Collectors are wondering …
What’s New Down Under? Ralph Finch pins down some interesting Australian items
I
like Australia — Australian people, Australian cities, and Australian glass — and I always like the unusual items you find at ABCR Auctions. The recent sale, featuring “998 Lots featuring more rare milk bottles, a brilliant range of Australian marble bottles (*1870s Codd bottles), crown seal beers, ginger beers, *garagenalia, demijohns, pot lids, bitters and more!” (*garagenalia? Sounds like the name of a low-budget sci-fi movie from the ’50s.)
But out of 998 items, I picked out just one. Lot 659, a 1900s household rolling pin. But why? I like rolling pins. I have one, turned out of wood on March 3, 1933, by my uncle Ralph, who died in 1939 at the age of 21.
But, let’s go back to Melbourne, Australia, and the April 15 auction filled with, as usual, an amazing offering of good stuff and intriguing stuff.
I have also liked glass rolling pins, because during my forty trips to England and the thousands of antiques booths I’ve perused through there, I have seen many rolling pins, including many attractive ones. And while I am now eighty, I don’t think I’ve ever actually used a rolling pin. (Maybe, in my subconscious memory bank, I remember watching my grandmother use one.)
ABCR, based in Victoria, is the product of Travis Dunn, editor of the Australian Bottle and Collectables Review, and David Bruce. Travis is a nice guy I’ve corresponded with for several years and states, in part, “We are an auction house run by collectors, for collectors.”
Wikipedia says of the rolling pin: They come from every country and are made of every material: glass, ceramic, acrylic, bakelite, copper, brass, aluminum, silicone, wood, stainless steel, marble, and plastic. Wikipedia adds “A rolling pin is a cylindrical food preparation utensil used
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Antique Bottle & Glass Collector
to shape and flatten dough. Two styles are found: rollers and rods. Roller types consists of a thick cylinder with small handles at each end; rod type rolling pins are usually thin tapered batons. Rolling pins of different styles and materials offer varying advantages, as they are used for different tasks in cooking and baking. The first civilization known to have used the rolling pin was the Etruscans. These people may have migrated from Asia Minor to northern Italy or may have originated in Italy.” And: “Vintage glass rolling pins vary from simple clear examples to the famous Bristol blue colours, to elaborate multi-coloured Nailsea examples and to examples with motifs and words. Glass rolling pins, although functional, developed into quite an art form. They also became known as love tokens, as they were often given by departing sailors to there loved ones with words on such as ‘Be true to me,’ ‘Remember me,’ ‘Forget me not,’ etc.”
