Important Products Made From Antler, Bone & Shell

BOOK REVIEW

Just released by Collector Books is Antler, Bone & Shell Artifacts, by Lar Hothem. Hothem has previously authored several other books on Native American items.

 Antlers, bones, shells and ivory were once very important materials, used for tools, weapons and ornaments by the early residents of North America. Millions of these pieces appear to have been used in prehistoric times, and enough have survived to offer some glimpses of what life was like in the years before recorded history.

Bone was a strong material, although lightweight, and, since it started out about the size of tools, could be shaped into useful implements. Antler tines appear to have been used for both awl-type tools and projectiles. Shells could be used as dishes and dippers, and small ones were ornamental.

 These materials are all organic and consequently may break down over the course of the centuries. However, certain conditions have preserved the artifacts in some areas.

 The freezing temperatures of the Arctic have prevented bacterial breakdown. The dry climate of the American Southwest, with its absence of moisture, has also been beneficial in the preservation of early organic items. It also appears that early trash heaps that contained both shells and bones became alkaline from the shell debris, which prevented the bones from deteriorating.

 Fishhooks are among the prehistoric artifacts that have been found. Many were made from deer ribs; others were made from the toe bones of deer. Other bones were also used, as were shells, occasionally. Some of the fishhooks are even barbed.

Bone was also the preferred material for early musical instruments. A small flute-like instrument was made from the bones of birds such as hawks and wild turkeys. Some of the pieces classified as instruments have only one hole, and may have been used as whistles or game calls. Bones and shells were also used to make rhythm sticks and rattles.

Another grouping of artifacts is classified as hairpins, although no one knows for sure exactly how they were used. They look like a hairpin, or hatpin, and were often decorated. They may have been used to fasten clothing or bundles together. It is assumed that those that have been decorated were used as some body ornament.

 An extensive section of the book pictures Eskimo (Inuit) artifacts. Other chapters cover beads, projectile points, hafted tools, and effigies. A few of the more important recent finds are listed, and there are an interesting couple of pages that reproduced dealer listings from early in the 20th century.

 Antler, Bone & Shell Artifacts, by Lar Hothem, sells for $24.95. It includes an identification and price guide. Contact Collector Books at P.O. Box 3009, Paducah, KY 42002; online at www.collectorbooks.com; or your local bookstore.

 Donna Miller

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Ovenware Book Written By Gene & Cathy Florence

Florences’ Ovenware, from the 1920s to the Present, by Gene & Cathy Florence, is a 2006 release of Collector Books. This identification and value guide includes the products of Pyrex, McKee, Federal, Fry, Safe Bake, Jeannette and more.

 Collectors of kitchenware of the 1900s will appreciate this book, which covers many of the baking dishes that are only discussed briefly in other books.

 One of these companies is Federal, whose Heat Proof dinnerware lines were in direct competition to the Fire King patterns of Anchor Hocking. The company was in business a long time, from 1900 to 1984,  and there is a large quantity of its output available. Most of the Heat Proof pieces were white with fired-on colors, either solids or patterns. And most are marked with the company’s logo, an F in a shield. In addition to its ovenware, Federal also made a lot of advertising mugs; these, too, are almost always marked.

 Another company not usually associated with ovenware is the Fry Glass Company, in business from 1901 to 1933. Fry was a well-known maker of cut glass, but it also made some undecorated crystal ovenware beginning in 1917, which was called Ovenglass or Oven Glass (company advertisements listed it both ways.) In 1922, Fry produced an opalescent Pearl Oven Ware, which is popular with collectors.

 Glassbake, made first by McKee and later by Jeannette, was produced overall from 1917 to 1983. So there’s a lot of it to be found. Much of it is crystal, but there are also many familiar patterns found on a white background. Probably the Ivy pattern is the most well-known of these. Made by Jeannette, it was a popular service-station giveaway premium in the 1950s. There is also a large number of decorated mugs available to the collector.

 The book also contains extensive sections on Fire King and Pyrex.

 Florences’ Ovenware from the 1920s to the Present sells for $24.95. It is available from Collector Books, PO Box 3009, Paducah, KY 42002, at bookstores, or online at www.collectorbooks.com.  

Donna Miller

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Crackle Glass Made On Purpose

BOOK REVIEW

Crackle glass is a very popular specialty field in the broader area of glass collecting, and the subject of a 2005 Collector Books publication,  Crackle Glass from around the World, by Stan and Arlene Weitman.

Most collectors look to the mid-20th century glass made in the West Virginia area, where several hundred different glass companies were producing it. That is certainly the crackle glass that is most abundant. However, it is known to have been made as early as the 16th century by Venetian craftsman, and by the 1800s, it was being produced by several other European countries, including Bohemia and Czechoslovakia.

By the late 1800s and early 1900s, several American companies were also making crackle glass, including Steuben, Hobbs Brockunier, Imperial and Fry.

Crackle glass is glass that looks like it is covered all over with little cracks. It is made by several different techniques, but the basic idea common to all of them is that hot glass is plunged in cold water to produce the cracks and then reheated to seal the cracks and smooth the surface so that the final product will not be rough to the touch. Some of the techniques produce glass with large cracks; a technique for producing smaller cracks involves rolling the piece in sawdust before plunging it into the water.

Crackle glass was often made by the various companies to cover up imperfections in the glass. These flaws, such as cording - when a heavy line or swirl appears in the glass - needed to be disguised, and when this happened, crackling the piece was an easy way to disguise it and still have a sellable piece.

This book on crackle glass includes an extensive section on Moser crackle glass, made in Czechoslovakia, and the history and examples of several other glass companies, both American and European. A pictorial tour of the making of crackle glass is made with Otto Franek of the Franek Art Glass Studio (located somewhere in the United States; the authors don't say where.) A second pictorial tour of crackle glass making is taken with Robert Hamon of the Hamon Glass Studio (again, location not given.) The remainder of the book groups examples of crackle glass by subject matter - pitchers, vases, etc. - and includes dimensions, color, manufacturers, date and retail value for each piece, along with a color photo.

Collectors will find some examples of pieces not commonly found in the section "Potpourri." Included are a crackle glass watch fob, a turtle, a crocodile decanter and a soup tureen (or is it a punch bowl?)  Also included is a section on distinguishing new from old crackle glass. (Crackle glass is being imported from Taiwan and China.)

Crackle Glass from around the World, by Stan and Arlene Seitman, is priced at $24.95. Check with your bookseller or contact Collector Books, online at www.collectorbooks.com or at P.O. Box 3009, Paducah, KY 42002.

Donna Miller

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