Peggy Whiteneck, Freelance Writer

PO Box 303
East Randolph, Vermont 05041
allwritealready2000@gmail.com

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Published Articles on Collectibles

Syndicated Column: "Good Eye"

How I Caught the Collecting Bug

My parents have always haunted flea markets, antique shops, auctions, and yard sales, and I guess I caught the "bug" from them. Over the years, I've written articles for national print on topics ranging from Lladró porcelain to Hull dinnerware to other American potteries such as Gonder and Shawnee.

My own collecting interests include Lladró porcelain figurines - and I'm pleased to be able to say that I actually did "write the book" on that topic, now in its second edition. (See the pull-down menu at the bottom of this page for ordering options). I'm pleased as well to be able to refer interested parties to my separate informational web site on Spanish porcelains, "El Portal Porcelana."

I also prepare the Lladró and (as of the upcoming 2005 edition) the Fenton Glass databases for the Collector's Mart Collectibles Price Guide. I have a particular interest in Fenton glass animal figurines. And my parents have a whole room in their house dedicated just to Fenton glass!

Recently, I've become interested in Chinese and Japanese porcelains of the 19th and early 20th centuries. I have very few of these pieces because Asian porcelain is a field rife with authenticity problems and requires a great deal of collecting skill and study. But I'm pleased with the three small but truly great pieces I have: a late Imperial Chinese vase, a 19th century Japanese Satsuma vase, and a Japanese pin dish from the Mejii period. For the Imperial vase, I paid more than I ever have for any single piece of porcelain, but I found the Satsuma vase for $6 and the pin dish for $10 in two different antiques group shops. (And who says you can't still find sleepers in antique shops?)

Chinese Imperial vase, with close-up of painting. Probably late 19th century. Bottom has red enamel hallmark from "Hall of Quiet Distances" in the Forbidden City. Each of the kittens is applied with hair-thin brush strokes that simulate fur. Poem in Chinese characters on verso (untranslated). There is plenty of white space on the surface, reflecting a Chinese (as opposed to export) taste. Painting is fabulously delicate and detailed, albeit of a subject not normally featured in Chinese art.

I also have very modest collections of the following:

  • Beswick animal figurines
  • German porcelain animal figurines
  • Sabino glass miniature birds and animals
  • small-to-miniature Royal Copenhagen vases
  • miniature porcelain plates.

Miniature pair of porcelain polar bears, made late 19th-early 20th century by a minor German porcelain company called Pfeffer. I like the detailed modeling on the items produced by this company, which range from miniatures to more standard sizes.

Check out the links below; I'll be adding articles on other topics from time to time. (Publisher/publication inquiries welcome on these or new/original articles. Interested parties can find publication credits for my print articles on antiques and collectibles by clicking on the link at the top of this page.)

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