Antiques – Shops Offer “Heads Up” to Collectors

Sometimes you don’t know you’re collecting something until you look around and discover you have a lot of it. That’s how it was many years ago when I discovered that I had been collecting heads. Yes, I admit it; I was a head hunter, a fortunate pathology for any antique dealer to be inflicted with.
That’s because, unlike many other forms of collecting, head hunting is not restricted by any era, form or material. You could fill a whole shop with heads and still have something for every sort of collector.
Let’s start with the obvious. You will find cameos in most antique shops, even those that don’t deal in estate jewelry. Real or costume, a cameo looks like an heirloom. Then there are Toby mugs, those delightful Royal Doulton heads of historical and literary characters.
Keeps heads up for masks, portraits and portrait plates, silhouettes, or busts, which can be of real or fictional characters. Then for the men there are those meerschaum pipes with the carved head bowls, and for the ladies, the very popular head vases made between the 1950s and ’70.
Busts and plaques of stylish ladies made of chalk (plaster-of-Paris) were popular bedroom decorations in the 1940s. Some of these “fashion ladies” also doubled as night-lights.
In Japan, the heads of the disciples of the Buddha are considered good luck. That’s why you might see Satsuma tea sets decorated with portraits of heads. There is also a Japanese porcelain pattern, popular during the Art Deco era, called “Thousand Faces,” in which it’s not obvious until you look very close that the decoration is made up of hundreds of small faces.
The most famous head in Japan is Daruma’s, and it can show up anywhere, from woodblock prints to bronzes. Children learn about Daruma at a vey young age with toys, like wobbling weebles, and games similar to out red light green light.
His fascinating story is told in various ways. You should Google it. In brief, Daruma went into a trance for nine years, and when he awoke he no longer had the use of his legs. Thus he discovered the Buddhist concept of Zen – persistence, focus, concentration – the way goals are achieved and wishes come true.
There is a great deal more to learn from the collection of heads, and you’ll discover them in every field of collecting from advertizing art to architecture. There out there, just lift your head up.
Appraisals: Clown head can opener, cast iron, ca.1930 ($100); Salt and pepper shakers, male and female chefs, painted wood, 1940s ($20); Mr. Peanut head plastic mug, pink ($18); Child’s head Christmas ornament, painted glass,1912 ($225); Toby jug, “The Sleuth,” Royal Doulton, 1970s ($60); Oil lamp, pattern glass, Duncan Three-Face ($300); Match safe, silver, profile of Prime Minister Gladstone ($225).
If you would like to have items of yours appraised this month, on Saturday the 19th I’ll be at Teaberry Marketplace on Rt. 9 in Clermont, a great place to browse. And don’t miss the official opening of the antique season at the annual Avalon Antique Show in Community Hall on Saturday, the 26th. There is good food available at both places. I insist on it. Stick your head in and say hello. I’ll look forward to seeing you.
Arthur Schwerdt, a certified appraiser, is the author of “The Antique Story Book: Finding the Real Value of Old Things,” and co-owner of The August Farmhouse Antiques on Route 9 in Swainton. Send your comments, questions and appraisal request to aschwerdt@cmcherald.com.When the sun goes down and the lamps go off, this lady will stay up all night. She’s an aluminum and ceramic night light (about $300). Fashion heads were popular in the mid-20th Century. They appeared as night lights, vases, busts and wall plaques, usually displayed in the bedroom.