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eBay
WHAT’S SELLING ON eBay
WHAT’S SELLING ON

by Philip Hawkins and Mike McLeod

$5,700 (37 bids, 6 bidders):
Antique Anton Reiche Copper
Chocolate Mold Santa Christmas
Market 25 x 20 x 5 inches. Listing
is for an incredibly rare Anton
Reiche chocolate mold that
depicts an idyllic German
Christmas market. A stately
chateau is in the background with
Santa at the forefront of a toy stall
surrounded by children. “Merry
Christmas” is in the lower corner.
As a collector of Erzgebirge
Christmas, you really can see the
influence. What makes this
unique beyond the size/scale is
that it’s a scene vs. a figure or two,
as is with most molds.

$2,727 (42 bids, 17 bidders): Antique 1800s Indian Wars US Army Substantial size, my guess is it was designed for an upscale restaurant/
Infantry Buffalo Soldier Bison Robe Hide Coat. Up for auction is an hotel/store and not the average household. The weight is nearly 19 lbs. The
original 1869-99 US Army Buffalo Soldier Regiment bison robe. mold is flat with two handles, meaning the slab of chocolate is meant to be
The coat measures 48 inches from the folded collar down the back, laid out on a table vs. standing upright.
24 inches under arm to under arm, by 26 inches shoulder seam (which is (photos courtesy of eBay seller lilibetdesign.)
high) down the arm to the cuff and weighs 10 pounds.
There is a broken button and two replaced buttons, some missing fur PH: Chocolate was only enjoyed in liquid form until the early 19th century
and a hole under the arm, seam at the inner collar is torn, and there is a when molds first appeared in France in about 1830, providing chocolate
hole in the collar, some other minor fur loss, and some tears to the lining in small disc candy form. As the century progressed, figural molds soon
at the collar. followed, and ultimately, the hollow or 2-part molds for larger 3-dimen-
This is a field-used coat and in expected condition for the age. The sional figures. Originally made from stamped copper with a silver wash,
leather is pliable. Fresh out of the estate of a local historian. the silver was later replaced with a tin wash. Copper was replaced by steel
(photos courtesy of eBay seller yzmorris) after 1910, and as alloys improved, nickel-clad steel became the standard
in the 1940s. Inevitably, plastic molds were introduced in the 1960s and
PH: A bison or buffalo robe is the hide with the fur left on. Robes were then came to dominate the market by the 1980s.
made into saddles, blankets, carriage interiors, coats and used for trade. In 1870, Friedrich Anton Reiche (1845-1913) founded a production
During the settlement of the western United States and the Canadian facility for tin coatings in Dresden, Germany. In 1888, he established a
prairies in the mid-19th century, the demand for the robes in commercial company to produce tin boxes and chocolate molds which flourished and
centers such as New York, Montreal, St. Paul, and St. Louis for the various expanded further after his death, lasting until 1942. In 1932, there were as
uses by non-indigenous peoples contributed to the over-hunting and near many as 50,000 different molds. A second Reiche factory was established in
extinction of the animals. the Czech Republic in the 1930s.
Preserved coats in various conditions from the latter part of the 19th The metal molds have become collector items since the advent of
century come to the market occasionally and generally show signs of age plastic molds. This unusually large mold would have been an expensive
and use. Most reported auction sales fall in the $400 to $600 price range— purchase. The large size makes the mold rare, and the Christmas subject
one circa 1915 Royal Canadian Mounted Police coat was reported makes it highly collectible. T.C. Weygandt of New York, whose mark is
realizing $1,225. on the mold, was the sole U.S. agent for Reiche products from 1885
to1942, and thus we know this mold was made prior to 1910 and was
supplied to the U.S. I was able to locate another similar mold—a 20-inch
Philip Hawkins, ISA AM, AAG is an accredited member of the International Santa that brought $2,400 at auction in January 2020, and in December
Society of Appraisers and a founding member of the Appraisers Association of 2020 an unmarked 35-inch double rabbit mold sold for $3,000.
Georgia. He can be reached via the ISA website or at 404-320-7275.

8 Journal of Antiques and Collectibles