Antiques & Collecting: Patriotic quilts

Quilting has long been celebrated as an American folk art, and American symbols like flags, eagles and the colors red, white and blue often appear on quilts.

Some patriotic quilts have elaborate designs with multiple flags, appliqués and complex patterns, sometimes incorporating commemorative banners.

Others were simpler, like this quilt with a single small flag on a red-and-white-checked background. But simple doesn’t mean inexpensive. The quilt sold for $4,750 at a Rago auction.

The flag on this quilt provides a clue to its age. There are 36 stars, indicating that it was made about 1865, the year the 36-star flag was introduced.

However, the number of stars on a flag quilt isn’t always a reliable way to date it. Quilters may have altered the number because of artistic license. Notice that the flag on this quilt doesn’t have 13 stripes.

If a quilt isn’t signed and dated, its age is hard to determine, but there are some clues that can help. If you can see dark spots in the quilt when held up to a strong light or sunny window, they may be cotton seeds.

Some collectors claim that this means the quilt was made before the invention of the cotton gin in 1793, but this is not necessarily true.

Quilt makers in rural areas used cotton with seeds in it until the 1920s. The sewing machine was invented about 1850, but quilts were often handsewn after that.

I recently inherited what I think is an original Shirley Temple doll from my grandmother’s estate. What can you tell me about it?

In the 1930s during the Depression, toddler Shirley Temple was credited with keeping spirits up and movie theaters afloat.

Dolls made in her image were also popular. They were first licensed and made by Ideal Novelty and Toy Co. of New York in 1934, and they are still popular with collectors.

Early dolls were made with a mixture of glue, sawdust and other materials called “composition.” Vinyl dolls were made after 1957.

Shirley Temple composition dolls from the 1930s have sold recently for about $50 to over $1,000. Price is determined by the doll’s size, costume, condition and whether it has its original tags, box and script Shirley Temple pin.

Tip: Don’t turn on the porch light if you will be gone for a long time. It tells everyone that you are away. Install a photocell light that automatically turns on at dusk and off at daylight.

Current Prices

Fireplace, pair of andirons, ship’s anchor form, brass, brushed finish, matching log stops, mid-20th century, 18 x 12 x 18 inches, $485.

Furniture, rocker, child’s, mission style, oak, leather seat, “Gustav Stickley Craftsman” on paper label, c. 1910-1920, 25 x 17 3/4 inches, $575.

Cane, walking stick, hand holding ball, whale ivory, two ebony spacers, tapered ebony shaft, horn ferrule, whaleman carved, 1800s, 34 1/4 inches, $2,155.