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 Q. I have a black closed, standing umbrella with 24K gold and red, blue, yellow and green dots of color. The marking on the bottom is "IMA Beruta"; a signature on the base holding the umbrella is "Ric de Tivoli". What is its value and / or background of this piece?

A.???

Q. Can anyone identify this one? It is wire, and dome shaped, about 8" in diameter. The basic structure is concentric circles of wire about 1/2" apart, held together with an "x" of wire. The ends of the "x" are looped into circles to form the 4 feet. In between the concentric circles are soldered about 20 small open ended metal cylinders 1/2" diameter and 1/2" tall.

A.???

Q.  Does this sound familiar to anyone? It is amber, 4" high and oval shaped - about 8" long x 3.5" across. Just below the top edge there is a lip that extends out an additional 1 1/4" all the way around. It appears to be designed to fit in an oval dish with the lip resting in or on the edge of the dish. The glass is good quality with minimal bubbles. Please identify.

A.1/98: I was finally able to identify this flower frog. It is a Heisey Trident flower frog and the color is Sahara. There is a console bowl and a pair of candlesticks that go with this. Joyce Stein.

 Q.  Any history on this copper frog? The overall shape is that of a bow-shaped pretzel. It is made from a strip of copper approximately 8 inches wide which is then cut into strips about 1 inch wide and 6 inches long, like fringe. Each fringe is bent and shaped into a spiral or corkscrew. The piece of copper with all the corkscrews riveted to a lead base about 8 inches long and 2 inches wide which is folded in half lengthwise.

A.???

4/4/98 Your wire frog at first sounded like one of mine...also unknown. Mine begins with a large washer from the hardware store (?) wrapped with wire in a spider web fashion. That wire is wrapped into a column above the web, with all the ends going out in corkscrew circles to form the flower holders. Each wire is turned in a loop at the end also. It is very hard to describe, but wonderful! Anyone ever seen anything like this? kreppa@hutman.net

7/9/00 Your frog was patented in 1932 by G. Richard Davis, Jr. For more on metal frogs see the "Articles" Page (go to FFG Home and choose Articles link)

Q. 10/97: I have the figure that you have on your FFG logo. It has no marks, it is a creamy white, 6 1/2 inch by 4 inch, Could you tell me anything about it? Like What time period it was made? Who made it? How much it is worth? I would appreciate any information.

 A. The piece used on the logo is quite common, but I feel it is representative of the art deco spirit of the flower frogs. It really shouldn't sell for more that $65, I sold mine for $35. Perhaps that was a tad low... they get scarcer and scarcer. The piece was reproduced and sold in a mail order catalog in 1987 as a pencil holder only it was a mirror image- the arm extended on the left. Since it is not marked it is hard to say for certain when it was made and by whom. It is probably a US production from the 20s or 30s. There is also a similar lady that is a German import. German imports are marked "Germany" and have a number on them. BB.

 Q. 1/98: Can anyone provide me with info on a lady on a fish frog I picked up? The frog is a lady on a fish, light olive green in color. Her right hand is under her breast, and the left hand is holding the fish. It is 10" high. The bowl is about 11" in diameter, and the inside matches the frog; the outside is a pearl color with flowers on it (all pearl colored). It is marked ROYAL HAEGER-RZZ4-U.S.A..

She is kind-of ugly, but really grew on me! Anyone have any idea on value? Rarity? Thanks!!!

A. The piece you are describing appears in the following publication: Collecting Royal Haeger - A comprehensive Illustrated Price Guide Highlighting the Figurines of the 30s & 40s by Lee Garmon and Doris Frizzell. published 1989. They are listed as #R-363, Nude Astride Fish Block 10"h $18-20 and #R-224 Daisy Bowl, 12"w, $12-15.

I am reluctant to set prices as this just drives the prices up and makes the bargains disappear. I do not feel the piece is rare, but flower frogs are not that easy to find these days. Therefore $60-$75 would be a reasonable price. BB.

Q. I have a seahorse frog. It is about 4 inches high and looks like it should have been sitting in a dish with an indent like the Red Wing deer. It has an oval base and is pale blue ceramic. Is this made by Red Wing? If not, do you know who made it?

A. From R. J. Glantz (1/24/98): Hello I think I know who made there sea horse in the Q&A page. It is not Red Wing because mine is 8 1/2 inches tall. But I think it is Shawnee. I have seen the Shawnee sea horse on eBay a few times and I bet that's what it is. I also saw it in a Shawnee book my friend has.

Q. (4/8/98) Is there any information on Viking rose bowls? I have a red bowl with red frog and lion hair type feet and legs which is not typical?

