Questions and Answers

QUESTION: I have a three-quarter size Murphy bed that my father (1901-1908) purchased at a yard sale in St. Louis, Missouri, in the 1920s/1930s for $15.00.  It is solid oak with cast iron weights in a pocket behind the headboard.  When upright, it has a large inset beveled glass mirror surrounded by applied oak scrollwork.  On the back is a brass plate that reads: “Koenig and Gamer, Victorian Bed, Chicago, Ill.”  I have contacted every organization, i.e., historical society, etc., looking for information on this manufacturer.  After a year, no one has responded.  I live in a small town with limited resources, but our little library will try to locate any materials you may suggest.  --  NB, Port Austin, MI

ANSWER: The website http://www.loggia.com/vignette/122b.html contains a brief vignette about the Murphy bed.  It reads: “the Murphy Bed.  December 2.  Invented by William L. Murphy in 1900, the pivot bed was the result of Murphy’s need to maximize space in his small studio apartment.  The bed is designed to fold neatly into a wall mounted cabinet, thus hiding the bed and providing additional floor area for other uses.”

The key words are “wall mounted cabinet.”  A true Murphy bed is built into the wall, not a freestanding piece of furniture.  The popularity of the Murphy bed in the early twentieth century led to its becoming a generic term for all folding beds, just as Kleenix became a universal term for facial tissue and Xeroxing for photocopying.

A folding bed as part of a freestanding piece of furniture was well entrenched in the furniture vocabulary by the third-quarter of the nineteenth century.  Eileen and Richard Dubrow’s Furniture Made in America, 1875-1905 (Schiffer Publishing, 1982; 320 pages) contains several illustrations of Hale & Kilburn Manufacturing Company’s “‘Champion’ Automatic Folding Bedstead.”  Hale & Kilburn were located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Beds were available in double, single, and three-quarter size.  When closed, the bottom of the bed resembled the front of a large wardrobe.  One example features a large dressing mirror.  Examples of upright folding beds also are provided from A. H. Andrews Co. (Chicago), M. Samuels & Co. (New York, NY) and Squires (no location provided).  Several of the Samuels beds resemble chests of drawers rather than wardrobes when folded.

I also had difficulty finding a detailed history of Koenig and Gamer’s Victorian Bed Company.  However, the website, http://www.iltrails.org/cook/chicagobios.htm, included information on Frank F. Henning, born May 3, 1840.  His biographical information notes that after serving in the Civil War and being wounded at the Battle of Stone River (1863), he turned home to Wisconsin and then moved to Chicago in the early spring of 1864 where: “He found employment with Lohn & Koenig, for a time, in gluing chairs; then as a salesman and bookkeeper, and in 1867 he bought a quarter interest in the business, the firm then becoming Koenig, Henning & Gamer.  Their business was located at Nos. 48 and 50 Fifth Avenue, where the fire of 1871 wiped them out, and left them with a debt of twenty-five thousand dollars, which was the amount of insurance they carried, but they were able to obtain only six thousand dollars therefrom.

“Immediately after the fire, the firm built a furniture factory, and in a year and one and a-half paid their liabilities.  Mr. Henning remained a member of the firm until the spring of 1881.”  The firm most likely became Koenig and Gamer following his departure.

As with so many letters and e-mails that I receive, no photograph or drawing accompanied your letter.  A photograph would have allowed me to identify the design-style and more accurately determine the date when your upright bed was made.

I am not surprised you did not hear from the historical societies to which you wrote.  The age of “free” research is ending.  Most historical societies and libraries do not have the staff resources to do free research.  If you are willing to make one of the following two trips, you will find the detailed information you seek.  The first is to the Chicago Historical Society, obviously located in Chicago.  The Chicago Historical Society has one of the best local reference libraries in the country.  A check through the Chicago city directories will quickly produce the working dates of Koenig and Gamer.  I would not be surprised if the library has a file on the company.  The second trip is to the public library of Grand Rapids, Michigan, which has one of the best reference libraries on American manufactured furniture from the mid-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth centuries.  Their collection is far broader than the furniture manufacturers located in Grand Rapids.

The value of your upright folding bed depends entirely on the elaborateness of the cabinetwork.  If the cabinetwork is plain, its value is between $250.00 and $300.00.  If one of the more elaborate styles from the late Victorian era, your bed’s value will exceed $500.00.

QUESTION: I have a ceramic figurine entitled “The Titian Madonna” that is marked on the bottom “A Borsato Original.”  I purchased it about thirty-five years ago from Betty Sidel in Cherryville, Pennsylvania.  She told me it was of museum quality.  What information can you provide?  --  WH, Bethlehem, PA

ANSWER: The primary and secondary market value of a Borsato ceramic figurine depends entirely on whether or not you believe the factory and dealer hype associated with these figurines.  Barkus Farm, an Internet seller on www.rubylane.com, offers this description for his Borsato “The Wine Vendor” figurine priced at $1,800.00:  “Antonio Borsato (1919-1982) created a magnificent collection of porcelain sculptures unsurpassed for fine detail, inspired subjects, realistic yet intense colors.  Henry Kissinger has one of Borsato’s works; many collectors have attempted to acquire each and every one of his designs.  Borsato’s obsession with detail requires over one hundred and fifty separate molds to capture the movement and detail of some pieces.  After firing, the pieces are painted with metallic oxide paints and refired again at a lower temperature to smelt the colors into the porcelain.  Collector demand for Italian sculpture has been very high, enough to acknowledge an ‘Italian School.’  Certainly Antonio Borsato is the Dean of that ‘school.’…Borsato was not as prolific as many Italian artists.”

