“The Lord spoke and he said: Give up the repair of lawn mowers; Give up the repair of bicycles; Give up sermons; Paint my pictures… And that’s what I done.” Howard Finster is among the most prolific and best-known outsider artists. He turned his house in Georgia into “Paradise Garden”, a venue to display his vision of preaching through art, with a constant display of work for sale to the collectors and dealers who were frequent visitors. Much of the building material in the garden was accumulated from Finster’s television and bicycle repair businesses and his twenty-one other trades. His art came to national attention in 1980 when LIFE magazine featured him among several leading folk artists. He played his banjo on Johnny Carson’s television show, designed an award-winning record album cover for the Talking Heads and executed paintings to hang in the Library of Congress. Finster produced more than 20,000 works of art using anything at hand – furniture, bottles, mirrors, plastic, plywood, canvas, and, as he would say, “the best bicycle paint available”. His style is instantly recognizable; the best is deserving of the status he earned by preaching and promoting to aspiring believers and collectors. Finster had his first solo show in a commercial gallery at Phyllis Kind Gallery in Chicago in 1979, and another at Ms. Kind’s New York gallery in 1981. His work is in the collections of national and international museums and he was chosen to represent the U.S. at the Venice Biennale in 1984.

Information Courtesy of Rago Arts, October, 2019.

The Mora clock originated in the town of Mora, a small village in Sweden that is just on the southern edge of the Scandinavian Mountains. The clocks are a style of tall-case clock with an eight-day movement and often with a bombe midsection. (The cases share a great deal stylistically with French clocks of the period.) They were produced for roughly a century, from the late 1700s to the late 1800s, as part of a cottage industry in the town of Mora, where families worked together to manufacture and assemble them with each household assuming responsibility for a particular part. The families actually just made the clock movements this way, with buyers commissioning cases from locals on an individual basis, which explains the consistency among movements yet the diversity among cases. It is estimated that the citizens of Mora and the surrounding area made more than 50,000 movements, as many as 1,000 per year during the heyday of manufacturing, but the glut of inexpensive clocks from manufacturing centers in Germany as well as in America killed production of clocks in Mora before the close of the 19th century.

A Swedish polychromed tall case clock. (p4A item # D9905513)

Scandal & the Story of Bakelite

Bakelite hit the market in 1907, heralding the arrival of the modern plastics industry. Bakelite was the first completely man made plastic, as until then, plastics such as celluloid, casein, and Gutta-Percha all had as a base a natural material. It was developed by Belgian-born chemist Dr. Leo Hendrick Baekeland who started his firm General Bakelite Company to produce the phenolic resin type plastic. Bakelite was inexpensive to manufacture and extremely durable, and made its inventor a wealthy man. In subsequent generations, however, the Baekeland’s family story was one of tragedy rather than triumph. In 1972 the schizophrenic great grandson of Dr. Baekeland stabbed his mother to death. Savage Grace, by Natalie Robbins and Steven M.L. Aronson, a book about the family and the murder, was a best seller when it was published in 1985.

Bakelite for Appliances & Jewelry

Early Bakelite was used almost exclusively in the manufacture of radios, appliances and electrical components because it was lightweight, inexpensive, durable, moisture-resistant and non-flammable. The limited color range of black, brown, and the occasional burgundy and dark green was appropriate for use as radio cabinets, vacuum cleaner parts, and electrical elements, but eventually, formulas were developed to produce the plastic in a range of appealing colors. Its ability to be carved and molded made it ideal for inexpensive jewelry. Early jewelry attempts to mimic more expensive materials like ivory amber, onyx, and jade, but by the 1930s, consumers began to appreciate the plastic for own qualities and Bakelite jewelry made its appearance everywhere from Sears Roebuck to Sacks 5th Avenue.

Colorful Art Deco Bakelite Gems

Artists and designers discovered the beauty and workability of Bakelite (and Catalin, a competitor who also produced a phenolic resin plastic). New technology created additional colors, and the plastic became available in scarlet, green, amber, brown burgundy, red-orange, and Kelly green and black and marbled. By 1934, yet another plastics company had produced a formula for Bakelite in pastel colors including willow green, light blue, pink and yellow. Due to the unstable nature of the chemicals used in the pastel colors formula, these pieces are hard to find, and as such, are among the most costly of Bakelite jewelry.

