Ruby Lane's Past Times Newsletter for October 2010

In This Issue

• Ruby Plaza Promotion: Sell for Only $9/mo. Through 2011!
  
• Plastic, Cookie Jars, and Roseville with The Pottery Nuts
  
• The Life and Love of Marcel Boucher
  
• Shop Sampler: Dolls on Ruby Lane!
  

RUBY PLAZA PROMOTION: SELL FOR ONLY $9/MO. THROUGH 2011!

This promotion has been extended! Are you looking for a venue to sell your home decor items (both contemporary and vintage) ranging from furniture and accessories to lighting, bedding and window coverings? Or perhaps you, or someone you know sells new and vintage fashion and accessories, and/or jewelry. If so, spread the word - as now you can try out our sister site, Ruby Plaza, just launched in April - for only $9 a month through 2011 with no set-up fee!

Through December 31st 2011, Ruby Plaza is making it easy and affordable for sellers to join Ruby Plaza. Already over 700 shops have joined us with over 150,000 items added to the site.

There are no contracts, no cancellation fees, and the only expense out of your pocket is $9 a month.

Spread the word!

For more information visit www.rubyplaza.com, then under SELL, choose Open A Shop. We hope you'll join us!

PLASTIC, COOKIE JARS, AND ROSEVILLE WITH THE POTTERY NUTS

When you're green and just learning about anything, including the antique business, you look for good advice to follow. We're both voracious readers, so it was logical that we looked for tips in various trade publications and guidebooks. One day, we found an article touting plastics as the next hot collectible. We went out and got a pricing guide to plastic collectibles and started focusing on them at garage sales. We were amazed at the cheap prices we were paying, and thought, wow, if we can buy this stuff for a buck and sell it for $8-10 like it says in the book, we'll be on our way. It turned out we were ahead of our time. The world wasn't ready for plastics. Still isn't.

I came across the results of a survey in another of the many antique publications that we read. It said that the most popular thing to buy, sell or collect were cookie jars. There seemed to be cookie jars everywhere at that time, so the number one ranking seemed logical. But the number two ranked item surprised me. It was Roseville pottery. In rural Maine we didn't see a lot of Roseville and even the low level pieces seemed a bit pricy for our taste. Surely people wouldn't spend a hundred bucks on a pot, would they?

So we went with the cookie jars: cheap, plentiful and kind of fun. Got a couple of guidebooks on them and started buying. We went to a big antique show, where entire booths were devoted to them. I asked a couple of dealers how their cookie jars were doing. They gave me the fish eye
and said cookie jars were a hot ticket but just a little slow at the moment. Actually, they were dead, a fact we soon discovered for ourselves. You couldn't give them away.

I remembered that Roseville had been second on the list, just behind cookie jars. We'd been seeing a few around and sort of knew what some of them looked like, so we thought, why not?

Again, we bought a guidebook and started studying. At that time, the floral lines seemed quite high priced for our nonexistent level of knowledge and confidence so we were dubious. What we did discover was that Maine was awash with the early unmarked pitchers and sometimes people thought they were just run of the mill stoneware. They were priced right and so we entered the Roseville arena via the pre-1916 pitcher route. It was our entree into pottery.

Roseville was and is a wonderful place for beginning collectors and dealers to start. Most of the floral lines, plus others, are marked not only with the name but also with a handy number. Let's say you are holding a nice vase, sort of reddish brown and green, that's marked on the base with the number 80-10. If you have the latest copy of Roseville Pottery By The Numbers, a 40-page paperback, you look up 80-10 to discover you have a Water Lily vase. Then you go back to Water Lily in the alphabetical listing and find that the price for that particular item ranged from $205-315 last year. That's not to say you can sell it easily at the low end of the price range;
like all price guides this little book errs on the optimistic side. The important thing to note is that even novices like us could sound knowledgeable as we wandered around the antiques and collectibles world with this handy little book. Between us, we had a fair head for detail and a decent memory, so we could actually start learning something about Roseville rather quickly.

After two or three years of gathering Roseville, we started getting bored. Mostly, we were working the lower levels in the floral lines and we had accumulated about fifty pieces. Out of the corner of our eye, we started seeing interesting pottery by Weller, Rookwood, Van Briggle and others. Suddenly, our Roseville all looked alike, sort of heavy handed compared to some of the others. We put much of the Roseville up for sale and went off to gather other brands. As any pottery collector knows, there's a lot of interesting stuff out there to gather.

We expanded into many new areas, like Amphora, Doulton, majolica, etc. And as our knowledge and confidence increased, so did our our level of quality. We no longer paled at the idea of spending a few hundred or more for something that we knew was a good investment. Knowledge is power, right? And here's where our search for "the good stuff" took a strange turn. Because once again we were looking at Roseville pottery. Except this time the product lines were things like Baneda, Cherry Blossom, Morning Glory, Persian and Pine Cone, areas where we had
earlier been afraid to venture.

