Fantasia Pattern Is a Splendid Design

Q: This is a photo of a set of porcelain dinnerware that I gave my mother around 1952. I was in the Army and stationed in Germany from 1952 to 1954. The set was made by Rosenthal Glass and China Company in Germany and is a service for 12.

In addition to the usual place settings, it contains various serving pieces for a total of 106 dishes. A brochure that came with the set describes the china as decorated with delicate grey soft yellow and splendid greens against a pure white body. The edges are trimmed with applied coin gold. The design is called “Fantasia” and is in very good condition. The photo shows an example of a dinner plate, cup and saucer.

The set is now in my possession and your estimate of the value of this set would be very much appreciated.

Q: This mark is on the bottom of a pitcher with a lid and four cups and four saucers. They are decorated with small pink roses against a white background that shades to aqua. The handles are ornate and scrolled and the base of the cups is scalloped. They are trimmed in gold and in excellent condition.

The set belonged to my wife who passed away two years ago, and I have no idea what the set is, or what it was used for, or if it has any value.

Any information you can furnish would be greatly appreciated.

* On Jan. 31, 2000, family practitioner Dr. Harold Shipman, who apparently never read or didn’t believe in the Hippocratic Oath, was jailed for life for murdering 15 of his patients. He was also suspected of killing more than 100 others, but did not confess to them. Shipman remains Britain’s most prolific convicted serial killer.

* On Jan. 30, 1661, Oliver Cromwell was ritually executed. That is, his corpse was. The former Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England was posthumously convicted of high treason and his remains hanged and beheaded, two years after his actual demise.

A: The container is not a pitcher. You have a late Victorian coffee set It was made by Moritz Adekauer in Austria. They were in business from 1884 to around 1945.

Based on your description of the design of your set, it was made around the turn of the 20th century. It would probably be worth $75 to $125.

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Antiques expert and columnist Anne McCollam has recently retired and no longer receives inquiries nor answers reader letters. Due to the popularity of her column, this publication will continue to reprint previous columns of interest to our readers.

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* On Feb. 1, 1953, winds from some of the strongest storms on record battered the east coast of Britain from Yorkshire to Kent, resulting in up to 150 fatalities, while thousands were forced to abandon their homes due to flooding. Passengers on the Princess Victoria ferry, from Scotland to Ireland, were also forced to flee the ship in the Irish Sea due to high waves.

* On Feb. 2, 1937, it was reported that the White House roof was leaking, a matter of special concern since additional rain and snow was expected. The matter of repairs was complicated by the fact that Congress was still engaged in a debate over whether to spend the necessary $400 to effect them.

* On Feb. 3, 2009, Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling was made a knight of the Legion of Honour, France’s highest civilian award. Rowling’s great-grandfather was French, and she was given the honorary title by President Nicolas Sarkozy at a ceremony in Paris, where she apologized for giving Potter’s archnemesis a French name, as well as the quality of her French accent.

* On Feb. 4, 1789, George Washington was unanimously elected as the first president of the United States. His campaign cost nothing, as he did no public campaigning, since he didn’t really want to take office. He was also the only U.S. president to be inaugurated in two cities (New York and Philadelphia).

A: Rosenthal Porcelain factory was founded in Selb, Germany in 1880. They have a solid reputation for producing exceptional quality tableware and decorative pieces and limited edition items. They were sold to Waterford, Wedgwood Group in 1998 and subsequently bought by Samonet Paderno Industries in Italy in 2009. Rosenthal still makes porcelain in Bavaria.

Mid 20th-century sets of china are not selling well on the secondary market currently. Having said that, your set should be insured for at least $1500.

Puzzle Solutions

Why are trowels, hoes and spades common items in novels and movies? They're plot devices.

Go Figure

Solution

* On Feb. 5, 1931, Maxine Dunlap became the first woman to be issued a glider pilot license. Two years earlier, her 50-second, 980-foot flight beat the previous record of 17 seconds that had been established by Amelia Earhart.

(c) 2023 King Features Synd., Inc.

Disney (from page 3)

Pocahontas. She was the first Disney princess to be based on an actual historical character. The name Pocahontas is believed to be a nickname for Chief Powhatan’s daughter, meaning “playful one.” The young woman’s given name was Amonute, but she used the name Matoaka.

• Historians claim that her tribe concealed her name from the English out of “superstitious fear,” concerned that the colonists could do her harm if they had knowledge of her real name. In the Disney interpretation, Pocahontas was the first of the studio’s princesses to have a human best friend.

• The year 2009 brought “The Princess and the Frog” to the big screen with Princess Tiana, the only Disney princess to work an actual job. Although other princesses performed plenty of chores, none were paid for their employment, as was Tiana, who worked as a waitress in 1920s New Orleans while saving to open her own restaurant.

• The plot deviates from the usual frog becoming a prince. Tiana herself turned into a frog after kissing a frog prince, and embarked on a plan to turn back into a human. Her name comes from the Greek word meaning “princess,” which she becomes when she marries Prince Naveen of Maldonia. “The Princess and the Frog” was the first Disney princess movie to employ digital effects.

• Live-action remakes of the Disney animated films began in 2015 with “Cinderella,” followed by “Beauty and the Beast” in 2017, and “Mulan” in 2020. Still to come are the planned liveaction versions of “Little Mermaid,” “Snow White,” and “Aladdin.” □

STAN SMITH’S TENNIS CLASS