Bakelite Jewelry & Values

Bakelite could be molded, carved, or laminated, and designers and turned to the material for brightly colored, inexpensive flights of fancy to adorn everything from wrists to waists. Necklaces featured beads in a variety of sizes and colors, sometimes terminating in carved or laminated pendants. A popular choker style necklace consisted of pairs of bright red cherries on celluloid stems and leaves dangling from a celluloid chain (today $150-300.)

Bakelite Bracelets

Bracelets were stretchy, cuff, charm, wrap or tank-track styles. Stretchy bracelets consisted of beads or lozenges strung on elastic. Cuff styles could be wide and deeply carved, or narrower bands intended to be stacked together. The band could be smooth, molded (usually in a geometric pattern), carved, or pierced. Wrap bracelets were beads strung on wire, and tank-track bracelets featured overlapping semi-circular links. A quick check on eBay turned up bracelets on offer in prices ranging from $50-300. Deeply carved, wide red cuffs seem to fetch the highest prices, followed by amber, then green.

Bakelite Pins

A variety of pins were produced, either whimsical figurals or geometrics. The Art Deco love affair with the Scottie Dog was evident in the jewelry on offer. Horses also had a strong presence, but pins of elephants, penguins, marlins, and cherries are also available. Pins range in price from $118 for a lovely carved leaf, $130 for a carrot, $102 for a red horse head, and an almost shockingly low $18 for a classic Scottie in red.

Bakelite Jewelry Affordable (Again)!

Prices reached almost ludicrous levels in the early 1990s, and the jewelry became so popular that other Bakelite pieces such as poker chips, Tootsie Toys and Mah Jong tiles were frequently fashioned into jewelry. The market seems to have cooled, meaning that it’s once again possible to buy a fine Bakelite cuff bracelet for less than a gold one.

Reference note by p4A Contributing Editor Susan Cramer, August, 2011

Bakelite

Bakelite is named after its inventor, Belgian-born chemist Leo Hendrik Baekeland (1863-1944). After emigrating to the United States in 1889, Baekeland dabbled in photography. In the late nineteenth century, photographic paper was so insensitive to light that prints had to be exposed outdoors in sunlight. Baekeland invented a more sensitive paper that he called Velox. He sold the rights to George Eastman in 1899 for a million dollars.

Now independently wealthy, Baekeland bought a farm near Yonkers, New York and set up a laboratory in the barn. He wanted to develop an insulating coating for copper wire, the kind of wire used to wind solenoids and motors. In those days wire was coated with shellac, which was laboriously made from the shells of the lacca beetle that inhabited southeast Asia. Shellac was expensive and in short supply. Could Baekeland develop a synthetic substitute?

In 1907, he prepared a mixture of phenol, formaldehyde and lye which had the color and the consistency of honey. Unexpectedly, the mixture hardened in its container, producing a solid whose surface faithfully duplicated the shape and the texture of its container.

It occurred to Baekeland that his mixture could be heated in molds to create objects of any desired shape. Thus was born Bakelite, the world’s first synthetic plastic. Baekeland founded The Bakelite Corporation to manufacture his material.

Bakelite is known by several generic names. It is referred to as phenolic because phenol (C6H5OH) is the main ingredient. Phenol is the preservative that is responsible for the “mediciney” smell of preschoolers’ paste and is the “mediciney” ingredient in antiseptic mouthwash.

It is also known as thermosetting because the chemical reaction that creates the solid actually occurs while the molding compound is being heated in the mold. Once the solid object has been formed, it cannot be softened again, unlike thermoplastics such as polystyrene that can be melted and re-used. This property makes thermosets useful for objects that might become warm, such as housings for electrical devices or even handles for kitchen pots and pans.

A Manning-Bowman coffee pot with bakelite handle, base and spigot handle. (p4A item # D9810832)

Baekeland’s competitors also made thermosets, and the word “bakelite” (small b) became a generic term denoting phenolic from any manufacturer. To further complicate things, The Bakelite Corporation later became a distributor of polystyrene, which was sold under the trade name Bakelite.

The original lump of Bakelite was a transparent amber-colored solid whose appearance Baekeland described as “frozen beer”. A few products were actually molded that color, notably ladies’ combs that were meant to simulate hand-carved tortoise shell.

Most Bakelite was made with additives that altered its appearance or mechanical properties.

Flock (short cotton threads) was often mixed with molding compound so that the threads would become embedded in the finished product. The fibers improved Bakelite’s mechanical strength, much as steel reinforcing rods strengthen concrete.

The most common appearance for a Bakelite object was opaque black, which was produced by incorporating carbon black into the molding compound. The ubiquitous black rotary-dial telephone was manufactured of black Bakelite.

A Henry Dreyfuss bakelite telephone. (p4A item # B126428)

A bakelite “bow tie” pattern bangle bracelet. (p4A item # D9769092)

Bakelite’s popularity began to decline in the 1940s as thermoplastics became more readily available. The first major thermoplastic was cellulose acetate, which was made from a byproduct of the cotton gin. Intricately-shaped objects can be fabricated by injection molding. Molten plastic is forced into a mold under high pressure, where it cools and solidifies. Since cellulose acetate was derived from an agricultural product, supply could not keep pace with the growth of demand. After World War II, polystyrene (made from petroleum) quickly became the most popular thermoplastic.

The days of manufacturing collectible jewelry from Bakelite are over, but phenolics continue to be used for applications where heat resistance is required, such as electrical equipment or cookware.

Reference note by p4A Contributing Editor Joseph H. Lechner, Ph.D.

Ormolu, an 18th-century English term, is from the French phrase or moulu, with “or” indicating gold and “moulu” being a form of an old French verb moudre, which means “to grind up.” (This French term for this technique is bronze dore.) This idea of “ground-up gold”refers to the production process of ormolu, where high-quality gold is finely powdered and added to a mercury mixture and applied to a bronze object. Modern usage often uses “ormolu” to describe any gilded object.

In reality, true ormolu pieces produced by this process are very rare. Production of ormolu declined dramatically after the first quarter of the 19th century, partly because of the great expense of the gold, but also because of the terrible health risks involved. “Mercury gilding,” the process of manufacturing ormolu, requires the application of a solution of mercury nitrate to the object (which is normally of copper, brass or bronze), and then the application of the gold/mercury amalgam, that was usually 6 to 8 parts of mercury to one part gold. In order for the gold to adhere to the surface, the coated object is placed in a kiln and exposed to extreme temperatures, which burns away the mercury. (This is similar to the technique used to produce vermeil, a form of silver-gilt.) As a result of the intense and prolonged exposure to mercury, it has been estimated that most mercury gilders died before the age of 40, and the process was banned in many countries in the mid-1800s.

True ormolu chenets (French andirons) from the Empire period attributed to Claude Galle. (p4A item # D9819758)

Evaluating Age and Authenticity of Ormolu

Evaluating the age and authenticity of ormolu mounts is one of the most difficult aspects of furniture appraisals because metal does not age in the same way as wood and because the mount’s patina has often been “enhanced” or damaged by inappropriate cleaning. Close inspection of the mounts can reveal much of their history however.

The design of eighteenth century mounts often suggests a certain exuberance and spontaneity; later nineteenth century artisans produced works more perfect in detail but with a more studied air about them. An experienced eye can also detect differences in eras or even between countries from the mount’s coloring, provided the original surface has not been disturbed. One should also take note of the size of each individual mount or sub-component. Bronze mounts of the eighteenth century, particularly furniture mountings, were cast in relatively smaller sections (usually no longer than 10 inches) and then pieced together to obtain the desired overall effect. Mounts of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries tend to be much longer.

Removing a mount from the piece in question (carefully!) can give one the most unambiguous information about its age and authenticity. First consider the casting…the more irregularities present on the underside, the earlier it is likely to be. Nineteenth and twentieth century castings most often have a “cleaner” and “smoother” appearance. More clues are revealed by the mount’s gilding. Early mounts treated with the mercury gilding technique discussed above were gilded on one side only, later mounts gilded with the electrolysis method are gilded on both sides.

As with all elements of an antique item of furniture, the condition of the ormolu mounts can effect the value of the piece itself. Entirely original mounts with original surfaces will increase the piece’s value. Replacement of all or a significant proportion of the mounts may significantly reduce its value, as will inappropriate cleaning of the mounts. The loss or replacement of one or two minor elements, however, may not have much effect at all on the piece’s value, particularly if the original surface remains. Cleaning ormolu mounts is best left to experts; at the most, use no more than mild soap and water with a very soft brush.

p4A.com acknowledges the International Auctioneers Magazine, Autumn 2003, as the source for much of the information in this reference note.

Jonathan C. Brown (1807 to 1872) was one of a number of successful clockmakers and manufacturers in Bristol, Connecticut. He was active in the clockmaking business from around 1832 to 1855. In 1832, he bought into a firm with William G. Bartholomew, that became Bartholomew, Brown and Company, selling complete clocks. He was also one of the organizers of the Forestville Manufacturing Company with four partners – Bartholomew, William Hills, Chauncey Pomeroy, Jared Goodrich and Lora Waters. He was one of the organizers of the Forestville Manufacturing Company which made clocks in Forestville, Connecticut town from 1842 until 1848. Meanwhile, his firm changed names around 1840 and operated for two years as Hills, Brown and Company, at which point, Jonathan Brown bought out William Hills, making the firm J.C. Brown and Company.

A J.C. Brown “acorn” shelf clock, a style developed and produced by both J.C. Brown and the Forestville Manufacturing Company. (p4A item # D9876475)

While part of the Forestville Manufacturing Company, Brown developed what came to be known as the “acorn” shelf clock, which used a coiled spring-driven fusee-type movement, and these clocks were made by both Brown’s firm and the Forestville operation. A number of variations were developed, including one without the traditional serpentine side arms. (For further illustrations, see pg. 124 and 125 of The American Clock.) One interesting aspect of these clocks is that the painted tablets on a number of them depict Brown’s beautiful Greek Revival home in Bristol, which is still standing. The house was originally built for Lawson Ives, another Bristol clockmaker, in 1833.

A detail from the tablet of a J.C. Brown acorn shelf clock that depicts Brown’s home in Bristol, Connecticut. (p4A item # A023131)

J.C. Brown and Company operated from 1842 to 1849, while Forestville Manufacturing Company was also still in operation. In 1853, J.C. Brown, ever the entrepreneur, started a hardware business, which also sold a few clocks. The looming depression of 1857 and a bad fire caused all of Brown’s businesses to fail in 1855. He sold out the interests of his clockmaking businesses to E.N. Welch (who later form part of the Sessions Clock Company). Brown never returned to the clock business and died in 1872 in Nyack, New York.

As is apparent, dating these clocks can be very difficult, due to the variety of business names, clockmakers and timeframes involved.

Hollie Davis, p4A Senior Editor, June 29, 2009

“Vermeil” is a French word co-opted by the English in the 19th century for a silver gilt process. Vermeil is a combination of silver and gold, although other precious metals are also occasionally added, that is then gilded onto a sterling silver object. The reddish (vermilion) hue of the addition of the gold gives the product its name. Vermeil is commonly found in jewelry, and a standard of quality (10 karat gold) and thickness (1.5 micrometers) has been set.

Vermeil was initially created through fire or mercury gilding, a technique developed in the 18th century, which requires the application of a solution of mercury nitrate to the object and then the application of a silver and gold/mercury amalgam. In order for the gilding to adhere to the surface, the coated object is placed in a kiln and exposed to extreme temperatures, which burns away the mercury. (This is similar to the technique used to produce ormolu, a form of gold-gilt.) As a result of the intense and prolonged exposure to mercury, it has been estimated that most mercury gilders died before the age of 40. Mechanical or chemical gilding techniques were largely replaced by electroplating by the mid-19th century, and the process was banned in many countries in the mid-1800s.

The White House has a room known as the Vermeil Room, so named for a collection of vermeil tableware.

A Gorham sterling silver compote with vermeil interior – note the reddish hue. (p4A item # D9827145)