Antiques & Collecting: Puzzle mugs

Collecting ceramics may be seen as traditional, even old-fashioned, but there is plenty of room for eccentricity.

This puzzle mug by George E. Ohr is an unusual piece by an unconventional artist. There are holes in its sides; if you try to fill it and drink from it like an ordinary mug, the liquid spills out — probably onto you.

Puzzle mugs usually have a hollow portion, often in the handle, that works like a drinking straw. The trick is to know which holes to cover and which to drink from.

A puzzle mug is a fitting piece for George Ohr, who had a flair for the unusual. Ohr, known as “the Mad Potter of Biloxi,” was born in 1857 and started working on his own as a potter in 1883. He made his pottery from very thin clay in twisted, folded shapes, glazed in rich colors.

Ohr loved self-promotion and considered himself “the best potter in America,” but sold little of his pottery and faded into obscurity.

As if making up for lost time, Ohr’s pottery now sells for high prices. This mug sold for $2,250 at a Rago auction.

I have this odd $20 bill with markings and I don’t know who to take it to for a value that I can trust. Can you please help me with this?

The markings on your bill look like part of the word “TELLER.” They are probably from a teller stamp. When bank tellers bundle bills together to go into the vault, they wrap the bundle with a paper strap, then stamp the strap and add their initials to verify that they counted the bundle.

Your bill was probably on top of a bundle where the teller’s stamp slipped and partly missed the strap. On one hand, this does not make the bill rare or worth more. On the other hand, it is still legal tender and can be spent like any valid $20 bill.

We would recommend taking the bill to a bank to verify this. They will probably exchange it for a clean bill.

Tip: To be collectible, trunks must be in good condition. Refinishing destroys the trunk’s value as an antique. Trunks in poor condition can be refinished to be attractive and useful as pieces of furniture, but they will no longer be of interest to serious trunk collectors.

Current Prices

Quilt, patchwork, Birds in the Air, multicolor triangle blocks, cream ground, 73 x 80 inches, $85.

Doorstop, two dogs, Scottish Terrier, sitting, leaning to side, cast iron, oblong base, 5 1/2 x 8 inches, $120.

Advertising, inkwell, Western Electric Company, figural, bell shaped, blue glass, 3 1/2 x 3 inches, $130.

Lamp, art nouveau, tulip shade, green and pink glass petals, figural base, woman with raised arms, draped gown, c. 1900, 18 inches, $540.

Dinnerware, Wee Modern, cup, two handles, stylized animals, table with flowerpot on reverse, child’s, Eva Zeisel, Goss China Co., c. 1953, 3 1/2 x 5 inches, $1,200.

Tool, chest, top handle, hinged side, folds open, fitted interior, drawers, door, compartments, painted brown, with tools, 1800s, 29 1/2 x 17 inches, $2,520.