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The Antiques Addict Cure-Alls in Colored Bottles
April 23, 2015
•Distinctive bottles of many shapes and hues, displayed in the windows of medieval apothecaries, lured ailing customers to buy their contents. By the 18th century, England was producing more than 200 elixirs and serums, their secret formulas known only to their makers.
Called patent medicines, these “amazing cures” were manufactured under grants to those who provided medicine to the Royal family. Each medicine came in its uniquely colored, hand-blown bottle. By the late 1700s, these elixirs began to arrive in the United States with the first settlers.
After American independence, rising nationalistic feelings were exploited by U.S. manufacturers, who claimed that their potions were derived from plant products found exclusively in North America. Self-medication was alluring to early Americans, who often had limited access to medicines or doctors, and the patent-medicine business flourished. Remedies, often laced with alcohol, morphine, opium or cocaine, were virtually unregulated and available for every known ailment.
By the mid-19th century, doctors, tinsmiths and everyone in between promoted their “branded” concoctions, each with its unique bottle. Sold in retail stores and at traveling medicine shows, they relied on attractive bottles to promote their exotic ingredients. From the 19th to the mid-20th century, a variety of glass medicine vessels, numbering in the thousands, were manufactured to contain an equally prodigious number of brands.
The earliest of these bottles were made from natural sand, which gave them an opaque aquamarine color. In 18th- and 19th-century America, glass bottles were often hand-blown and misshapen or asymmetrical. Because they had to be detached from the blowpipe when finished, a round imprint on the bottom of the bottle – known as a pontil mark or scar – was created.
Early experimentation with additives in glass manufacturing resulted in green, amber or blue bottles. Colored, pontiled medicine bottles are scarce, and prices range from $100 to $20,000. These rarefied bottles are typically a color other than aqua or clear, with a pontil scar on the base. They are embossed with the name of the doctor or the type of “medicine,” as in “Cure,” “Bitters,” “Tonic” or “Sarsaparilla.” The more common aqua medicines with pontils sell for upwards of $20. (Clear glass was not perfected until the late 19th century; hence, a clear bottle is a later bottle.)
One of the clues for dating a bottle is the lip, as nearly all bottles made prior to 1870 had a hot piece of glass crudely applied to the lip. As a rule of thumb, bottles made from 1830 to 1850 have a flared or sheared lip and those made from 1840 to 1870 have applied round or squared lips. After 1870, a lipping tool was used to twist two pieces of glass clipped onto the sides of the bottle into a uniform shape. Bottles from the last part of the 19th century show evidence of this twisting motion.
One of the many popular patent products sold via elaborate traveling shows was Kickapoo Indian Sagwa. Featuring acrobats and Native American horse riders, the shows traveled the countryside, touting their cure-all as a blood, liver and stomach remedy. The richly embellished bottles claimed to contain special Native America herbal medicine, which was actually mostly alcohol, stale beer and a strong laxative. They did, in fact, contained a touch of herbs.
In 1906, the industry received its fatal blow when Congress passed the Pure Food and Drug Act. The U.S. government had finally stepped in to stop the sale of these “medicines,” the sellers of which made unproven, often outrageous claims about their curing everything from tuberculosis and colds to cancer.
Even so, a few patent medicines continued to be produced up through the 1950s. Some products continue to be sold even today, such as Father John’s Medicine. First produced by Father John O’Brien in Lowell, Massacheusetts, in 1855, its brown bottle still retains its familiar picture of Father John.
More than 10,000 types of patent medicine bottles were produced and distributed throughout the United States between approximately 1850 and 1906. Historians have estimated that more than 15,000 different medicines were available in these bottles.
In 1892, Owens Glass Company invented the semi-automatic bottle machine, which left a large ring, known as the Owens’ ring, on the bottle’s base. At around that time, the typical color of glass used for bottles changed from aqua to clear. Fewer bottles were embossed by the late 1930s and into the 1940s, and bottles lost their individuality as food manufacturers demanded more regular containers. The bubbles and the charming irregularities that collectors love disappeared as the 20th century progressed.