This, then, is the magic of Roseville. In its entirety, it has something for everyone. You can collect it vertically, by product line, trying to find pieces of Blackberry or Zephyr Lilly. Or you can collect horizontally, focusing on wall pockets or umbrella stands or, as we did as beginners, pitchers. You can collect top end or bottom. Top end includes lines like Wisteria, Persian, Pine Cone, Della Robbia, Baneda, Sunflower, Falline, Futura, Cameo, Luffa and a few others. Most of the rest rank lower, although specific items in all lines, things like pedestal-jardiniere sets, will bring higher prices.

The earliest Roseville, called Rozane, is entirely different. With a dark gloss glaze that imitates Rookwood Standard, it can be very reasonable or very pricey, depending on the quality of decorative art on each individual piece. Flowers and leaves are at the lower end, while people and animals are at the high end. And yes, some people collect only Rozane or its close cousins from Weller, Owens and others.

So we come full circle. In the world of pottery, more Roseville is bought and sold and collected than any other brand. There's a lot to like about it and it offers, truly, something for everyone. It is not like plastic, whose time has never come. It's not like the cookie jars that sputtered so badly, although I have to say we still like cookie jars, especially the ones made by Roseville!

There will always be Roseville and it will always be
desirable. On Ruby Lane you find it by typing in the Roseville name or go to Art Pottery in the Pottery lane. And we bet you'll find something you like. We certainly did.

We invite you to visit The Pottery Nuts

THE LIFE AND LOVE OF MARCEL BOUCHER

The story of Marcel Boucher's jewelry creations is one closely related to the fine jewelry world. It is also a story of a wonderful, but somewhat tragic, romance.

Marcel was born in France, during the last years of the 19th century. He served in WWI, and went to work for Cartier as an apprentice, in 1920. His work was the more mechanical work of a model maker, and he was transferred to the New York operations of Cartier in 1923. The Crash of 1929 was not kind to some luxury jewelers. Marcel began doing free lance work at this time, and it is not clear if he was still doing any work for Cartier. He was known to have produced designs for Mazer Brothers at this time.

In 1937, in partnership with Arthur Halberstadt, Marcel Boucher Ltd. Novelty Jewelry was started. It appears that Marcel ran the design and production end of the business, and Albert ran the showroom and sales operation. The first collection had 6 items, featuring naturalistic designs and enameling. Saks had an exclusive on the line for a short period.

As Marcel had been trained as a model maker, he kept a close eye on this area of production, and quality pieces, with an attention to detail, were the rule.

The war years brought restrictions on the use of some metals, and Boucher moved production to Mexico, where sterling pieces were produced under the Parisiana name. He owned a home and factory in Mexico, and sold at least the factory, when returning to New York after the war. He produced a high volume
of different designs in the post-war 1940s, capitalizing on the European fashion look dominating the jewelry world.

In 1945, Boucher started assigning design numbers to his pieces, which are normally marked on the pieces. Designs were sometimes created long before they were put into production, so the number indicates design date, and not an actual production date.

When his partner, Albert, decided to leave the firm, around 1949, Marcel hired Raymonde Semensohn1 as his assistant. She had been born in France and done some design work in occupied France, immigrating to America in 1947. She went to work for legendary diamond merchant and jeweler Harry Winston, as a designer. She soon went by Sandra, and later married Marcel.

Boucher produced a high quality line of costume jewelry. The firm attempted to move into lower end items, and into fine jewelry as well.. The Marboux line, produced by Boucher, is a bit of a mystery. The name was registered in 1937, and was used for less expensive pieces. Sandra recollects that the line was no longer in production by the time she joined the firm in 1949. However, most sources agree that the line was not actually produced until 1955. Boucher also moved into fine jewelry in the 1950s. However, he found his designs were copied and pirated quickly, and he soon abandoned the venture.

The 1950s were boom years for Boucher. He had a sales arrangement with Ciro, a manufacturer and retailer. They bought large quantities of items,
and Boucher marked many with the Ciro logo. Boucher expanded into the markets of Canada and France. The Canadian expansion was successful, while the efforts in France were not. The pieces produced under Boucher's supervision in Canada were marked "LeC", "LeCouture", or "Made in Canada Boucher". The employee roster at Boucher peaked at this time, at less than 100 employees. For Boucher, quality was always more important than volume. The firm made some concessions to lowering the costs of production. Work was subcontracted out to Providence firms in the 1950s. Some of these items can be identified by the lack of polishing around the design numbers, a small cost-saving shortcut.

