Land and Ross Antiques is having a Christmas Open House

We invite you to the Village of Shakespeare's [Ontario] Christmas Open House on Nov 17Th and 18Th.

Both of our stores will be open Saturday and Sunday for the open house weekend from 10am to 5pm and 11am to 5pm on Sunday. If you are considering a custom made piece of furniture for Christmas there is still time to order but on a first come first serve basis.

Remember all the antiques from Land and Ross have the option of full exchange at any time. Please consider giving a gift that last for ever.

Happy Holidays and Peace for All, Best Wishes in 2008.
Peter, Gayle, Wayne and Gloria

Woman finds 800-year-old cross in trash

A valuable cross dating to the Middle Ages has turned up in a trash bin in Austria.

Police in Salzburg say a woman looking for old crockery in a trash container in the western Austrian town of Zell am See stumbled upon the precious piece in 2004. They say she apparently she had no idea of it's value and just stashed it behind her couch.

Now experts say the cross could be worth as much as $700,000.

A local museum has custody of it, at least for the moment. And whether the trash-foraging woman, who has not been identified, will get so much as a penny for her find has yet to be determined.

Officials say it appears the cross had been looted from a Polish art collection by the Nazis during the Second World War.

The Austria Press Agency quoted police official Christian Krieg as saying the woman found the cross after a hotel owner who lived in Zell am See died and his home was being cleared by relatives.

The woman showed the cross to the niece of the dead man, but the niece didn't want it and allowed the woman to take it, the news agency reported.

Last month, one of the woman's neighbours had an inkling the cross might be something special and took it to a local museum in the village of Leogang.

The curator, Hermann Mayrhofer, alerted police. An investigation disclosed that, until the Second World War, the cross had been part of an art collection belonging to Izabella Elzbieta of Czartoryski Dzialinska, Poland.

Before the outbreak of war, Elzbieta tried to hide the piece from the Nazis by concealing it in the cellar of a building in Warsaw. But the Nazis found it in 1941 and later brought it, along with other items from Elzbieta's collection, to a castle in Austria. It is unclear what happened next.

This summer, the cross was taken to Vienna for analysis but it has now been returned to the museum in Leo gang. Experts at Vienna's fine arts museum determined that it comes from Limoges, France, and dates to about 1200.

In a telephone interview with The Associated Press, Mayrhofer said that he knew straight away that the cross came from Limoges and praised the woman for salvaging it.

"She did something extraordinary," Mayrhofer said.

But he said he couldn't comment on whether the woman would receive any money for her find.

A judge in Zell am See has decided that for now the cross should be kept in the museum security. Mayrhofer said it would soon be included in a special exhibit at the museum.

The London-based Commission for Looted Art in Europe is representing the heirs of the former owner of the cross, police said.

Antique Micrometer No. 8 Pat. 1891-1902 Brown & Sharpe

Antique Micrometer No. 8 Pat. 1891-1902 Brown & Sharpe

Item number: 160148835546

Click on link on E-Bay items above to bid on this antique or any other antique available

This auction is for an antique micrometer which I am told is a metalworking measurement tool. This old micrometer is a No. 8 maufactured by Brown & Sharpe Mfg. Co. Providence R. I. The patent dates are July 26, 1891 and December 30, 1902. It comes in the original lined case and it smells quite musty. The micrometer appears to me to be in fine condition. Although it has been used, the numbers on it are all legible and the screw handle works perfect. It does have a name surface scratched on it in very small letters. This man thing is a great antique memorabilia piece and probably still useful to somebody that does things the old fashion way

St. Mary's Brown Jug

  St. Mary's Brown Jug

Brimfield Antiques Shows Starts Tuesday

Approximately 5,000 dealers are expected to line the fields off Route 20.
The famous show, which draw thousands of people to Brimfield, runs through May 13. Shows will also be held in July and September.

The world-famous show started in 1959. You can learn more at www.brimfieldexchange.com, which lists the dealers at each field and the antiques they sell.

Will Silks General Store, Cookstown Ont

Located at 14 Queen st Cookstown Ontario you will find an old time general store specializing in Aladdin lamps. They also have a few other antiques and collectibles scattered around the store. If you happen to be in Cookstown and you have a few moments to spare you might want to take a peek.

Antique Rocking Chair early 1800s

  This is an early 1800s rocking chair. We know nothing about it and haven't been able to find the style or maker or any details.

Art Moderne Antiques in Collingwood Ont

Furniture, gifts, period lighting. 48 pine st Collingwood.

C96 Mauser Hand Gun

Well this is a little bit different than the kind of antiques normally found on this website but guns are one of the most popular antique collectibles.

Production of the C96 Mauser began in 1896, and ended about 1939 with over one million C96 pistols produced. Mauser named it the C96 the "Mauser Military Pistol" in the hopes that it would achieve large military sales. While limited numbers of the C96 pistol were purchased for issue to members of the German armed forces and police, sales were never what Mauser had hoped for.

On a interesting side note the laser blaster used by Han Solo in the film Star Wars was a Mauser with a few plastic bits stuck on it.

My Coffin Plate Collection

This is a photo of just a small part of my coffin plate collection. I have hundreds of plates dating back to the 1840s. You can see them all on my coffin plate website Ancestors At Rest. If you want to have a look click on
Coffin Plates.

Victorian Tinket Box

 Victorian Trinket Box. I bought this on the weekend at a local antique store. It goes nicely with my collection of Victorian Jewellery and Trinket Boxes. This one is a bit different from the type I usually buy - it is white porcelain with hand-painted flowers. Most of mine are bevelled clear glass with coloured satin liners.

