Unmarked art glass often a bargain

Twentieth-century art glass is attracting adventurous buyers who search for relatively unknown European pieces. Because most of this glass is unmarked or marked with a handwritten name or a paper label, it requires study.

John Moncrieff started the North British Glassworks in Perth, Scotland, in 1865. He made industrial glass, bottles, tubing and glass for lamps. During World War I, he developed a heat-resistant glass later sold as “Monax glass.” In 1924 his glassworks began to make art glass. It was called “Monart,” a tradename that combined the names “Moncrieff” and “Ysart,” the last name of a family of glassblowers at the factory. One of factory’s designers was Isobel Moncrieff, the wife of John Jr.

Most Monart pieces were free-blown. They included everything from bowls and vases to ink bottles and table lamps. Pieces were produced in many colors, some with metallic flecks. Clear glass pieces were made with additions of colored enamels that created intense shades. Bubbly art glass was introduced in the 1930s.

Monart was produced until about 1961. The glassworks went through many changes of management and in 1980 was taken over by Stuart & Sons.

Art glass pieces sell for bargain prices today. A 71/4-inch mottled glass vase sold this spring at DuMouchelles Art Galleries in Detroit for only $152. It looks like the American Cluthra glass made by Steuben.

Q: I have a pair of silver candlesticks marked “Continental Silver.” Does this mean they’re really continental silver? How should they be cleaned?

A: If by “continental silver” you mean silver made on the European continent, the answer is no. European silversmiths did not mark their work “continental silver.” However, an American firm marked pieces with its name, “Continental Silver Co.” That’s probably the maker of your candlesticks.

Continental Silver Co. was in business from about 1920 to 1950. It made plated silver hollowware, including candlesticks. Your candlesticks can be cleaned with any commercial silver polish, but they may not look as bright as sterling silver candlesticks.

Q: I bought a mailbox at an antique shop 20 years ago. The name “Orr, Painter & Co., Reading, Pa.,” is impressed on the front. The box is fixed onto a post. Can you tell me anything about the history of the company?

A: Orr, Painter & Co. made iron parlor stoves, furnaces, fire grates and hollowware beginning about 1885. The company started making mailboxes in the late 1880s. Your mailbox could be mounted on a post or on the side of a building. It had a lock that was opened when the mailman picked up the mail.

Orr, Painter & Co. was in business until 1935, but some of its mailboxes were still in use in the 1960s. Old mailboxes used by the post office sell for about $40 if they’re white metal, $300 if brass.

Q: I just found a big papier-mâché dog, perhaps a Boston terrier. The dog is lying down. The words “Bryant Pup” are on it. Can you tell me anything? I assume it is an old ad.

A: You have a well-known ad used from 1905 to 1931 by the Bryant Heater and Manufacturing Co. of Cleveland. The brand is still around, although the company has been bought and moved. Bryant’s slogan was “Let your pup be your furnace man.” The pups, 17 by 14 by 12 inches, were displayed on desks in Bryant offices. One recently sold for $945.

Tip: Wash silver every time it is used. Before you polish silver, be sure to wash it to remove all dust. Small gritty pieces of dust will scratch the silver.

Terry Kovel’s column is syndicated by King Features. Write to: Kovels, (Las Vegas Review-Journal), King Features Syndicate, 300 W. 57th St., New York, NY 10019.