A.4/9/98 The red bowl with the red frog has me intrigued. I've only heard of one other red glass frog, so I think I can say with confidence that it is rare (If you ever want to sell it, let me know :-). I need to have the diameter of the opening at the top of the bowl and the diameter and thickness of the frog to determine if they are Viking or Beaumont. Both made the rose bowls with the "tree trunk" legs. Probably, Viking acquired the Beaumont molds after Beaumont closed and used them when the Viking mould wore out. On Diane's page, she has a Beaumont rose bowl and frog pictured and her satin swan with the oval frog was made by L. E. Smith in black, green and pink, maybe other colors, too.

Pam Ochs<classics@facets.net>
Visit Classics at Facets Antique & Collectible Mall
http://www.facets.net/classics/

Ed. note: If you two discuss this together, don't forget to let the rest of us know the final ID. BB.

4/10/98. I too have a red flower frog with the red bowl to match, it is the only one I have ever seen. It does not have a candle center hole and it is a much wider frog than the candle-lite rose bowls. It too has the lions feet. I also have the 4 inch blue seahorse and can't find the bowl or the maker either. Any info. would be a great help. I will keep looking. Thanks, Pamela Booker <moose1@csionline.net>

3/1/99. Follow up from Pam Ochs: Pamela Booker's red bowl and frog are definitely Beaumont and quite scarce. I have a lonely frog looking for it's bowl. The "flowerlite frog" is a joint Old Morgantown and L. E. Smith Patent from the early 50's and is much later than the Beaumont frog. As far as I know, the "Flowerlite" (it has the candle hole in the center) was only made in clear glass in the 3" and 3-1/2" sizes. It will not fit the opening of a Beaumont bowl.

 Q. (4/8/98)Please identify the following:

I have a glass bowl with frog that is not marked. The bowl is clear, orange glass with a candle holder on each end. It is basically oval, with the extensions for the candles on each end. The overall length is 12 inches. The frog is clear glass, oval, about 3/4 inch thick. The frog has two large holes surrounded by 20 small ones along the edge and 11 holes in the middle. I have seen another one like this in lavender
glass.

A. 4/9/98. The orange bowl with the candleholders at the ends and the 2-lite flower frog was probably made by Viking in the 50's to 70's era. I have the dark lavender one and as far as I know Viking was the only one to make the 2-lite frog. I'm guessing that it was a trial run or a special order as they seem to be found very rarely. The orange color would also lean toward Viking as they did a lot in that color in the 50's to 70's era.

Pam Ochs<classics@facets.net>
Visit Classics at Facets Antique & Collectible Mall
http://www.facets.net/classics/

11/2/98. My husband and I have 5 of the oval bowls and frogs and an oval frog without a bowl. The colors we have are emerald, amber, amethyst, and 2 clear with a silver overlay. One of the clear has a Poppy flower design and one has a leaf design. If at sometime someone runs across a Red one, round or oval, with a red frog we would sure be interested. Ron and Ruth. rrbuenin@gte.net

ed note: Ron and Ruth's bowls are 6-1/2 inches long, 4-3/4 wide and 3-3/4 inches tall. The flower frogs are oval also and fit on top of the bowls. They have 2 larger holes for candles and 31 smaller holes for flowers.

3/1/99 Follow-up form Pam Ochs: On Ron and Ruth's comments, they appear to have the more common Viking Oval 2-flowerlite frog and bowl combinations without the candleholder extentions on the ends. It is the extra set of candleholder extentions which make the original piece discussed uncommon. BTW, I now have 15 colors of the small Viking rose bowls with the clear flowerlite frog. On the oval ones, in addition to the amber, emerald, amethyst and silver overlay, there is another shade of green, gold overlay, and black. I haven't seen one in red which is really strange as Viking did a lot of red glass.

 Q. (4/8/98) I have a frog, teal blue pottery, glossy finish. It is in the shape of a beehive, the holes for flowers are not holes, but slits along the rings. Anyone know what this is? It is not marked.

A.4/9/98 I'm guessing here, but I saw some bowls at an antique store with slits like you describe for your beehive. The bowls were labelled pansy holders. From Vicky Wall<awall@interpath.com>

Ed. note: This description also made me think of Camark pansy bowls, but they don't entirely look like beehives. BB.

Q. I recently acquired a Lalique Flower Frog. It is 2 doves entwined. Does anyone know where I can get a Lalique book that IDs this piece and also have a approx. value. I'm not sure if it's a recent piece or old? This item can be viewed at http://www.telepath.com/jdsatt/frog.htm.

