February Mailbag: Finding Love Among the Figurines

My Valentine to you this week is to finally dip into my long-neglected mailbag and answer some of your appraisal questions. On top of the pile are two questions about porcelain figurines. And I am not surprised.
People still love figurines of all types and materials to collect, and to decorate their homes. I often receive questions about them, because values can fluctuate with popular taste. Tastes can range from figures of humans, animals or abstracts, and from the fanciful to the starkly realistic. The two that are the subjects of today’s mailbag are cases in point.
The first is a romantic three-figure group by the late Italian porcelain designer, Giuseppe Armani (not to be confused with Giorgio Armani of fashion and perfumes). Giuseppi died in 2006, and since then, the values of his figures have gone up and are just now leveling off.
This particular porcelain sculpture depicts a woman being swept away by a man on a horse. Like many Armani figures, it captures a moving moment in a romantic and heroic story. These little operas will cost you, however, ranging from several hundred to over $2,000 dollars.
The other figure is a 16-inch high by 21-1/2-inch wide Goebel owl, life-like and majestic, a real celebration of wildlife. It is also an artist-signed limited edition, and worth about $600-800, conservatively.
Goebel is probably best known for manufacturing the cute Hummel figurines, starting in the 1930s and becoming hugely popular from 1945 to 1965. But the Goebel Company goes back to the 1870s and is still in business today. Among their specialties are religious figurines and their very popularly collected animal figurines.
People feel a special connection with certain animals. Figures of dogs are still the most collected, followed by cats, pigs, horses, etc. Among the bird and wildlife figures, wise old owls probably take the prize. Goebel animals are generally much less expensive than this signed and numbered piece.
Another item in our mailbag is a crockery bottle impressed with a mark, reading: “Selters Nassau.” I bring it to your attention as an example of how antiques are always teaching us something.
In this case, we learn the origin of the word “seltzer” is from the German town of Niderselters, the site of a naturally effervescent mineral spring. People visited spring like this everywhere, but it was in Niderselters, about the year 1850, that companies like Selters Nassau began shipping the fizzy elixir around the globe in sealed bottles.
These old ceramic bottles sell for $75-125 each today, and bottling bubbly water has become a multi-gazillion dollar business.
Also in this week’s mailbag, we have questions on Victorian furniture, Limoges porcelain and Japanese Imari. Send your appraisal request to the email address at the end of this column. Include a photo and information on dimensions and marks.
Valentine’s Day is this weekend, and no doubt an exhausted Cupid will be flitting all around the Jersey Cape over the next several days. But if you need a gift for a special person at any time of year, your best resource is the locally owned antique and vintage specialty shops right here. Remember, whatever the price range, if it needs to be unique, it needs to be an antique.
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 requests to: aschwerdt@cmcherald.com.