Victorian Coffee Pot on Stand with Goblet

 Victorian Coffee Pot. I wish I knew the correct name for this fantastic antique but I don't. It swings, you pour the coffee into the matching goblet on the stand. I found this in pieces (literally) in a Massachusetts Antique Store, but I could see that nothing was missing. Once it was lightly cleaned and put back together it looked as great as I knew it would.

Apothecary Scale and Weights

 Apothecary Scale and Weights found in Massachusetts Antique Store. Privately owned

O'Keefe's Stone Ginger Beer

 O'Keefe's Stone Ginger Beer Bottle Caps.

Eugene O'Keefe, founder of O'Keefe Brewing Company grew up in Toronto Ontario. His family settled there from Ireland in 1832. In 1862 he founded O'Keefe and Company, the first company the first to produce lager beer in Canada along with the traditional ale and porter.

Eugene O'Keefe was one of the first brewers to use motor trucks for beer delivery, the first to build a mechanically refrigerated store-house for beer and one of the first to advertise extensively. He died in 1913 and O'Keefe Limited took over the brewery. In 1916 O'Keefe began making stone ginger beer in response to Prohibition. The bottles and caps are very collectible.

Victorian Double Match Holder

 Victorian Match Holder - double. One side would hold unused matches, the other side for used. Probably used for lighting candles and oil lamps, as anyone lighting a woodstove or fire would have thrown the used match into the flames. (Private Collection)

Antique Victorian Jewellry Boxes

Antique Hunter Blog personal collection of antique Victorian Jewellry Boxes

My personal collection of antique Victorian Jewellery boxes. Some are souvenir boxes. These usually have bevelled clear glass and a coloured satin pad inside. The box at rear of photo is not a Victorian Jewellery Box, it is a milk-glass box from the 1920s

Red Turkey Coffee Tin

 Rare Red Turkey Coffee Tin. Tins are very popular with collectors. You can collect all kinds - coffee, tea, tobacco, medicine.... I collect Coffee Tins and Medicine Tins, and I have a few other miscellaneous tins that appeal to me for one reason or another. I have a rule of thumb "If you have 3 of an item, it's a collection" This coffee tin is hard to find, and in this good condition is worth about $250.00

Green Depression Glass Mixing Bowls

 This is a set of green Depression Glass mixing bowls. They weren't found as a set, I've been collecting them as I find them in antique stores or flea markets or auctions. I've managed to find four of different graduated sizes, all the same shade of green with the same ribbing.

Depression Glass was manufactured in the 1930s. You can find Depression Glass bowls, dinner plates, candlestick holders, glasses, teacups, sugar bowls, sherbet dishes, water pitchers and more. The most common colours are green, clear, and pink. Depression Glass also comes in yellow and blue. There are different shades of green, one is sort of lime, the other the green you see in this photo. There are many different patterns too. Depression glass is eagerly sought after by collectors and can be quite expensive

Pegwell Bay Pot Lid

 

Pot LIds were an early form of marketing and packaging - they are pictures printed on pottery covers and placed on pots of products. They were produced in colour by the 1830s. This pot lid is one of the Pegwell Bay series. It is called Hauling in the Trawl. It's a common lid copied from a drawing in London Illustrated News on 6 March 1847. It was produced for Crosse and Blackwell by the Pratt factory. It is worth approximately $100.00

Watsons Cough Drops Tin

 This is an antique Watsons Cough Drops Tin in very good condition. It's quite large with good graphics. It's part of a private collection of Medicine and Medicinal Tins.

Hendryx Bird Cage

 Antique Hendryx Bird Cage. Original Green Paint

Gurneys Antique Scale Ontario

Gurney Antique 16 lb. Scale with porcelain tray. Labelled Gurneys and Ware, Hamilton Ontario. Balance scale, uses counterweights. Red paint with gold, good condition. Gurneys logo painted on metal. Circa 1902-1910

Canadian Scale Makers, (ie: Gurney & Ware, Gurney, C. Wilson, Osborne, Fairbanks, Wm. & J. G. Greey, Burrow Stewart & Milne, Hamilton Scale Company, New Warren Scale Co., Renfrew Scale Co., for example), had to have their products verified prior to sale to merchants.

The stamped verification sequence allows collectors to more accurately date scales and weights. For eg you might see a (crown) with ER over Q, T.18

(crown)ER Edward VII reigns 1902 – 1910

T Toronto

Month Indication Number 18 Month (of a 2 year span) of original verification

Series Letter Q Identifies a 2 year period. 1906 - 1907

Kemp Manufacturing 1867-1911

Some sources Canadian Weights and Measures

We also have in our personal collection scales with the mark

(crown)VR Queen Victoria reign 1837-1901

The 1851 Directory of Ontario shows the following listing under FOUNDRIES AND MACHINISTS

GURNEY & CARPENTER, ironfounders and manufacturers of
threshing machines, castings, machinery, hollow,
copper and tinware, pipe boxes, potash kettles, &c., John st.

Antique VIctorian Coal Skuttle

 Antique VIctorian Coal Skuttle found in Massachusetts Antique Store

Antique Canister Set

 What a gorgeous antique canister set we spotted on our Massachusetts Antique Trip

Civil War Photo Albums

One of my collections is Civil War era photo albums - with CDVs. I also collect Ambrotypes (like the one on the left) and Daguerrotypes.

An index and thumbnails of many of my photo albums can be found at Lost Faces (http://www.olivetreegenealogy.com/LostFaces/ )