Michelle Galler has been an antiques dealer for more than 25 years. Her shop is in Rare Finds, 211 Main Street, Washington, Virginia. She also consults from her 19th-century home in Georgetown. Reach her at antiques.and.whimsies@gmail.com. [gallery ids="102039,134727" nav="thumbs"]
Featured Property
April 22, 2015
•Fessenden House, one of the grandest homes in the Washington, D.C., for the first time since its construction, is for sale. The home exemplifies the finest elements of neoclassical architecture. This exquisite, one-of-a-kind residence was inspired by the work of 18th-century architects Robert and James Adam, who transformed English architecture by creating a lighter, more refined mode of Georgian design.
Designed by Leon Chatelain in collaboration with interior designer Antony Childs, Fessenden House represents the highest quality in residential construction. The grounds, designed by landscape architect James Urban, winner of the ASLA Medal of Excellence, envelop the home in the beauty and splendor of both formal and informal English gardens.
Bedrooms: 7
Full Bath: 9
Pool and poolhouse
Wine cellar with tasting room
Half-size sports court.
Offered at $22 million
Long & Foster
Christie’s International Real Estate
Nancy Itteilag
202-905-7762
Itteilag@gmail.com
Quality Hill-Worthington House on Prospect Street for Sale at $11 Million
April 21, 2015
•One of the most historic houses in Georgetown and Washington, D.C., is on the market, after it was sold 10 years ago by Sen. Clairborne Pell and his wife Nuala to Ralph and Nancy Taylor. The 3425 Prospect St., NW, Federal-style house sits on the northeast corner of Prospect and 35th Streets and was built in 1798. It is also significant because of its occupants, who were active in local and national affairs.
The gray two-story brick house is for sale for $11 million by agent Russell Firestone of TTR Sotheby’s International Reality, which confirmed the listing to the Georgetowner. The asking price — $11 million — is the same amount which nearby Halcyon House sold for in 2012.
While neighbors on Prospect Street may call it the Pell house, the 6,433-square-foot house was called Quality Hill by its first owner John Thomson Mason, nephew of one of America’s founding fathers, George Mason. Prominent physician Charles Worthington lived there for 25 years. His family also owned the Leonard Mackall House on 34th Street. For a time in the early 20th century, Albert Clemons, owner of Halcyon House, also owned Quality Hill and used it for storage. To the neighbors, it was known as the “haunted house.” In the 1940s, the house finally got electricity during a major renovation by Sir Willmott Lewis and Lady Norma Bowler Lewis. In 1961, she sold it to the Pells, who sold to the Taylors for $3.9 million in 2004. The Taylors had the house undergo a restoration and rehabilitation that reportedly cost as much as the selling price.
The house has eight bedrooms. Thomas Jefferson is said to have dined there. Arches in the center hallway supposedly came from the Francis Scott Key House on M Street. The house is on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
Le Décor: Green With Envy
April 13, 2015
•As spring moves gloriously into the neighborhood so does a renewed appreciation for all things green. We’ve curated a list of products that are undeniably chic and environmentally stylish that pay tribute to the colors and materials of the outside world.
1. African Kuba Cloth Pillow
www.onekingslane.com
Bring a touch of Africa into your home with a vintage Kuba Cloth pillow from One Kings Lane. These cloths are made from woven raffia palm leaf fibers and linen and accented with shells and other cultural treasures.
2. Pottery Barn Jasmine Bamboo Mirror
www.potterybarn.com
This classic mirror echoes sophistication and natural beauty thanks to its clean bamboo pattern. Measuring 34’’, the mirror has an aluminum base and is hand-painted with an antique finish that will be right at home in a foyer, a bedroom, or hanging above a small vignette.
