Coy - Part Fourteen - "Who Cares" - (B)

Coy

Part Fourteen

"Who Cares"

(B)

            I had already found... the small... pedestal base... ‘loop pattern’... early American pressed flint glass... Boston area, Sandwich, Mass. or possibly Portland, Maine... circa 1840... open table ‘salt’ (‘salt dish’) WITH its... I presumed... long time companion ... small wooden ‘salt spoon’ resting in it...; with this salt found LOOSE... upon and amongst... ‘some stuff’ along the back wall.  “NICE” I had said to myself... and rattled through the MY mental heritage, history, antiquary and art... questionnaire.  And moved on... after returning the salt to where I.. found it... exactly.

            I had already found... the small... broken in half... with traces of an ‘old glue’ ‘repaired once a long time ago’... octagonal mold cast earthenware relief embossed... English Staffordshire Transferware... ‘child’s plate’ ... with pink lustre highlights and a red transfer scene in the center of a young girl seated beside her dog whose head rested before its dog house door... AND had this transfer scene titled “THE PLAYMATES” at the bottom... with this broken child’s plate found LOOSE... upon and amongst... ‘some stuff’ along the back wall.  “NICE” I had said to myself... and rattled through the MY mental heritage, history, antiquary and art... questionnaire.  And moved on... after returning the broken plate to where I.. found it... exactly.

Heritage for both objects... was lightly and tritely supplied as verbal banter from Helen... to my back as I ...posed upright briefly with each in my hands.  I inspected the wooden spoon in the salt and fitted the broken plate... ‘back together’... while ‘upright’.  “I HATE THAT” were her qualifications of the salt and spoon ...because “Aunt Minnie always used that on the dining table and my mother would never let me use it or EVEN TOUCH IT until... WELL... I finally TOUCHED IT after both of them WERE DEAD.  I had to use a SALT SHAKER.”  The plate’s verbal heritage was “ITS BROKEN.  I DON’T KNOW WHERE THAT CAME FROM”.

            ‘Who cares’.  Anyway.  The plate slid a little on the stack ‘of stuff’ I’d sat it back down on.  I reached out and pulled in back.

            “GIVE ME THAT; I’ll THROW IT OUT.” said Helen to my back.  I reached back out to the little broken plate and picked it up again.

            “Throw it out?” I heard myself say turning slowly to face Helen.  She started to move in the doorway; dropped her left hand from its support position and extended it toward I in a gesture indicating... I should pass her the broken plate so she could... throw it out.

            “I have more garbage in HERE.” She said with her hand fully extended ‘to receive’... it.

            “Ah...  Don’t throw it out.” I said.

            “WHY NOT.  ITS BROKEN.”

            “Just in HALF.” I said.  Helen looked at the plate in my hands.  Then looked up to my face.

            “YOU CAN KEEP THAT if you WANT IT”.

            Pause... with me looking down at the plate pieces.  Then I said “OK” and... put the two plate pieces in my back pocket.

            “TAKE THAT SALT TOO.  I’m gonna THROW THAT OUT TOO.  I HATE that SALT.”

            “The salt too?” I said turning toward the wall, denoting and then ...picking up the... object ...in its state of flux... titled “HATE”.  I, with only an upper body – over the shoulder twist & glance... toward Helen behind me... put the salt with its spoon... down deep in my front pant’s pocket... without a word and ...twisting back to face the wall.  I remind that this moment was fifteen years ago and only my second visit to the Savage mansion estate.  I was still well within my professional ‘take no prisoners’ and ‘anything goes’ antiquarian... rummage, ransack, loot and carry off... ‘standard practice’ of my ‘business’:  If someone is throwing out perfectly good antiques... TAKE THEM.

            And do not ‘talk’ about it.

            With heritage summarized I reluctantly ...waste my time (?)...and yours (?) with the other iota.  History of the salt IS ‘it’s (open salt w/spoon dining table service) still used today’ (very, very rarely) but saw peak usage (in the metal of glass) on the New England table WITH SPOON from the late 1820’s through the Civil War.  This salt; a later ‘early American Pressed (flint) Glass (so titled) specimen IS ‘later’; 1840’s to ...last breath 1870.  Then... the history of design... for glass salt vessels on tables... goes... ‘salt shaker’.  Elegance be damned?  Please notice the ...design form appears... example here; the salt shaker design form APPEARS... and becomes... to this day... still... ‘common usage’.  Design forms... with their ‘history of’... appear... and disappear.  Usage of the open salt... with spoon... has... as a design form... almost, almost, almost ...disappeared.

            Antique ‘buffs’ discerned this and resurrected the open glass salt as a ... ‘once was’... highly sophisticated collector’s ‘field’ (of design).  Knowing, knowing and THE knowing have now ‘carried’ the interest in ‘old salts’ for... well... seventy plus years.  They never put them on tables with salt and spoon but do line their ‘collections’ up and ...do too very much ‘like’ the old spoons... too.  Namby-pamby collector rarity infighting and ‘color’ of glass carry on ‘still’ although the ‘who cares’ has assaulted the ranks of open salt collectors to spook many ‘completely out of it’ (open salt collecting).  Prices for NOT RARE... leaving only the very rare still ‘high’... have... truly... crashed.  (A good time to get in?).  Outside of the collector ranks... open salts are ‘not known about’.  Or... ‘forgotten about’.  As a dealer... among my fellow antiques dealers... ‘I’m left alone’ on my day to day with open salts... AS SHOWN HERE... fifteen years ago with Helen.