The earliest creations by Boucher's company are marked "MB", and some of the wartime production was marked "MB Sterling". Items marked "Marcel Boucher" are also known from this period.. The Phrygian Cap was added to the mark from 1944 to 1949. "Boucher" was the mark used from 1950, with a copyright mark added after 1955. The "Parisana" mark was used for the WWII era Mexican production. The design numbers were added to items after the war. Marboux design numbers were different.

Design piracy and the theft of his design concepts always bothered Boucher. It caused him to abandon the fine jewelry Line of the 1950s. He sued Coro over some design infringements. While he won the case, the legal fees exceeded the settlement amount. He did have cabochon stones cut to odd sizes, making duplication of his
designs difficult and more expensive.

In 1958, Sandra left Boucher and took a job as Chief Designer at Tiffany & Company, where she remained until 1961, before returning to Boucher. She did so with Marcel's blessing and assistance. In 1965, Sandra and Marcel were married. Sadly, after returning from their honeymoon, Marcel was diagnosed with terminal health issues, and he died only 6 weeks later.

Sandra took over the firm, but it placed a great strain on her. She would deal with the business end of Boucher during the day, and design at night. She kept the company's standards at a level that Marcel would have approved of, and did all she could to keep all the old-time staff on. With her wide experience in the jewelry world, this was also a financial sacrifice, as she could earn a better living doing design work for others, without the headaches of managing a business. In 1972, she sold the firm to Davorn Industries. She did agree to do some design work for the new owners for 5 years, and some of the costume jewelry and watch designs from this period are Sandra's work.

Sandra went on to do additional freelance design work, in the world of fine and fashion jewelry, and also taught at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York.

Marcel, and then Marcel and Sandra, brought some fantastic creations into the world. Their creations have the look and style of fine jewelry, which could be expected from a couple that had experience with some of the world's finest
jewelers: Cartier, Tiffany, and Harry Winston.

SHOP SAMPLER: DOLLS ON RUBY LANE!

Sara Bernstein's Dolls: Quality Antique and Collectible Dolls with lots of character

Eugene Poir Boudoir Doll in Pink

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Joy's Antique Dolls: Early Rare antique dolls, clothing, accessories Offering variety, knowledge fine service

c1840s Bavarian Creche Woman Beautifully Detailed All Original

Sculpted shoulder head of adult woman with finely rendered facial features and expression, brown sculpted hair with woven braid coronet, painted ...

Virtu Doll: Antique dolls, jewelry and other oddities

Pair of 12 All Original German Painted Bisque Indian Dolls

This is a fine pair of German made painted bisque scowling Indian dolls, both in similar original felt costumes. The standing doll is 12 tall. The ...

Joan Lynette Antique Dolls and Accessories: Antique dolls of high quality at fair prices backed by expertise and professionalism, sold with love

Dianne Dengel American Cloth Artist Black Character Doll Couple

This pair of charming black character dolls was created by artist Dianne Dengel. On her website it states, "Dianne handcrafts her one of a kind dolls ...

Aunt Mary's Antique Dolls: Where you can find wonderful dolls at reasonable prices

13 1 2 Kestner solid dome baby marked JDK

Nice example of a solid dome baby with wonderful coloring and a great Kestner baby body. The baby has an open closed mouth. The body has no repaint. ...

Dollyology Vintage Dolls Antiques: RARE Vintage Collectible 1920-1950s MUSEUM QUALITY DOLLS --Tiny Tears, Betsy Wetsy, Dy-Dee Compo

1952 IDEAL 14 Betsy McCall Doll w Hang Tag

Charming Mint with Hang Tag BRUNETTE 14 Betsy McCall by Ideal Doll Co. from 1952 -- this is the less commonly found Ideal Betsy McCall opposed to the...

The Antique Doll Room: Antique, Vintage Dolls and Related Items

10 1 2 Papier Mache Doll in Original Costume

Germany, c. 1870-1890. Nice, nearly mint and original papier mache doll wearing the costume of Marken Island, Holland. The doll has a papier mache ...

Dibs: Just call DIBS and it is yours

Flamingo Barbie Doll NRFB 1999 #2 Birds of Beauty

I hope to be selling most of my huge collection of modern Mattel Barbie dolls that have never been removed from their boxes. Each Barbie doll in the ...

Violet's Treasures: Vintage and Antique Collectibles at reasonable prices! I consider all offers!

EFFANBEE, Robin Hood, Storybook Collection, NRFB

This is a storybook doll made by Effanbee in 1977. It is Robin Hood of the Storybook Collection. He has never been removed from his box. He is ...

Curley Creek Antiques Collectibles: 1000+ Antique Vintage Dollhouse Miniatures with new arrivals weekly Indulge the child within you!

MINT Tootsie Toy Dollhouse Wing Chair – Dark Green Tan Crackle 1930s 1 2 Scale

In mint condition, this exceptional Tootsie Toy dollhouse wing back chair is one for the serious Tootsie Toy collector! The upper half is painted dark...