One of the most sought-after promotional items is the Huntley & Palmer lithographed tin biscuit box that masquerades as a collection of the Waverley novels of Sir Walter Scott, “Rob Roy,” “Ivanhoe,” “Guy Mannering,” etc. Here is a remarkably well-preserved example, the colors brilliant and the “leather belt” and gilt edges in pristine condition. With the height and width of approximately 6-1/2 inches and the depth 4-3/4 inches, it is English and dates from about 1900.

This fine pair of Eighteenth Century vases is thickly glazed in rich cobalt blue on the outside, and with turquoise glazing on the interiors of the tops and on the bottoms. Probably intended for adorning an altar, each vase has a cylindrical central interior with reticulated outer walls lending a graceful octagonal baluster form to the vases...

In superb condition, this pair of Rouen faience is decorated with brilliant chinoiserie lambrequins. Bearing the the factory mark of La Veuve Levavasseur, they measure approximately 5-3/4 inches high and are four inches square at the flared tops. French, circa 1770.

In Leona Davis Boylan's landmark "Spanish Colonial Silver" (Museum of New Mexico Press,1974), there is illustrated a similar silver water pot. This rare example is uncovered and measures approximately 3-3/4 inches (9-1/2 cm) high and seven inches (18 cm)in diameter at the handles, with a weight of 271 grams. It is offered in "as-found" condition, although to my eye the marks of time only make the piece more appealing. However, for the more fastidious the bumps can easily be planched out...

This 11 by 15-1/4 inch sterling silver is in exceptionally fine condition and of massive weight, a bit over 3-1/2 pounds. It bears the London hallmarks of 1789-90, maker William Simons.

Incorporating a fortune in Renaissance and later coins, this magnificent set is composed of two large decanters, a covered powder box and a shoe horn. It is marked "Geo.C. Shreve & Co. San Francisco." Circa 1880, superb condition. The decanters are 8-1/2 inches high and 5-1/2 inches wide, the powder box is 5-3/4 inches high and 4-1/4 inches in diameter and the shoe horn is 10-1/4 inches in length and two inches wide at the base...

Following the forced opening of Japan to world trade in the mid-Nineteenth Century, there was a great rush by the Western Hemisphere to enjoy the goods of this graceful and productive land. There was also a great curiosity on both sides to portray and understand the customs and effects of the foreigners...

Either Spanish or Dutch in origin, this sharply defined candlestick dates from the end of the Seventeenth Century. It is about seven inches tall, with a base 4-1/4 inches in diameter, and features a candle-extraction hole at the bottom of the candlecup.

This finely turned bell metal candlestick is English and dates from the early part of the Eighteenth Century. It is approximately seven inches high and four inches in diameter.

Here is a rare find: a pair of Seventeenth Century candlesticks in lustrous bell metal the color of rose gold. Engraved with designs of stylized flowers and festoons, they are about six inches tall and 4-1/2 inches in diameter. Both sticks have been pierced (not by me!) for electrical wiring.

In order to access the tobacco within, the snuff-taker must know the right moves unlock and disengage the cover. The box is carved in the shape of a long, elegant slipper, originally red and black, with a nice low heel and a relief carving of a stylized plant with flowers and “fruit” of two bizarre demons’ heads. In superb condition, it is of Continental manufacture, late Eighteenth or early Nineteenth and measures 5-1/4 inches long, 1-1/2 inches high and 1-5/8 inches wide.

In the form of a Turkish slipper with a Louis XV heel, this plump little wooden snuff box has a hidden trick opening device that makes it necessary to perform two actions before the contents are available. Of a fine fruitwood, with the “lock” of mahogany and a locking plate of engraved copper, it is a Continental creation of the early Nineteenth Century, in excellent condition and around 3-3/4 inches long by 1-3/4 inches high by 1-1/2 inches wide.