Q-I have been trying to learn about a set of dessert spoons I bought in Portland, Ore., a few years ago. The spoons are marked “Montana Gold Company” and are in a box with a ribbon on the top marked “Simon Bank.” The state of Montana has no registration for a company named Montana Gold Co. The Simon Bank was in Butte City, Mont., in 1896. Can you help?
A-Perhaps we can suggest another place to look for your spoons’ history. Simon Bank was a jeweler and watchmaker in Butte in the late 1890s. Many stores imported silver and silver plate from England. The name Montana Gold sounds very American, but it could be a mark used by an English silver-plate company. Montana Silver was a trade name used by Collings and Wallis of Birmingham, England, in the late 19th Century.
Q-I have a captain’s chair and a set of armless wooden chairs made by Paul McCobb. What is the value?
A-Paul McCobb (1917-1969) was a well-known designer of ’50s-style furniture and home furnishings, including textiles. He made low-cost, well-designed furniture. His most popular pieces were part of the Planner group made by Winchenon Furniture Co. of Michigan. The price is still under $100 for any of your chairs.
Q-I inherited five figurines from my mother. Each is a character from “Gone With the Wind” such as Rhett Butler or Scarlett O’Hara. On the bottom is the name “Florence Ceramics, Made in California.”
A-Florence Ward made ceramic artware in Pasadena, Calif., from late 1939 to 1964. The figurines probably were made in 1940.
Q-When my grandfather was a boy, he brought water from the pump in a decorated ceramic pitcher that I now own. There are drawings of Indians hunting buffalo and other scenes on the pitcher. The bottom is marked with a picture of a buffalo and the words “Semi-Vitreous Buffalo Pottery, Buffalo Hunt.” What is the value and history of this heirloom?
A-The pitcher was made by the Buffalo Pottery Co. of Buffalo, N.Y., about 1906. The scenes are based on a famous 1897 Frederic Remington painting, “Her Calf.” Your pitcher is one of a series of printed pitchers made by Buffalo Pottery between 1905 and 1909. Each is worth at least $400.
