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

by Jessica Kosinski

$2,375 (Bids 136, Bidders 22) 55pc Old Wallace Grand Baroque $3,300 (Bids 57, Bidders 26) Rare Antique 1st Edition Early Printing
Sterling Silver Flatware Set, Large Servers, 116+ OZ. Grande Baroque The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. A First Edition and an early printing
by Wallace, sterling silver, large complete flatware set, 55pc. for 8 persons, of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. Copyrighted in 1899,
rare soup spoons, large knives and forks, and a great combination of servers we knew this copy was a very early printing, so with the help of a
… One of the most popular flatware patterns in sterling history! Heavy old knowledgeable book collector, we were able to look for and identify all the
silver, 3.3 kilos!! No Monograms! different changes during the several printings of the first edition. The
Lovely set of the famous Grand (Grande) Baroque pattern by Wallace, following attributes are what qualify this copy as a second printing.
bright Renaissance & Baroque style representative! This pattern keeps for The spine is marked with the publisher’s name, Geo. M. Hill Co.
us the genius of the great master silversmith William S. Warren. The word It is printed in a serif typeface and the “Co” is comprised of a single
Baroque is derived from French and Portuguese words meaning a pearl unit with the C encircling the O. In the first printing, it was done in an
that is not round but is of elaborate or unconventional shape. The elegant unornamented type. Inside, the book was issued without endpapers, so the
Grande Baroque pattern embodies all the wonders of the Baroque period. paper lining pasted to the front cover is not conjugated with the first leaf
The pattern debuted in 1941 and met a fevered reaction from silver and the same in the back. On the first page, the publisher’s advertisement
collectors. Since this period, Grand Baroque has been one of the most is enclosed in a single rule box, just like the 1st printing. Page 14, line 1
popular flatware patterns in sterling history. begins “low wail on …” which was changed to “low wail of …” in the third
printing. Page 81, 4th line from the bottom, “pieces” is misspelled
“peices”, which was also corrected in the third printing. Also, the type
defects are not present on pages 100 and 186. seller: wwolst12

JK: Antique books are often big
draws for collectors. This one is
enough to make any collector
look twice. Not only is it a pre-
1900 book, but it is by one of the
most beloved authors of all time,
L. Frank Baum (1856-1919).
Baum’s Wizard of Oz characters
JK: Both silver and flatware are are among the most recognizable
popular with many collectors. and widely adored children’s
Sterling silver flatware is often quite story characters on the planet.
popular within both collecting Even adults love them.
groups. That is likely part of what This particular version was
led to 22 bidders battling it out over illustrated by William Wallace
this set. However, there were also (W.W.) Denslow (1856-1915),
other contributing factors, such as as the seller points out. Denslow,
the Wallace and Warren names. a wonderful artist, also collabo-
As the seller points out, this rated with Baum on other
pattern was created for the Wallace projects. One was the best-selling
company by silversmith William S. book of 1899, Father Goose: His
Warren. Wallace was a Connecticut-based company founded by Robert Book. The two knew colorful
Wallace in 1815. After his death, it grew and expanded in the hands of his illustrations made a difference in
sons and son-in-law for many years and made Wallingford, Connecticut a book sales, so they found a way to
thriving community in the process. Eventually, the company changed pay for the costs associated with
hands a few times and relocated, but its products remained high-quality printing such elaborate books.
and Connecticut-based; and it did eventually open additional locations in The results were bestsellers that
areas like New York. became timeless classics and are
William S. Warren was one of Wallace’s top designers in the 1930s and still highly valued today.
1940s. He produced several popular patterns besides the Baroque The seller points out something vital, which is how to identify both
Grand/Grande including Grand Colonial, Rose Point, and Stradivari. He editions and printings. This was a first edition but a second printing, based
also wrote Wallace Beauty Moods in Silver in 1947. According to records, on corrected and not yet corrected type defects and misspellings, along
it took William S. Warren four years to finalize the design for the Baroque with other changes. When collecting antique books, knowing how to
Grande pattern. identify such differences is vital, and can mean the difference between
The seller mentions no pieces in this set were monogrammed, increas- purchasing a common book and a highly valued collector’s item.
ing its popularity. Often, flatware pieces featured the monogrammed
initials of their owners. Today’s collectors don’t always enjoy buying Jessica Kosinski has been a freelance researcher and writer since 2001. She developed a passion for
monogrammed sets that don’t match their own initials, so non- 1980s pre-1980s TV and films as a kid, and she has never grown out of it. Recently, she turned
monogrammed pieces are often more universally popular. seller: that passion into a retro TV and film blog. Follow along with her at medium.com/@jkos_writing,
as she dives deep into the characters, actors, quirks, and trivia that brought us some of the greatest
promislove films and shows in TV history and also discusses some of the more obscure films and shows most of
us may have forgotten.

12 Journal of Antiques and Collectibles