Tea tables worth plenty

Tea parties came into fashion in England during the 17th century, when the English started importing tea from Asia.

The service of tea became a social ritual that required special tables, pots, cups and other utensils. Refined American colonists followed the formal rules of courtesy and social activities. Houses had parlors so that tea parties could be held and tea furnishings could be displayed. A tea party was by invitation only, and it was considered an honor to be invited to tea.

The tea table was usually made with a circular top and a pedestal base that ended in three short legs. The top flipped up so the table could be stored against a wall when it was not in use. A servant brought the silver-and-porcelain teapot and cups on a tray. The drink was served by the lady of the house, but a servant carried the cups to the guests. The tea party was an important social event that gave status to everyone involved. The table and equipment were the finest a family could afford. An 18th-century tea table from a large East Coast city could be worth tens of thousands of dollars today.

I would like your help in valuing my Popeye pocket watch. My mother bought it for me from the Sears catalog in the mid-1930s. It still runs and has never been repaired.

The “age” of the comic character watch began in 1933, with Ingersoll’s introduction of the Mickey Mouse wristwatch. It was sold mainly through the Sears catalog. By 1934, Ingersoll was making watches featuring various Disney characters, and other American watchmakers were looking for comic characters they could use on watches. The New Haven Watch Co. came out with large, rectangular-cased wristwatches picturing Orphan Annie, Dick Tracy and Smitty. That same year, New Haven introduced a Popeye pocket watch with Popeye in the center and the Thimble Theater players pictured between the numbers. In 1935, New Haven produced another Popeye pocket watch without the players’ pictures. If your watch has the Thimble Theater players, it is worth $1,500 to $2,500; without them, the value is about $1,000 to $1,500. Add at least $1,000 if you have the original box in excellent condition.

For as long as I can remember, my mother has had an unusual porcelain cup and saucer. Both pieces are marked in green with a crown and the words “Coalport A.D. 1750.” The cup is 2 1/2 inches tall with straight sides. Its diameter ranges from 1 5/8 inches on the bottom up to 2 3/8 inches across the top. The matching saucer is odd. The recessed area for the cup is nearly an inch deep. Why?

This mahogany tea table, made in about 1770, is in the Chippendale style that was popular in the 18th century. It has a top that tilts so the table can be stored close to the wall.

Your cup and saucer set is called by its French name, “trembleuse.” The saucer was made with a deep well to prevent spills. It is a special form, made to be used comfortably by someone with trembling hands. Your cup is a coffee cup — one that is taller than it is wide. The mark you describe was used by Coalport China Co. of Shropshire, England, from 1880 to 1890.

I can’t identify the maker of my small yellow mouse and clown on a white ceramic base. I also wonder how it was used. The clown’s stooping body is decorated with a heart, club, spade, diamond and the initials NT. The mouse’s tail moves to point to each of the symbols. The mark on the bottom of the figure is an impressed overlapping “WG” under a crown.

Your figure is a trump indicator. It was used while playing bridge or some other card game with a trump suit. The NT stands for “no trump.” Trump indicators were popular before World War II. Yours was made in the mid-1930s by the William Goebel Porcelain Factory of Rodental, Bavaria, Germany. That’s the same company that makes Hummel figurines.

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