3. Proteak Cutting Boards
www.proteakstore.com
Proteak Cutting Boards are built from sustainably grown teak wood and make an excellent addition to both residential and professional kitchens. Teak has been used throughout history on boats thanks to its strength and water resistance. Each board is unique and has its own individual beauty.
4. Teak Wood Hanging Planters
www.anthropologie.com
These handmade teak hanging planters, each unique from the next, are great for both indoor and outdoor use. Simply fill them with the succulent or plant of your choosing and hang them in a special place.
5. Bamboo China Collection
www.saksfifthavenue.com
This elegant ceramic china by Juliska features hand painted bamboo detailing that can be served from day to night. This dishwasher safe collection would be ideal for a spring to summer party in the garden.
6. Restoration Hardware Outdoor Wood Furniture
www.restorationhardware.com
The outdoor wood furniture collections at Restoration Hardware combine sustainable teak materials with Sunbrella outdoor fabrics. These cloths are certified to be low-emitting by the Greenguard Environmental Institute (GEI).
Bringing the Hammer Down
April 8, 2015
•Sotheby’s
“Untitled VII” (from “Men in the Cities”)
Robert Longo (b. 1953)
Auction Date: April 1
Estimate: $6,000 – $8,000
Final Selling Price: $8,750
Doyle New York
“Shoe Shine Boy with Dog,” 1900
John George Brown (1831-1913)
Auction Date: April 1
Estimate: $30,000 – $50,000
Final Selling Price: $56,250 (includes Buyer’s Premium)
Christie’s
“Near Gloucester,” c. 1916-19
Maurice Brazil Prendergast
(1858-1924)
Auction Date: March 25
Estimate: $150,000 – $250,000
Final Selling Price: $125,000
Bonhams
Amethyst, Turquoise
and Diamond Ring
Jean Schlumberger
Auction Date: March 31
Estimate: $8,000 – $12,000
Final Selling Price: $52,500
Freeman’s
Chinese “Jun” Bowl, Late Yuan
Auction Date: March 14
Estimate: $10,000 – $15,000
Final Selling Price: $25,000
The Auction Block
•
Sotheby’s
Silent Seasons – Summer No. II
Oil on Canvas
Will Barnet (1911 – 2012)
Estimate: $60,000 – $90,000
Auction Date: April 23
Sotheby’s April sale of American Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture includes a rich array of American artwork from the 19th and 20th centuries, including this iconic painting by Will Barnet, which exhibits the artist’s characteristic motifs of the human figure and animals in casual scenes of daily life, depicted in a state of dreamlike whimsy. Other highlights include Gifford Beal’s ‘Fish Houses, Winter Day,’ as well as works by George Inness, Jasper Francis Cropsey, and notable 20th century artists like Charles Burchfield and Norman Rockwell.
christie’s
A massive pair of Napoleon III ormolu-mounted Japanese Imari Porcelain
thirteen-light torchère
Estimate: $120,000 – $180,000
Auction Date: April 16
Part of Christie’s auction, The Opulent Eye: 19th Century Funriture, Sculpture, Works of Art, Ceramics & Glass, each of these rather magnificent torch lamps is of bottle outline with a pair of profusely scrolled acanthus handles, issuing thirteen scrolled candle-branches on entwined dolphin support. A truly opulent sight.
bonham’s
An Important Suite of Diamond and Ruby Jewelry
Van Cleef & Arpels French, 1988
Estimate: $180,000 – $220,000
Auction Date: April 15
This diamond and ruby suite from the 1980’s, part of Bonham’s Fine Jewelry sale, is a beautiful and romantic example of Van Cleef & Arpel’s graceful designs set with superbly matched calibré set cut rubies and diamonds. This suite is a fine example of Van Cleef & Arpels interpretation of the unique time and fashion which characterized the 1980’s with the image of wealth and success expressed in impressive jewels and dress.
