Religious antiques, difficult to sell 15 years ago, are in demand today. This has created a problem: the theft of statues, carvings, candlesticks, silver and other attractive objects from religious institutions open to the public. Even graveyard carvings must be guarded because carved angels and urns are sold as garden ornaments, usually to unsuspecting buyers. It is a crime to remove any part of a church or cemetery, and police watch for this sort of activity. But it is still possible to find other religious objects for a collection. Small carvings of saints, pottery and porcelain figurines and dishes that picture churches or religious figures, old lithographed prints of biblical scenes or of saints, home altars, holy-water fonts and religious jewelry can be found. Children’s Bible-study cards and color pictures now sell, too. But Bibles are so common that only very old or historic ones are easy to sell. The many types of alms boxes and cans are collected, especially in England. Charity and missionary money boxes were kept on street corners, and many have eye-catching shapes. A famous English charity used a figure of a dog near a boy holding the box. Some boxes are shaped like little houses. A painted London Missionary Society alms box shaped like a church and dated 1832 was auctioned in England recently. The box has a removable top, and inside are glass windows, pews, pulpit and stove. A coin slot in the front door slides money into the base, where it is not visible. The money went toward spreading “knowledge of Christ among heathen and other unenlightened nations.”

Q: In the 1940s I received a brown wood plaque as a gift. The frame, 5 1/2 by 6 inches, surrounds a carved silhouette of a colonial woman playing a piano next to a man who’s holding a piece of sheet music. On the back is a small green label that reads “Marlow Woodcuts Inc., Emporia, Kansas.” Please tell me what you can.

This church is really an alms box dated 1832. It sold at Sotheby's in London for ,000.

A: Marlow Woodcuts is still in business in Americus, not far from Emporia. Margaret Lowe (hence the company name Marlow), the daughter and granddaughter of cabinetmakers, started the business in 1932. Since then, Marlow has sold its thin wooden silhouettes all over the world. New pieces sell for $13 to $44. Older ones do not generally sell for higher prices.

Q: I bought a dining-room buffet at an estate sale 15 years ago. The paper label tacked to the back reads “From: Rockford National Furniture Company, Wholesale Manufacturers, Rockford, Illinois.” What can you tell me?

A: Rockford National Furniture Co. was located on Kishwaukee Street in Rockford. It was one of several Rockford furniture manufacturers in business during the first three decades of the 20th century. Rockford National manufactured dining-room, dinette and breakfast-room furniture, including buffets, tables, chairs, china cabinets and servers, as well as bookcases, desks and library cabinets.

Q: When my uncle died years ago, he left me a cast-iron mechanical bank. It’s titled “Jonah and the Whale” on the sides of the base. It is in excellent condition and still works. If you put a coin on Jonah’s head and press a lever at the end of the bank, the man holding Jonah in the boat tosses Jonah forward, the whale opens his mouth, and the coin slides off Jonah’s head and into the whale’s mouth. The bottom is embossed “Pat. July 15, 1890.” The bank’s base is 9 3/4 inches long. What is the bank worth?

A: Original Jonah and the Whale mechanical banks were manufactured in the early 1890s by Shepard Hardware Co. of Buffalo, N.Y. An original, which can sell for about $2,000, measures 10 1/4 inches long. Yours is slightly smaller – a clue that it is a reproduction. Most reproductions were made from original banks. When the cast-iron copy cools, it shrinks, creating a smaller bank. There are other clues to reproductions. Is the casting rough and lacking details? Does the paint look too new, or is there too much chipping and rust? Original banks are generally smooth, with fine casting and finely painted details.

Your uncle may have been among the many people who collect reproductions of old banks. But reproductions do not sell for high prices.

Current prices

Current prices are recorded from antiques shows, flea markets, sales and auctions throughout the United States. Prices vary in different locations because of local economic conditions.

¢ Cast-iron bottle opener, cowboy hanging on signpost, John Wright Co., 4 x 2 3/4 inches, $70.

¢ Blue transfer teapot by Enoch Wood, sleigh pattern, leaf and thistle borders, 8 1/2 x 11 1/2 inches, $345.

¢ L.&J.G. Stickley oak rocking chair, yellow and brown floral upholstery, 1912-1918, 29 1/4 x 30 1/4 inches, $1,560.

¢ Tennessee stoneware whiskey jug, brown Albany slip glaze, incised on side “Frank M. Potts, Wholesale Liquors, Chattanooga,” 1940s, 9 3/4 inches, $435.

¢ Wedgwood Celadon Sea Lion, John Skeaping design, green glaze, free-form rocky base, marked, England, c. 1927, 7 3/4 inches, $530.

¢ Swift’s Pride Soaps & Washing Powder pocket mirror, celluloid, small child holding product, 2 3/4 x 1 1/2 inches, $660.

¢ George III English silver ladle, Onslow pattern, round shell-form bowl, 1770, 13 inches, $690.