AUTHOR’S NOTE:  Thank God, I own a collection of airline sickness (barf) bags.

Are Borsato’s figurines works of art?  I strongly suspect you already can guess which side of this question I am going to take.  NO, they are not.  They are mass-produced items designed to have primarily nostalgic, good-feelings appeal.  Initially they were sold in high-end jewelry shops, in gift shops located in four star and higher hotels in heavily trafficked tourist areas, and in shops at tourist attractions such as the Atlantic City boardwalk.

While some minor museums may include a Borsato figurine in their ceramic collection thanks to a donation (the donor received more as a tax write-off than he did trying to sell it on the secondary market), you will not find them in the collections of major museums.  Personally, I think the Italians should be delighted the vast majority were exported abroad for hard currency.

Replacements, Ltd. (Greensboro, North Carolina), has a large collection of Borsato catalogs and studio information.  The company has been acquiring and selling Borsato figurines at prices far in excess of what most dealers can achieve.  Success can make a market.

So can the Internet.  Borsato figurines appear regularly for sale on eBay.  Results vary.  Most figurine groups are now selling between thirty and fifty cents on their initial retail dollar.  Considering the initial cost of most figurines ran in the middle to high hundreds, secondary market values in the $250.00 to $350.00 range are excellent.

What is the value of your Borsato figurine?  While based on the work of one of the world’s most famous artists, your figurine is religious in theme, a very tough theme to sell in the collectibles market.  Realistically, think in terms of $200.00 to $225.00, which is four times higher than I would have told you prior to the arrival of eBay.

ONE FINAL NOTE:  A. Borsato collector edition bells and plates are duds.  Initial opening bid requests ranging from $9.99 to $12.99 are failing to draw any responses.  Kudos to all the bidders who stayed away, obviously recognizing the true value of this sculptor’s work.

QUESTION: I have a No. 1 Princess sewing machine made by the Decker Mfg. Co., Ltd., of Detroit, Michigan.  It measures 22 1/2in by 11in x 25in.  The frame is cast iron as is the treadle.  The board on which the sewing machine sets is oak.  I have looked all over for information about this machine, but have had no luck.  What can you tell me about it?  --  DB, North Wales, PA

ANSWER: I found a picture of your sewing machine in Glenda Thomas’ Toy and Miniature Sewing Machines: An Identification & Value Guide (Collector Books, 1995; 253 pages, $18.95).  Thomas asked Georg Reinfelder, a German who is a major collector of toy treadle machines, to offer his thoughts on the subject.  He notes: “Toy treadles are the queens of toy sewing machines.  Manufacturing dates began before the turn of the century until after WWI.  Every little girl wished for one, but very few wishes came true.  These toys were expensive and economic times were hard.  Daily necessities came first…

“The treadle was the most practical toy sewing machine for learning to sew.  Other small lightweight hand models required the right hand to turn the wheel, leaving only the left hand for sewing…The invention of the toy treadle using the foot pedal was the best resolution to this problem.  Both hands were now free, and the young seamstress could sew just like her mother with her adult treadle…

“”Manufacturers produced very few toy treadles in comparison to other toy sewing machines, and not many have survived….Very often the cast-iron stands are broken, or the toy has moisture damage from remaining in damp cellars for years.  Wooden tables are no longer polished and metal has rusted.  Important parts are frequently loose or missing.  A major catastrophe for the collectors is to find a queen that has been repainted or has bad repairs.”

In respect to your machine, Reinfelder comments: “Her Royal Highness, ‘No. 1 PRINCESS,’ is very similar to the Ideal treadle.  The sewing machine and the drive wheel are the same, but the cast-iron treadle is different with the following lettering: ‘No. 1 PRINCESS DECKER MFG. CO. LIMITED DETROIT MICH.’  This machine has a larger sewing plate than the Ideal treadle.  The foot pedal is very ornate.  In order to accommodate girls of different heights, the treadle is adjustable in three positions….c. about 1900.”

As Reinfelder indicated earlier, children’s treadle machines are scarce.  Children’s sewing machine collectors would pay $300.00 plus for a complete example.

QUESTION: What can you tell me about a pressed glass bowl that I own?  It is 10 1/4in in diameter and stands 3in high.  It is marked with a molded bee in the inside of its bottom with an “H” on one wing, “I” on the body, and “G” on the other wing.  --  TU, Orefield, Pa

ANSWER: The J. B. Higbee Glass Company of Bridgeville, Pennsylvania, made your bowl.  The company maintained a plant in Bridgeville from 1907 to 1918.  Founded in 1879, the company previously was known as Bryce, Higbee & Company.  See Lola and Wayne Higby’s Bryce, Higbee, and J. B Higbee Glass (Glass Press, Inc., 1998; 208 pages, $34.95) for a more detailed history of the company.

When they sell on eBay, Higbee pieces tend to sell between $10.00 and $25.00.  Because you did not provide a picture or the name of the pattern of your bowl, I cannot make my answer any more specific.

Harry L. Rinker welcomes questions from readers about collectibles, those mass-produced items from the twentieth century.  Selected letters will be answered in this column.  Harry cannot provide personal answers.  Photos and other material submitted cannot be returned.  Send your questions to: Rinker on Collectibles, 5093 Vera Cruz Road, Emmaus, PA 18049.  You also can e-mail your questions to rinkeron@fast.net.  Only e-mails containing a full name and mailing address will be considered.

Watch Harry as the COLLECTOR INSPECTOR on Saturday evenings at 6:00 PM ET/PT on Home & Garden Television (HGTV).  Check your local TV schedule for the exact time in other time zones.
 

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