Freeman’s
Special Minguren I Coffee Table
Curly maple burl and walnut
George Nakashima (1905 – 1990)
Estimate: $30,000 – $50,000
Auction Date:April 22
The American Furniture, Folk & Decorative Arts sale at Freeman’s is a welcome treat for those interested in the unique history and style of American craft and design. From the 18th century to the 20th century, the selection ranges from a Chippendale walnut case clock ca. 1775, to 20th century master furniture makers like George Nakashima, whose renowned “natural wood” design is on full display with this beautiful coffee table. Other offerings include Oriental rugs and carpets, as well as rare coins.
doyle new york
Frida Kahlo Archive
Estimate: $80,000 – $120,000
Auction Date: April 15
Doyle New York’s auction of Rare Books, Maps & Autographs is highlighted by an archive of unpublished love letters written by Mexican artist Frida Kahlo to Jose Bartoli.This group of letters is dated between August 1946—when Kahlo had just turned 39—and November 1949. Her letters were written while Kahlo was recuperating at home in Mexico City from a spinal fusion performed in June of 46. The archive comprising approximately 25 letters in Spanish from Kahlo to Bartoli.
Featured Property
•
2007 48th Street NW
Sited in the heart of Berkley, this new home by Relux Homes offers a blend of traditional and modern elements. This 5 bedroom/ 4 ½ bath home has exceptional amenities & exquisite architectural details are complemented by a sun-filled and gracious floor plan.
Offered at $2,485,000
Coldwell Banker Residential
Brokerage
Shailya “Tina” Macaya
Office: 202.625.5340
Email: Tina@cbmove.com
Swampoodle: When Irish Eyes Were Smiling
March 26, 2015
•Early immigrants from Europe didn’t settle in Washington, D.C. They went to Northern cities where the jobs and pay were better. In 1850, less than 11 percent of the city was foreign-born, compared with 45 percent in New York.
This was because Washington was still a Southern city, and the availability of slave labor and cheap labor from freed blacks kept pay for laborers comparatively low. But around the time of the Great Potato Famine in Ireland – which resulted in waves of Irish emigration – laws were passed in Washington to keep free black people from settling here and getting jobs. One such law was the requirement of a certificate of freedom that cost $50, a hefty sum at the time, to prove that the free blacks were not runaway slaves. The result was a shortage of cheap labor that drew Irish immigrants fleeing the famine.
The other attraction for the Irish was the strong existing Catholic community, including the leaders of Georgetown University, who were happy to employ the Irish Catholic immigrants whenever they could.
Because the Irish were the subject of prejudice from the majority non-Catholic population, they were inclined to stick together. The area where these impoverished immigrants congregated was the least desirable real estate in town, namely the bleak area around what was then Tiber Creek, where Union Station now stands.
Swampy and full of perpetual puddles, the neighborhood soon earned the nickname “Swampoodle.” The first Irish immigrants to arrive lived in shacks and wood shanties without plumbing or running water. It was a rough-and-tumble neighborhood, and street crime, prostitution and drunkenness were rampant.
Critics of this Irish settlement said the only person who had any power over the population was the parish priest. It was true that the church – first, the original St. Patrick’s on F Street and then St. Aloysius, named after St. Aloysius Gonzaga – were the centers of the community. Gonzaga College High School was founded in 1821 to provide higher education (The Jesuit prep school remains in operation to this day with influential alumni). The parish church operated as the settlement’s civic center, and people banded together to provide food and help for the sick, the aged and the poorest members of the community. One local resident recalled, “If someone got into trouble, there was another potato in the pot and a place to sleep.”
This neighborhood solidarity was demonstrated when the government came to them during the Civil War, wanting to turn St. Aloysius Church into a hospital. Under the leadership of the parish priest, the citizens of Swampoodle mobilized, pitched in and built a 250-bed hospital in only eight days. This seemingly impossible task was accomplished because many of the men who lived there were carpenters and other laborers on construction projects. More importantly, they didn’t want to lose their church.
This old Irish neighborhood began to disappear in 1907, when Union Station was built. It was the biggest train station in the world at that time, and the gigantic site bisected the neighborhood. Tiber Creek was filled in, and more than 300 houses were demolished. The residential area became commercial and all but disappeared. The remnants of the heart of the old community are still there in two beautiful churches, St. Patrick’s at 619 10th St. NW and St. Aloysius at 19 Eye St. NW.
Ironically, much of the train station was built by the same laborers who once called Swampoodle home. To add to the irony, the formerly dissolute area is now the crossroads of several fashionable urban neighborhoods and a very hot real estate market.
Donna Evers is the owner and broker of Evers & Co. Real Estate, the largest woman-owned and -run real estate firm in the Washington metro area, the proprietor of Twin Oaks Tavern Winery in Bluemont, Va., and a devoted student of Washington-area history. Reach her at devers@eversco.com [gallery ids="102007,135136,135140,135141,135138" nav="thumbs"]
Featured Property
March 25, 2015
•1236 Potomac Street NW
Centrally located in Georgetown’s West Village, this bright and spacious, semi-detached Victorian, built in 1890, was completely renovated by the award-winning Glass Construction Company. The first floor of the main house has an open floor plan, with three working wood-burning fireplaces and a separate butler’s pantry. On the second floor are three large bedrooms, two full baths and laundry facilities.
High ceilings and tall windows abound, with fine finishes throughout. A heated and cooled atrium connects to the attached two-story carriage house at the rear of the large Georgetown lot. The 1,000-square-foot carriage house has also been fully renovated and redesigned with a family room, a wet bar and an adjoining powder room.
Offered at $3,950,000
Washington Fine Properties
Jim Kaull
202-368-0010
jim.kaull@wfp.com
Storage Solutions in Early Homes: One Size Fits All
March 23, 2015
•The earliest Americans lived in simple, one- or two-room structures where space was meager and life was rough. By the 18th century, prosperity brought towns and great cities and more comfortable homes, rivaling those in Europe. Yet, for country-dwellers, who were decades behind the trends in the cities, farming provided the basic provisions and farmers made the furniture. Benches, tables, chairs, boxes and chests were fashioned from local woods into versions of city furniture.
Well into the 1800s, as houses grew to be a bit more ample, rooms were few, still relatively small and set up to multitask. Consequently, each piece of furniture was made to serve multiple functions as well. People got as much out of a room as possible, since heating smaller rooms was more efficient and furniture scarce. It was common for beds to be set up in the parlor and for dining tables to be placed in the center of a room on sawhorse-like trestles, then tucked into a corner when not in use.
Chairs were a luxury, since they were a bit more complicated to make; most people made do with benches. If the family owned any carpets, they used them on tables, as fine rugs were – too valuable to be thrown on the floors. Storage space was at a tremendous premium and a variety of specialized chests were made to store everything from food to textiles and documents.
One of the oldest forms of furniture, the chest was relatively straightforward to make and could serve many functions for early Americans, storing food, clothing and valuables. Plus, a well-made chest was a safe place to keep critters from munching, or nesting in, precious items.
There was a blanket chest for holding clothes or linens and a sugar chest for storing that very precious commodity. The pie chest, typically called a pie safe (though neither a padlocked safe nor a true chest), is another important piece of early storage furniture.
The blanket chest, in its simplest form, was a large wooden box with a hinged lid that was popular from the 17th to the 19th century, since neither attics nor closets were typical in homes of this period. It served as a receptacle for linens and sundry storage, and also provided extra seating (since chairs were a luxury). In colonial America, blanket chests were commonly constructed of pine, walnut, pecan or cherry. Some had short bracket or bun feet. Wealthy folk used imported mahogany for more elaborate chests.
Painting furniture was a way to retard rodent or insect damage, so many early pieces show remnants of old paint washes. The Pennsylvania Dutch painted their chests with traditional decorative motifs.