A. ??? 

4/9/98. Ed. note: A Lalique flower frog, that's new to me. I had a Lalique perfume bottle with a "two dove" stopper on it, which sold on ebay for $100 approx. My perfume bottle was from the 1980's. I saw several of these at the NYC Triple Pier Antique Show this year selling for $100 plus or minus. BB.

7/10/00. Two years later an answer! From a reader we hear, "I purchased this frog in the Paris Lalique showroom in 1984 for $150.00. I Have no idea of its value. Catalice"

Q. 5/4/98. I found a new frog at a garage sale! It is a black glass ball/globe style with three legs. It has a clear glass round that sits on top and the bowl part is about 4 inches wide. Maybe bigger. I figure it's worth about 15-20 dollars. Any opinions? Do you know who could have made it? When?

A. 9/12/99. From gliner@mcn.org: I believe this is a Viking black amethyst bowl with three legs and a 3 inch crystal frog.

???

Q. 5/5/98. Help- I have a silver plated turtle frog. The turtle is about 8 inches long , full figured with a raised pattern in the silver. The frog is a clear dome to shape the back and is self water contained. I see no markings. Can anyone identify it?

A. ???

Q.  5/10/98. I recently purchased two approx. 11 1/2 " frogs which I think might be "bashful Charlotte" and "heron". They are both clear, and I only see the heron in milk glass in the catalog reprints. Is this clear heron Cambridge?? Does anyone know the current values?? I paid a $100 for each of them..many thanks.

A. ???

5/10/98. There are 3 Cambridge Herons. A 9" and 12" in clear and a 9" in milk glass only. The prices you paid are within in range. Check out the Not-So-Recent prices on my home page. Bashful Charlotte is listed as Sept. Morn. (It is a personal prejudice.) BB.

Q. 6/12/98. Recently I acquired what was reputed to be a Roseville starfish shaped flower frog, and reputedly a Van Briggle matte glaze blue duck resting on a leaf flower frog. Any information as to origin, value and where I could read more about them would be appreciated.

A. 7/10/98. From <jmnw@chicago.avenew.com> There is a matte glaze blue duck on p.100 of "The Collectors Encyclopedia of Van Briggle" by Sasicki & Fania. It is from the 1920s and has the Van Briggle logo on the bottom. The duck in the book doesn't appear to be sitting on a leaf but sometimes the photos are misleading. Hope this helps!

Ed. note: This the small Van Briggle duck. It is not sitting on a leaf. There is a larger VB duck that sits on water waves. The base is elongated rather than round. I have never seen a Roseville Starfish. If anyone has please let us know. BB.
more???

Q. 7/3/96. I would like information on Dazey Manufacturing and pricing on the flower frogs they produced. What would be a good resource?

A. 7/5/98. On my web page there are two "Dazey" flower frogs shown with the following copy: 7-1/2" d. Dazey metal flower frog shown with smaller version. Marked "DAZEY MFG. CO. L.A. CAL." AND "PAT'D 08-19-16." Dazey manufactured this particular frog in many sizes. They also made some other shapes. The basic "Dazey" can sell from $3 to $20. I recently saw a needle flower holder in the shape of a leaf sell on Ebay for $90. The seller claimed it was made by Dazey. I had never seen it before and the price was a surprise to me. I know of no other resource for Dazey Mfg. (BB).

Q.8/24/98. What is it? Is it a flower frog? Just received this additional info from the owner. "Yes, there is open appliqued glass 'lattice work' over the top (wings of swan) which would hold flowers as the base of the swan is open (ie. vase for flowers). The 'water bowl' portion from bottom of swan to top of lattice work is about 3-1/4", the swan is 7" from bottom to top of lattice work wings. I had never seen anything like it either, got it at an estate sale and it was so unusual I had to get it."

A. This item is pictured and described on p. 217 of Glass Animals of the Depression Era (see book page). The swan pictured has a three tier lattice back and is 10-1/2"h. but it was also made with two tier lattice 7"h.- like yours. It is one of many glass pieces in the "Who Done It" chapter. BB.

???

Q.11/14/98. My mother recently found a figural frog and would like help identifying it. This frog is a figural frog with a little boy sitting on a stump fishing. His pants/jumper is blue, his hat is an orangy colour, the hill that the stump sits on is olive green and he has with him a brown bucket. All glazed but the face, hands and feet. He is 6" high and has no markings, he is missing his bowl/base and his fishing rod.

