Copper and Other Arts and Crafts Marks: A Resource
Research Pays!
This resource site has been put together by Chicago Silver, I just came across it this morning while researching a mark I found on the bottom of an Art’s and Craft’s bowl…
I like this site because it is very well organized with easily readable photographs of hundreds of makers marks.
Two Dirk Van Erp Stories:
Several years ago a dealer went estate sale shopping in the little town of Benicia, Ca. She had been in the antique business for a long time, and she thought she knew better than to go to an estate sale late in the day, she said “All the best deals are gone then, aren’t they?
Know your marks!
But she went anyway. The ad for the estate sale sounded too good, and she had some free time. When she arrived at the sale she saw that the estate sale had been well picked through - it didn’t seem like she would find anything of real value there. Chipped and cracked china sets, old clothes, and cookware spilled out of cardboard boxes on top of and beneath card tables. She went through the boxes, and to her surprise she found a large hand hammered copper vase. She quickly turned it over and saw a windmill mark. Unlike the mark pictured above, Dirk Van Erp signed many of his works with only a windmill, and because this dealer knew this, she could identified it as a genuine Dirk Van Erp.
The Downspout Bowl
A while ago I went to see a clients estate in a very wealthy and fashionable section of town. We went through the house, and she showed me the families paintings and silver; the estate was filled with all sorts of interesting things.
The estate had a guest house which was accessible by walking across a terracotta tiled courtyard. The client and I talked as we walked to the guest house. Out of the corner of my eye I saw something I could almost not believe.
Across the courtyard on the ground beneath the gutter downspout was a large copper bowl. I held my breath a bit before saying to my client “That better not be what I think it is.” I picked up the bowl, which was crusted with dirt, and streaked green with verdigris and turned it over. Sure enough, there was a windmill mark on the underside. The bowl in perfect condition would surely have been worth $1,000’s of dollars, but in that condition it was worth at best $300.00.
Enjoy the link and happy hunting…
Have some feedback or a story to tell about estate sales in Los Angeles?
Here is an article about making the choice between Auctions and Estate Sales