Over the years, drawers were added and the height was increased. Many period chests will have a “till,” or candle storage drawer. Often, these chests took on the names of the items they safeguarded. They were many times known as dowry chests, or hope chests – since brides often brought their worldly goods with them to their husbands. They were also called mule chests, since they were the repositories of slippers – “mules,” as the early settlers called them. Since few homes had a source of heat in the bedroom, it was the blanket chest, generally found at the foot of the bed, that held the extra bedcovers for frosty winter nights.
In the early days of the rural south, supply shipments were scarce. In some places, people waited up to a year between deliveries. Sugar was a prized and valuable commodity that had to be shipped up river from New Orleans, usually in a loaf or cone form, then carted over land. During a time when a pound of sugar could cost more than an acre of land, families had to have a way to store large quantities of sugar for long periods of time and to guard it against humidity, insects and rodents. Hence, the sugar chest – a southern form found mostly in Kentucky or Tennessee –was a locked chest, often plain in decor, yet a symbol of the family’s social and economic standing. In their heyday, sugar chests were not relegated to a hidden pantry, but proudly displayed, along with their costly contents, right out there in the parlor.
Four boards of virgin timber, glued together to make all four sides, ensured that there were few gaps for insects and humidity to penetrate. Only virgin timber produced boards wide enough for an entire side or top to be made from one log. The chests were usually built on legs to further insulate the sugar from the moist floor. Sometimes different grades of sugar were separated into compartments. There could also be one for the ledger used to record when small bits of sugar were added or removed. Often there was a small drawer at the bottom or an inside compartment where the knife (or nipper) for cutting the sugar would be kept.
Sugar chests are not found as often as blanket chests. As a predominately southern form and a unique one, they command higher prices. Since both sugar chests and blanket chests are long and narrow, it is relatively easy for blanket chests to be reworked to look like original sugar chests. Both chests open from the top, but blanket chests were often constructed from a series of connected boards, not four-board constructed. Would-be buyers should be aware of this distinction to be sure they are buying a legitimate sugar chest.
The pie safe, also called a pie chest, meat chest or kitchen safe, was the predecessor of the icebox and an important piece of furniture in American households starting in the early 1700s. It was used to protect pies, of course, but also meat, bread and other perishables, from vermin.
The Pennsylvania Dutch probably introduced the concept of the pie safe to the U.S. It was typically tall and narrow. The interior would have shelves to hold food items. Kept as far from the stove as practical, on the farm it might be kept on the back porch to catch as much cool air as possible. Southern pieces were often made of pine with poplar interiors. Many times the interior wooden shelves would be perforated to aid in ventilation.
A pie safe normally would have two hinged doors on the front. Screening or pierced-tin panels on the doors and the sides also provided ventilation. The holes in the tin sides were often punched to produce an image such as a church scene, eagles or stars or a simple shape. The image often determines the value of a particular piece.
Although some old country pie safes made do with plain, screened panels, some have elaborate hand-punched designs. An early piece with unusual or elaborately designed tins could fetch thousands. Pie safes made after 1900 most often have machine–punched tins, and are less valuable. Unusual height, finely turned legs and original paint and hardware also add value for collectors.
Last August, a 19th-century Shenandoah Valley pie safe that had been commissioned in 1824 – not only to keep pies safe, but also to promote Andrew Jackson’s presidential campaign – sold for $102,500 at auction. Its date of origin was early for a pie safe, it had old blue paint (a color favored by collectors) and it featured a punched-tin portrait of Jackson and a panel that declared him Hero of Orleans. Whether Jackson ever saw it is anybody’s guess, but since the equivalent in 1824 dollars would have been around $2.5 million, he no doubt would have been flummoxed by the price.
An antiques dealer for more than 25 years, Michelle Galler owns Antiques, Whimsies & Curiosities, based in Georgetown and in Washington, Virginia. Contact her at antiques.and.whimsies@gmail.com to suggest a topic for a future column.