TheFamilyBiz
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posted on November 17, 2003 07:01:01 PM new
Okay - I'm not asking for any help with identifying an item or its value -- but if you have any idea of what kind of birds these are - and what kind of flowers you see -- I'd really appreciate your help.
They're on the following Frederick Christian Greiner & Sons platter. It was made between 1894 and 1936 in E. Germany.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Wayne
Trying to Make a Difference - One Satisfied Customer at a Time....
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max40
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posted on November 17, 2003 07:20:23 PM new
There was an East Germany in 1936? I've got to call my history teacher!
Life is not a dress rehearsal
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sparkz
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posted on November 17, 2003 07:32:36 PM new
If the mark says "East Germany", it was made between 1946 and 1992.
The light at the end of the tunnel will turn out to be an oncoming train.
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TheFamilyBiz
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posted on November 17, 2003 07:37:48 PM new
Okay - let's call it "Eastern Germany" since the marks books have all sorts of details to throw at this...
And, it shows the following "Germany" mark:
I did find a great site just now, though:
http://tinyurl.com/vg7j
It has some great explanations of European Porcelain marks and some details on the factories.
Let me know what you think.
Wayne
Trying to Make a Difference - One Satisfied Customer at a Time....
(Edited to add the other images so you could see the marks I was talking about.)
[ edited by TheFamilyBiz on Nov 17, 2003 07:40 PM ]
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stopwhining
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posted on November 17, 2003 07:38:44 PM new
after you call your history teacher,would you mind saying hello to adolf and stalin and mao??
-sig file -------The thrill is gone!!
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dadofstickboy
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posted on November 17, 2003 07:40:07 PM new
The birds appear to have crowns on their head.
My guess would be something from the Pea family as in Peacock!
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max40
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posted on November 17, 2003 07:55:05 PM new
Great looking platter. My guess is Peahens.
Life is not a dress rehearsal
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stopwhining
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posted on November 17, 2003 08:13:26 PM new
IF IT IS MADE in east germany,it would say made in republic of germany.
this piece does not look so old to be before the country was divided.
-sig file -------The thrill is gone!!
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TheFamilyBiz
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posted on November 17, 2003 08:20:36 PM new
Thanks for your suggestions. I'm leaning toward the Pea Fowl designation for the birds.
SW - actually, this piece is pretty old - late 1800s - around 1894-96 or shortly after. All indications are that it is, indeed, porcelain tableware. The gilding shows wear around the edges and the wear on the base helps to authenticate it as well. It came from a large collection of turn-of-the-century porcelain.
We'll see what the eBay buying community says it's worth.
Thanks again for everyone's quick comments.
Wayne
Trying to Make a Difference - One Satisfied Customer at a Time....
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kiara
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posted on November 17, 2003 08:42:08 PM new
It's a beautiful platter. The red printed mark Made in Germany denotes that it is a 20th Century piece..... looks about 1920's or so to me.
I always referred to the birds as Peahens which could also be Pea Fowls.
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TheFamilyBiz
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posted on November 17, 2003 10:45:43 PM new
Thanks, Kiara. Because I value your opinion and you've helped with guidance in the past, I've modified the listing a bit to provide for the possibility that it was made in the 1920s.
Afterall, Fluffy even recommends a range when making an assumption of age unless there's verifiable proof.
Good call.
Thanks again to everyone for your suggestions and advice.
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kiara
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posted on November 17, 2003 11:10:44 PM new
You're welcome, Wayne. You seem to find some good pieces back East.
Here is a site that mentions the Made in Germany mark where it explains General rules for dating marks.
http://www.studiosoft.it/AntiquePorcelainMarks.htm
Thanks for the site that you posted above, I bookmarked it.
[ edited by kiara on Nov 17, 2003 11:11 PM ]
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TheFamilyBiz
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posted on November 18, 2003 01:20:09 AM new
Interestingly, within 2 hours of listing this item, I've had 2 inquiries from Germany. Shipping this beast is going to be a pain if it heads back to its country of origin - $26.00 Global Priority Mail. Might have to explore UPS and FedEx on this one to give a few options.