            The design (art) of the open salt... is where things get ...either nasty or ...quite pleasant.  Passing through ‘appear’ and ‘disappear’ of the ‘design form’... there is a very, very critical art eye turned at ...old open glass salts.  ‘The forms’ (plural) are rampant with ‘art’ substance.  Here with its pedestal base, hexagonal form, flared top; vertical thrust spread, repeat of this with the embossed ‘loop’ pattern on the sides, understated summary of petite form (the whole salt IS subtle) and... the brilliance of the medium’s metal (the actual glass)... either you get it (the understated elegance) or... do not (do not ‘see’ the ‘positive art qualities”).  Nasty or ...quite pleasant.  Your taste... your choice... your art... and... ‘who cares’.  Further, with Helen’s “HATE” salt here... ‘with spoon’... one denotes the spoon enhances the salt ...and the salt ...gives full meaning to the spoon... gracing both with a companion ratio (design companion ratio) making.. each... better... or best.  But again... who cares.

            Placing the broken child’s plate in the merit cross hairs purveys a similar tale.  History of the ‘this design form’; children’s dining china... principally cups, mugs and plates with occasional whole tiny tea services... has an origin (18^th century English), a design flourish and peak (English made with global distribution (1810-1860), a plateau with a quality-of-design-starts-to-decline (1855-1870).  Then... children’s china and its design... goes to Hell (all quality and grade of production scale... vaporizes), then is gone... (1876-WWI)... excepting sentimental mothers AND NURSES who ‘kept that’ ‘to remember’.  By 1900 onward to a flourish of ‘delight of’ in the 1920’s... collector’s of ‘children china’ appear.  Never a large group, they... in the antiquarian shadows... ‘keep collecting’ to this day WITH a subtle overdrive of most ‘old English paste’ collectors ALWAYS ‘having some of that around too’ (the good - peak design period examples).  This last group carries the ‘my day to day market’.  They are... who cares.

            I’m not going to spend time on the ‘art’, ‘design’ and ‘positive art qualities of... children’s china and... this broken plate.  THEY ARE APPLIED to children’s china and DO effect collector enthusiasm and ‘value’.  This last, when applied, is a warren of nooks of collector ‘knows’.  I have no problem with this though a ‘new-bee’ might just sell a ‘really rare good one’ ‘too cheap’.  More probably these days is the ... new-bee promoting a ‘not rare one’ that THEY think they ‘discovered’ for ‘too much.’

            Unlike the salt and its design group, children’s china, has ‘better’ ‘reference books’.  Before we touch this ‘look it up in a book’ thing... I inform that I... do... NOT... need... books... to ‘look up in’.  I have long studied... design... history, ‘antique’ design and (positive art qualities) design (art) so... run off of ‘my eye’ ...so called in the trade... to ‘SEE’ “IT” (any and every ....THING – the object).  “Pictured” in a book is not needed by I but IS USED by I to... “SHOW YOU” “IT” “IN A BOOK” “SEE?”.  Because... otherwise... ‘who cares’.  Right?

            Anger management now starts... again...; a ‘for I to call in’ as I... again... “to begin the vicious swipe of the dragon’s tail ...of this tale” (Part One).  First though... the reference books:  The salt and ‘open salts’ for ‘in the book see?’ are lost among seventy years of collector focused reference books that are... all known of, all used and all... pretty crummy looking on a coffee table.  They (these books) DO NOT make a salt with a spoon ‘look good’.  They simply inform collectors... sort of... with... this ‘sort of’... seems to be holding as collector satisfaction.  I have all the books but rarely find a true ‘rare one’ that I ‘need to look up’.  I do well off the top of my head ‘in open combat’ as does the whole salt community.

            Children’s china has had recent visual coffee table ready reference book improvements.  Hard cover with sturdy dust jacket... with ‘lots of color’ photographs everywhere ...and corresponding publisher’s ‘select readership’ (high) PRICE... these books are now ‘standard’ and ‘around’... “SEE?”.  Good examples:  The Adams China color after color photographs... :  Furniss, Wagner & Wagner, ADAMS CERAMICS  STAFFORDSHIRE POTTERS AND POTS, 1779-1998, Schiffer, Atglen, PA, 1999 and... the children’s china Riley, GIFTS FOR GOOD CHILDREN  THE HISTORY OF CHILDREN’S CHINA 1790-1890, Richard Dennis, Somerset, England, 1991 are ...may I be this low... ‘spot on’ specimens.  Why low;;;;;;;;;: TRY ACTUALLY USING THE BOOKS... in combat conditions... against... me.  One needs them... and needs to READ THEM... to ‘participate’... and I don’t.  And... even if one ‘does’ enter the fray of old children’s china... ‘who cares’... is right there... too.

            IF... we now may discern that I.... I... fifteen years ago... standing bent over before Helen’s ‘in the second room’ back wall ...with an old salt and spoon stuffed in my front pocket and a broken child’s plate slipped into my back pocket... as a ‘rove along’ of this... in-the-room... in-the-stuff... rout of a professional I-eye feeling and fighting antiquarian WAR... in the open of the ...standard field OF that combat where this ensues; ‘the attic’... ‘the estate’... “THE OLD NEW ENGLAND ESTATE”:  IF I am... professionally and personally... ‘at home here’, be a ‘one’ with this... I AM ...I tell now... ‘beyond’ and ‘on your own’ (Part Six [D]) WITHIN the wilderness of ... the old New England estate; I am beyond the settlement... of a New England... right side up.

            IF this means that I ...as wilderness foray and scavenger (‘hunter’?); an attic creeper, an estate pilgrim... find myself ...by my self... up a small brook in a small bark wick-up (hut) (Part Six [D]) of the THIS... OF THE... ‘THIS’... of... I ‘in there’ of the old New England estate... and those outside; self excluding themselves ...themselves... by themselves... lift the bark door flap to my hut “IN THERE”... I hiss at that them “GO TO HELL”.

            “I CARE”.