A.11/15/98. The flower frog you are describing sounds like the Weller Boy Fishing. Your colo(u)rs are slightly different from what I am used to seeing and the Weller boy sits on rocks, not a stump. Weller is an American pottery company that went out of business in 1948. The boy fishing dates from the 1920s. He comes marked and not marked and is 6-1/2 inches tall. If this is the piece your mother has it is easily worth $250. There are always imitations, however, so I am including a jpg for you to view. Let me know if this is it. (BB)

Q. 12/22/98.  I recently bought a flower frog with bowl at an antique mall for my mother who collects flower frogs. The bowl and frog which sits atop the bowl are both clear in color. The design is scalloped and appears very simple. There are flaws in the glass and there are no markings on the bottom. The tag on the set when I bought it said "coronation bowl with frog." Is this a new item and what was its original use?

A. ???

Q. 1/22/98. I have been searching for months for any information as to who made this three piece flower frog, where, and when. I think it is gorgeous and I am interested in collecting ones like it but would love to learn anything you might know about this one. The bowl is 10" across and the entire assembled set stands 9" tall. The figure in the middle is two fish swimming in a wave of water with a beautiful seagull soaring atop the wave. Please tell me anything.


A. I believe your frog is English, but I am afraid I have never been able to acquire any concrete history on these glass pieces. I do not remember seeing the seagull but I have a bowl exactly like the one in your picture and as best I can tell the base is the same as mine, only mine has a lady atop it. I also have a blue Dutch girl on the same base. Both were purchased in England and I have other similar pieces found there. I have consulted antique dealers (friends) in England but never have gotten any concrete information. The glass is equivalent to our depression glass and probably dates from the 20's-30's. The possibility exists that they could be Continental, however, I have found few in Europe, but have seen many in London. They are harder and harder to find, and with the dollar being weak, they are not cheap. (BB 1/22/99) I now have a web page on English Glass Flower Frogs. (BB 2/26/99) It will tell you that I now think this item is Czech.(BB 7/09/00)

Q. 2/15/99. I have a Cambridge Two Kid flower frog, but it is different than the other Two Kids I own. This amber Two Kid is BENT! The other Two Kids I have are perfectly straight. I'm 99% sure that the glass didn't 'sag' when it was made, but rather this was cast bent like Cambridge's 'Bashful Charlotte.' Have you ever seen or heard of a bent Two Kid? Thank you! B.J.

A. No I haven't but I'd love to hear from someone else who has. There is a bent crystal Mandolin Lady shown in Glass Animals of the Depression Era by Garmon and Spencer. And a green Mandolin Lady sold on Ebay which appeared to be bent. BB. 2/26/99. 3/00

More info please. ???

Q. 3/27/99. I'm sure everyone but me can tell the old Bashful Charlotte and the old Draped Lady from the new. Did anything about them change besides the adding of the ribbing on the base?

A. In addition to the ribbed base, the draped lady was done in colors not used by Cambridge. It should be marked IG. This reissue was made by Imperial Glass for Mirror Images in the 80's. It was made using the old Cambridge mold. Same for Bashful Charlotte, but she never had holes around the base which makes it easy for a flower frog collector to avoid. A good reference is Glass Animals of the Depression Era, Including Flower Frogs and Reissues by Lee Garmon and Dick Spencer. It is listed on my book page and was available from Amazon.com but is now out of print, but they may be able locate it. BB. 3/29/99

3/23/99. Glorianne Liner (gliner@mcn.org) has reminded me that Summit Art Glass also reproduced the 11" Bashful Charlotte on a ribbed base. In my original newsletters it stated that their intention was to reproduce it in Cobalt Blue, a color not used by Cambridge. But I have one in light blue. It is marked with the original Cambridge pat. #1645577 and a V in a circle (for Russel Vogelsong of Summit Glass). Glorianne insists that someone made the 6" Bashful Charlotte on a ribbed base with holes. She has seen them in several different colors. Cambridge may have only issued the 6" Bashful Charlotte on a #3 ribbed base in crystal....no colors. Actually this issue of reissues is rather involved and perhaps calls for its own page. If you have any information on this subject please e-mail me. BB.

Q. 10/1/99. I have acquired a quadruple plate, silver flower frog manufactured by Pairpoint Mfg. Co. The vase is shaped like an urn, about 8 inches tall and the top "frog" part, if you will, is lattice work wire rope topped off with a finial. My research so far has turned up that Pairpoint stopped using its name in the mid to late 1800s and then was bought out and renamed.

A. I am not personally familiar with your piece, but according to the Encyclopedia of American Silver Manufacturers by Dorothy T. Rainwater, Pairpoint Mfg. Co. was organized in 1880. I'm assuming your piece is marked "Pairpoint Mfg. Co., Quadruple Plate." In 1894 the Mt. Washington Glass Co. became part of Pairpoint. In 1900 the two companies merged and formed the Pairpoint Corporation. They stopped the silverplating portion of the business in 1929, after suffering losses due to the depression. BB. 10/9/99.

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