I'll let you know how it goes.
Wayne
Trying to Make a Difference - One Satisfied Customer at a Time....
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TheFamilyBiz
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posted on November 18, 2003 04:48:42 AM new
Okay, one of the 2 interested in the first few hours has now offered to "Buy it Now" for $80 + shipping costs - through an eBay "BIN," paid in USD (cash) via registered mail. The excuse, and we've all heard this a time or two, she won't be near her computer when the auction ends...
I'm tempted to tell her to place a bid for $80.00 and if no one else wants it as much as she does, she will get it for much less than that... But that runs counter to my business plan (ie. Make Money!)
What has been your experience and what would you do in my situation?
BTW, I paid $25 for the platter at a local auction.
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stonecold613
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posted on November 18, 2003 11:43:14 AM new
I would stick with USPS but don't ship it priority. Use air mail. It will still deliver in about a week, and I bet would cost less than $10.00
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TheFamilyBiz
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posted on November 18, 2003 07:48:06 PM new
Okay - well that was quick enough. Listed it last night - had 2 people inquire about it - one from Germany and another from Kazikstan who wanted it shipped to Germany.
The woman from Germany asked if I would accept $80 + shipping and would pay with cash via certified mail. I told her I wasn't comfortable with placing a BIN for $80 to end it that quickly.... Then I started to think that maybe she could be the only one willing to pay that for it... and what if the auction ended without a single bid - that's happened before, right?
So, I placed a BIN on it for $110.00 - and darn if she didn't buy it! Not bad for a platter that I bought at auction for $20.00. Of course, now I wonder if it was worth $200 or $300 --- but I'm gonna put that behind me and count the cash when it arrives... and get busy listing the rest of the stuff I've collected in the past 3 months to list before Christmas.
Wayne
Trying to Make a Difference - One Satisfied Customer at a Time....
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Damariscotta
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posted on November 19, 2003 06:00:55 AM new
Not so surprising. According to the Greiner collectors site they run about 2K U.S. for the large size.
just kidding.
[ edited by Damariscotta on Nov 19, 2003 07:29 AM ]
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neglus
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posted on November 19, 2003 07:29:37 AM new
Do you mean $2,000 = 2k? YIKES! A good argument against using the BIN at buyers' request!!
OH PHEW..just scrolled down to see the just kidding comment!
[ edited by neglus on Nov 19, 2003 07:30 AM ]
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paws4God
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posted on November 19, 2003 07:39:20 AM new
Take the advice of everyone here. Don't end it early....which is too late now for you. I have had offers like that and the item ended up selling for 3 to 5 times what was offered. The rule really applies if you don't know what you have. If the people emailing you want it bad enough they will bid on it 99.9% of the time.
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TheFamilyBiz
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posted on November 19, 2003 11:34:15 AM new
Darn it Darmiscotta! I didn't see that "just kidding" comment and almost had heart failure... (sigh)
I had checked and checked through eBay as well as many other sites and couldn't find anything comparable to it -- and didn't find a lot of information on Greiner - a bit, but not a lot.
I'm just happy to turn the item so quickly and make a nice little profit - and since it'll be cash - no extra fee to PayPal (Even though I like their service, I don't need to give it away, do I?)
Criticize if you will, but if I had uncovered its value to be close to $2,000, I would have written back to the buyer and relisted the item later. I don't mind someone making a profit off of something I sell them, but if this would have happened to this level, I'd want to be kissed first 
Wayne
Trying to Make a Difference - One Satisfied Customer at a Time....
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Damariscotta
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posted on November 19, 2003 11:44:17 AM new
And you would have sent an extra $1000 to the auctioneer you bought it from, right?
>>>Criticize if you will, but if I had uncovered its value to be close to $2,000, I would have written back to the buyer and relisted the item later. I don't mind someone making a profit off of something I sell them, but if this would have happened to this level, I'd want to be kissed first
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TheFamilyBiz
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posted on November 19, 2003 12:05:28 PM new
You make a good point. I might have made a generous donation to the local chapter of the American Red Cross or taken care of a family at the holidays though.
Thanks for the grounding - and the view from outside my head.
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