Jan 4, 2014 4 min read

If you can’t afford a rooster or running deer weathervane, or any other 19th-century weathervane made by an important company, you might be able to find a homemade example. Most folk-art collectors consider all weathervanes, commercially made or homemade, to be folk art.

Prices are highest for the most elaborate 3-D vanes by known makers. Homemade vanes often are cut from sheets of iron to look like silhouettes of deer, men, animals, birds, cars, trains, Indians, flags or occupational examples, like a photographer with a camera or a sailor with a telescope. It is difficult to date a homemade weathervane.

Collectors pay the highest auction prices for good design, unusual subjects, good paint and old patina. Bullet holes, missing paint and dents don’t seem to lower the value if the cutout is unusual, perhaps a 1930s car or a large and artistic whale. Some homemade vanes sell for thousands of dollars, but others might turn up at your local yard sale or flea market.

Whirligig weathervanes, often of wood, also are going up in price. Horses, roosters and eagles are the most popular shapes today and, unfortunately, often are the most reproduced.

Always look in the backyard, in the garage and up at the roof when going to an estate or house sale. Buyers often overlook outdoor folk art.

Q. Years ago, I was given a very heavy glass vase. It’s 6 inches high by 4 1/2 inches wide and is made of black cased glass within clear glass. The etched mark on the bottom is “Kosta 1556/046.” I’m wondering what the vase is worth.

A. The Kosta glassworks factory in Sweden dates back to 1742.

Its name is a combination of the last names of the two founders, Koskull and Stael. Kosta manufactured only window glass, glass for light fixtures and drinking glasses until the late 1890s, when it hired its own designers and started making art glass. Glass artist Vicke Lindstrand (1904-1983), who had previously worked at Orrefors, was Kosta’s artistic director from 1950 to 1973. During Lindstrand’s tenure, model numbers starting with a “1” were “production vases” made in large quantities. The number 1556 on your vase probably is the model number. Kosta merged with Boda and Afors in 1976 and became Kosta Boda, so it’s likely your vase was made before 1976. In 1989 Kosta Boda merged with Orrefors and was renamed Orrefors Kosta Boda.

Then, in 2005, the company was sold to the New Wave Group, which closed the Orrefors factory and today uses only the Kosta Boda label.

While your vase may not be rare or extremely valuable, it still is a good piece of Swedish art glass.

Q. Could you tell me the value of a set of dining-room furniture made by American of Martinsville? The walnut set, which was purchased new in 1942, includes a table, six chairs, sideboard, china cabinet and hutch.

A. American of Martinsville was founded in 1906 in Martinsville, Va. It made only bedroom sets until the 1920s, when it introduced dining-room sets. The most valuable American of Martinsville vintage dining room sets today are in the Danish Modern style, which didn’t become popular in the United States until the 1950s. Still, if your set is in good shape, you could sell it locally (so shipping costs aren’t involved) for several hundred dollars.

Tip: Look carefully at a piece of cut glass before you buy it.

Edges should not be ground down into the pattern, and pieces should have no chips or other damage.

Current prices are recorded from antiques shows, flea markets, sales and auctions throughout the United States. Prices vary in different locations because of local economic conditions.

• Baseball pennant, St. Louis Browns, Brownie, yellow and brown felt, 1940s, 11 x 28 inches, $60.

• Arranbee Nanette doll, plastic, blond wig, walker, purple dress, box, 15 inches, $70.

• Cut-glass ice cream tray, Wallace pattern, Quaker City Cut Glass Co., Philadelphia, American Brilliant Period, 14 x 7 inches, $100.

• Hires Root Beer mug, “Health and Cheer,” man raising hand in toast, Mettlach, c. 1900, 5 inches, $120.

• Cinnabar snuff bottle, inlaid stone, Chinese, 20th century, 2 3/4 inches, $175.

• Fraktur, watercolor & ink, heart, birds, tulips, scalloped border, Lydia Miller, 1810, frame, 17 x 12 inches, $345.

• Cane, wooden, bird handle, carved, painted, Schtockschnitzler Simmons, c. 1900, 32 inches, $650.

• Sheraton chest, cherry, four drawers, Sandwich glass knobs, carved apron, backsplash, 46 inches, $1,320.

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