Stars and stripes in many forms have been popular designs in the United States for more than 200 years.

Patriotism in the new country encouraged the use of the symbols of liberty — the flag, the figure of Lady Liberty, the eagle and depictions of President George Washington. In the 19th century, the Stars and Stripes tankard, made of opalescent glass, expressed similar patriotic sentiments. The tankard was made in three different base colors — cranberry, white or blue — by the Hobbs glass factory from 1886 to 1896. Then it was copied by the Beaumont Glass Co. in 1899. The style remained so popular that it was reproduced by the Fenton Art Glass Co. in recent years.

My aunt gave us an oak worktable when we set up housekeeping 37 years ago. It has three drawers in the center and cylinder-shaped sides. The top has two sides that open to the storage areas in the cylinders. Inside the top drawer, there’s a mark that reads “The Original Martha Washington Sewing Cabinet.” Could it really have been hers?

No, it did not belong to Mrs. Washington. Your sewing cabinet was made during the 1920s or ’30s. Its design was based on an American worktable style of the Federal Period (1785-1820). The form was reintroduced in the 1920s, when the White Sewing Machine Co. sold sewing machines in a “Martha Washington-style” cabinet. Sewing cabinets like yours sell for $100 or more, depending on condition.

About 40 years ago, my mother-in-law gave me a tall ceramic pitcher decorated with a painted scene. The painting shows a mountain in the background and a group of men cutting logs in the foreground. The mark on the bottom is a circle within a circle, with a dove holding an olive branch in the center. In the circle are the words “Frank Beardmore & Co., Fenton.” Above the circle is the word “Lumbering,” and below it is the phrase “Sutherland Art Ware.” I would love to learn something about it.

The mark on your pitcher dates it to sometime between 1903 and 1914. That’s when Frank Beardmore & Co. manufactured earthenware at the Sutherland Pottery in Fenton, England. Fenton is located in the Staffordshire district, which is famous for its many potteries. “Lumbering” is the title of the pitcher’s painted design. Sutherland Art Ware includes souvenir plates and other wares picturing rural and small-town scenes.

My husband inherited an antique doll from his aunt, who was born in 1897. Her German grandparents gave her the doll when she was a child. So, I assume it dates from the first decade or so of the 20th century. The back of the doll’s bisque head is marked “Handwerck, Germany, 6 1/2.” She is more than 30 inches tall and is wearing her original dress, shoes and hat. Can you tell us age and value?

Heinrich Handwerck Sr. founded a doll factory in Waltershausen, Thuringia, Germany, about 1876. The factory manufactured composition doll bodies until about 1930. Handwerck also made molds for the dolls’ heads, but the bisque heads on Handwerck dolls were manufactured by another German dollmaker, Simon & Halbig. Your doll, if in excellent condition, is valuable. It could sell for $1,500 or more.

On my father’s property in New Jersey, there’s a barn that was a bicycle shop a century ago. We found an old cloth bicycle ad in the barn. It’s about 2 feet by 3 feet and pictures a man and woman in old-fashioned clothing riding bicycles down a tree-lined dirt road. The top of the banner says, “Be Swell and Ride.” Under it, each of the bike riders has one hand up, holding a shield-shaped logo titled “The Snell Cycle Mfg. Co., Toledo, O., Bicycle.” Can you help us with history and value?

This 8 1/4-inch cranberry stars and stripes tankard sold for ,700 at an auction in February. It is an unusual pattern for opalescent glass.

Snell was a large Toledo manufacturer of bicycles and bicycle parts. The corporate name of the company changed over the years. From 1895 to 1899, it was the Snell Cycle Fittings Co. It was the Snell Cycle Manufacturing Co. from 1899 to 1900. That helps date your banner. The banner, if in good shape, could sell for several hundred dollars or more.

Please identify a lapel pin that belonged to my great-grandmother. It is in the shape of a hatchet. The brass handle is inscribed “Carry A Nation.” The blade, which appears to be mother-of-pearl, has a tiny rhinestone mounted in the center.

Your lapel pin is the most collectible among several styles made to celebrate the temperance activities of Carry A. Nation. Mrs. Nation (1846-1911) actively worked to prohibit the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages in the United States. Her methods were well-known because they involved smashing saloon windows with rocks or a hatchet. A lapel pin like yours can sell for as much as $100.

Tip

Good tips for the care of Fiesta and any other heavy, color-glazed dishes of the 1930s: Do not use in a microwave. Do not use on a direct flame. Do not wash in an automatic dishwasher — the detergent might discolor the glaze. Do not scour. Store stacked plates with felt between them to avoid scratching. Bauer is oven-safe for baking up to 350 degrees. Dishes made from the early 1930s until 1942 used lead in the glazing, so do not use scratched dishes with acidic foods. Lead poisoning is possible with prolonged use.