lMEy+jC0)ssBM9,y!c3gQ~~_3.JPG)
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Ironlord had a green hen on nest and a clear cat on nest posted on eBay but I do not know if they were small for salt dips.
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I've seen big (about 4" to 6") hens that are more like candy dishes. These are about as long as your thumb.
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Hahaha!! VERY familiar with those per my eBay listing... http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190480334624&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT
The hens "scare" the hubby - Big Baby! He just doesn't want to tell me he doesn't like 'em (they were my Gma's and I'm not crazy about 'em either). I did save one hen that's all white and the right size for a salt - size of my index finger and cute cuz it's small!
I'll have to look for others tho... While not crazy about figures I am LOVING the carnival glass (?) one Tales...
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Wow Tales... you aren't kidding - there is a lot. I may have to put aside my anal-retentive-matchy-match tendencies and start a small collection of old ones. Some are really nice looking.
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What is your china pattern Oceans? Maybe we can find something close.
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You know... I have no idea of the pattern for the one's I use at Thanksgiving and Christmas. They were bought at The Bon Marche (now Macy's) years ago. Kinda Christmasey with red and gold but do OK with fall. Then I have a couple of sets of floral something from MIL... Then just a plain white with gold... I have WAY too much stuff.
I'm really liking the carnival glass look... Anything with gold I think would work. And like the idea of it being old.
Good thing I'm up to my elbows in Biscotti making or I'd be shopping!!
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Yea I had a green Hen, Still have the cat. The green "Nesting Hen" sold after a bit of a battle. I did also sell a Amber one a few months ago and have another I processing that is Ceramic White. These are and or were Full size one. They sell really easy. I havwe seen the small ones but didn;t realize they were Salt cellers.
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OK - now that I've looked at a few of these it just dawned on me to ask...
Do you put salt in one side and something else in the other? Maybe seasoning salt? Salt & pepper mixed?
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I have always thought that it is so that it can sit in the middle of the table and you can reach it from either side. I think traditionally it would be just salt, but why not use it for spicing whatever dish is on the table that night- You could fill it with salt/pepper, any spice, lemon/lime slices, fresh mint, shaved chocolate etc. The possibilities are pretty endless!
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Wendy177 very kindly sent me a pair of Italian salt spoons for the "Salt Lady". Here she is with her new spoons in her baskets. Thanks Wendy!
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PERFECT !!!
Now where are the shots showing the whole table set??? :D
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She looks lovely Tales!! your welcome just glad they have such a wonderful home full of so much history!!! ;D