This oak Welsh dresser, c. 1800, has an opening near the bottom called a doghouse. It probably was never used by a dog. The piece sold for ,800 at Jackson's Auctioneers in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Are a Welsh dresser, a Welsh cupboard and a hutch different? The problem is that names for certain pieces of furniture have changed through the years. Today all three terms are used for a piece of furniture that has a bottom section that’s a table or sideboard with cupboards and a top that’s an open shelf. The two parts fit together to make a large storage and display unit. In the early 1900s, the names had slightly different meanings. A Welsh dresser was the lower cabinet or table part. A Welsh cupboard was the entire two-part piece of furniture. Some special features add to the value of a Welsh cupboard. Notched or scalloped shelves, fancy trim or even unusual configurations of drawers and openings make a piece more desirable. Modern Welsh cupboards are being made, but it is the old ones that sell for thousands of dollars.

Q: What is a dresser doll?

A: There are several definitions for the term “dresser doll.” From about 1900 to 1920, a dresser doll was assembled from a cloth skirt and a doll modeled from the waist up. The doll was made with holes near the bottom edge so it could be stitched to the large cloth skirt. The skirt hid teapots, powder boxes or small objects on a dresser. These dolls are also called “half-dolls.” Most of them were made in Germany. After 1920, a Philadelphia importing company, Ebeling and Reuss, sold a different type of ceramic woman they called a “dresser doll.” It was actually a powder box. The top half lifted off to reveal the powder in the bottom half. Many are found today marked “Nancy Pert, Dresser Doll, Erphila, Made in Germany.” They sell for about $50 each.

Q: I have a small Danish plate, about 3 inches in diameter, that I bought at an antique show. It pictures Kronborg Castle. The back is marked with what looks like an “A” with a few extra crosspieces. The same castle is pictured on plates by both Royal Copenhagen and Bing & Grohdahl, but the mark doesn’t seem to belong to either.

A: Your plate is one in a series of “plaquettes” made by Royal Copenhagen. Each plaquette had holes at the back so it could be hung. Or it could be used on a dinner table as a butter pat or as an individual ashtray (when it was OK to smoke at the table). Most of the small plates were marked with the number 2010 and a letter that told the name of the scene on the front. At least 80 different scenes were used and new plaquettes are made every year. Most are sold in Denmark, often to tourists as souvenirs. The price for a new one today is about $18. The “A” mark was used by Royal Copenhagen on faience (tin-glazed earthenware), not porcelain. The mark was discontinued on the plaquettes in 1969, when it was replaced with the more familiar mark used on the company’s porcelain.

Tip: Smoke stains can be removed from a stone fireplace with an art gum eraser. Soot on the carpet in front of the fireplace can be removed with salt. Sprinkle dry salt on the soot, wait 30 minutes, then vacuum.