TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Antique Clock Could Bring $200

ADVERTISEMENT

By JAY MOORE

Tribune correspondent

Published: July 17, 2008

We would like information about our antique clock. It was made by F. Kroeber Clock Co. It has a wood case and a porcelain face with a glass door that opens for access to wind the clock. It is about 14 inches tall.

J.C.

F. Kroeber was founded in 1887 in New York by Florence Kroeber, a German immigrant who moved to the United States with his family around 1850. His first job was as bookkeeper at New York City clockmaker Owen & Clark.

Beginning in the 1870s, Kroeber out-sourced movements and supplied cases, metal decoration and figurines. After he formed his company, he began producing complete clocks. The firm went bankrupt in 1904.

This clock was manufactured around 1890. It would retail for about $200.

I inherited two paperweights from my mother and would like to know the age and value. Are they American or German? There are no marks.

C.W.

Richmond, Va.

They are millefiori paperweights (millefiori is Italian for "1,000 flowers"). The decoration is made by slicing colored glass canes, or rods. Makers in Murano, Italy, are credited with developing the technique.

Early millefiori glass was made into beads used as jewelry. Later, millefiori was incorporated into paperweights that mostly were manufactured in France and America during the mid 19th century. In the 1930s, many early French and American paperweights were reproduced in China. Millefiori paperweights have been heavily reproduced and are still being made.

Your paperweights are Chinese, identifiable by the use of soda glass. They would retail for around $30 each.

For information, check out paperweight expert Allan Port's great site at paperweights.com/chinese.htm.

Have a question about antiques? E-mail a complete description with a clear digital image (.jpg file) to athome@tampatrib.com. Include a name, address and daytime phone number. Regular mail can be sent with clear photographs (plain-paper prints or Polaroid

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT