Keeping the Family Tradition

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Culture - An Honest Appraisal

Keeping the Family Tradition

Wednesday, 28 April 2010 12:12

libblyholloway

Some families seem to pass on a passion for collecting like other families pass on things like eye color or the shape of a nose.� Bill Boette, an antique dealer from Columbia, loved to collect glass.� His favorite was something called Mary Gregory glass.� This form features a cameo-type design of white enameled decoration on colored glass, a style attributed to American glass artist Mary Gregory� hence the name.� Early pieces (c1870-1950) usually show children at play.� The later pieces have less detail and tend to show the children being idle (Is this perhaps a comment on our generation�s children?).� European examples often have tinted faces with features painted in, while American-made examples tend to be all white.� Though dealers usually look for items to resell to their clients at a profit, Mr. Boette just couldn�t let go of the charming glassware.

As his daughter, Billie Boette, traveled with him from auction house to dealer she began to collect as honest-appraisal-glass well.� She was drawn to small, old items and has several collections that are contained in display cases. She began with a collection of small boxes, her first being a wooden tool box purchased because the wood had been worn to a satiny smoothness. �One little thing would lead to another collection,� she says.� One of these other collections consists of butter pats or butter chips, miniature plates used to hold an individual serving of butter.� The height of their popularity was 1880-1910, though later examples can be found.� They are decorated in the same patterns as popular dinnerware sets of the time. honest-appraisal-glass3

Billie also has ink wells of all types, collected on trips with her Dad and around the world.� She has small personal wells and large wells to be used in places of business.� My favorite is found among her collection of tiny ones with special covers or cases to be used while traveling.� She has the most wonderful miniature globe which opens to reveal a small inkwell.� This may be the most valuable well in her collection � though Billie doesn�t seem to have much interest in the monetary value of her collections.� Each represents a time with family and friends or an exciting trip abroad.

I often ask the collectors I interview to share a favorite collecting story.� Billie chose to share her saddest.� She had persuaded her Dad to �store� some Mary Gregory perfume bottles he had found at her home.� With those in mind, she purchased three old bottles in Yemen while on a trip there.� She carefully wrapped the pieces for travel and gently cradled them on the flight home.� She was delighted to find that they survived the flight.� After a late arrival home from the airport she decided to leave the unpacking of the car for the next day.� While cleaning the car, she began to chuck all the bags of trash that had accumulated into the nearby can.� When one bag hit the can with an unusual crashing noise, she went to investigate.� Much to her dismay, she found the pieces of one of the bottles in the bag.� The two survivors were placed in one of the display cases and the �lesson learned� was placed firmly in her memory for future reference. honest-appraisal-glass2

In her preparation for a move, Billie is once again lovingly packing her collections.� Her new home was chosen in part because there was room for the boxes, ink wells, glass, butter chips, tiny Nativity scenes.... you get the picture.� Bill is gone now and remains in the memories of those who knew him as a charming man and a knowledgeable dealer and collector.� Billie will be in a new area soon and will be missed by her friends here in Beaufort.� Luckily, I know I can keep up with her and any new acquisitions to the collections by email.

In honor of her father, a rare Mary Gregory covered punchbowl with an underplate will continue to take pride of place atop one of her display cases.

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Libby Holloway is a Certified Appraiser of antiques and residential contents.� She is a member of the International Society of Appraisers where she is currently serving as Secretary of the Board of Directors.� Libby can be contacted at www.LibbyHollowayAppraisals.com.