Sitting in the lap of luxury: natural chairs

Creative craftsmen seem attracted to the possibilities of twisting, bending or assembling natural materials into a chair.
Bamboo and wicker have been used for formal and folk-art furniture since the 1800s.
Cowhorn chairs from the late 1890s went well with ornate, more traditional wooden pieces in the Victorian style.
Western ranch houses featured chairs made of tangled moose horns.
The early-20th-century Adirondack lodges had furnishings made from logs, branches that still had bark or even mosaiclike decorations made of small twigs.
Huge tree stumps were carved into chairs in Wisconsin.
But the strangest 20th-century rustic furniture seen recently is made from roots or large, old grapevines assembled into recognizable chairs and tables. A set made of vines, consisting of a sofa, chair and table, sold recently for almost $800.
Q. For years, my family has passed along brass candlesticks that are engraved on the base with the phrase "The King of Diamonds."
The middle of the candlestick column is a ball with diamond shapes going around the column. The candlesticks are 121/2 inches tall.
Can you tell me anything about them?
A. Your candlesticks were manufactured in England as souvenirs of Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee in 1897. The country was celebrating the queen's 60 years on the throne. The candlesticks were made in three sizes: Ace, 14 inches tall; your King, 121/2 inches; and Queen, 111/2 inches Sometime after Queen Victoria died in 1901, two other "diamond" sets were made, the Prince, 113/4 inches; and Princess, 103/4 inches. A pair of Kings sells in this country for $500 or more.
Q. I have a miniature stoneware jug with a brown glazed top and an unglazed bottom.
A large label stenciled on the bottom reads: "Motto Jug, If You Try Me Once You Will Try Me Again, Detrick Distilling Co., Dayton, O."
Can you tell me anything about this jug?
A. The Detrick Distilling Co. offered miniature "motto jugs" like yours as promotional items around the turn of the 20th century.
Customers who ordered a gallon of any of Detrick's three brands of whiskey could choose one of 12 motto jugs as a souvenir.
The purchase of two gallons earned three motto jugs, and the purchase of three gallons earned four mugs.
They were advertised as "very acceptable ornaments for your library, den, or dining room."
The jugs were not empty, either - they were filled with whiskey.
It appears that Detrick gave away two different styles of jugs. Some mottos and styles are easier to find than others.
In general, a Detrick advertising jug sells for $85 to $100.
Q. I bought an unusual light bulb at an estate sale about 20 years ago. We still have it, and it works when it's screwed into any standard socket in the house.
What's unusual about it is that inside the clear-glass bulb there's a tiny silver-colored metal sculpture of a bird perched on a branch of flowers and leaves.
We've never seen anything like it. Have you?
A. Readers ask us about light bulbs like yours every once in a while. They have told us about bulbs that glow in different colors or that enclose tiny figural religious symbols, dogs or other animals. A spokesman for GE told us that these decorative bulbs were made in Europe from the 1930s through the '60s and that they continue to be produced in the Far East.
Q. Please help me identify an unusual 8-inch doll left to me by a relative. It's a male figure with a metal body composed of several parts.
The torso is molded aluminum, and the jointed arms and legs are each made of a short series of metal balls and sockets.
But the head, hands and black shoes are composition, so they look more like the parts of a regular doll.
The front of the torso is impressed "Made in Switzerland, patents applied for."
A. Your doll is a Saba figure. Saba is an acronym for Spielwarenfabrik A. Bucherer Amriswil, the factory in Amriswil, Switzerland, where the toys were made.
The company was founded in 1919 by August Bucherer-Fisher (1869-1945), a Swiss man who had worked for Marklin, a famous German toy company.
Bucherer applied for a patent for his figures in 1921 and introduced them at a toy fair in Leipzig, Germany, the following year.
The Saba dolls were a huge hit, especially in the United States. More than 140 different figures were produced, many of them representing comic characters or characters from children's books. Most were sold with felt outfits.
Today the figures, with original clothing and in good condition, sell for $200 and up.
Tip
Don't soak old ceramic pieces in water for a long time. Old repairs might be loosened.
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