Photos Inside South Coast Antiques and Gallery in Ocean Springs, MS

Here are a few new images taken inside South Coast Antiques and Gallery in Ocean Springs, MS.
I think these images will give one an idea as to the wide variety of
items that we have available at any given time.

2011 Mardi Gras Parade in Ocean Springs, MS

Here are a few pix from today's Mardi Gras parade! It was a beautiful day it was72°F. They were all taken right outside of our shop, South Coast Antiques & Gallery. We never worry about missing a parade they all pass right in front of our shop on Government Street here in Downtown Ocean Springs, MS There are a lot more images in my photo Album 2011 Mardi Gras Parade.

Dealer sample card of civil war centennial cuff links/buttons at South Coast Antiques

This card of La Mode buttons was made as a dealer’s sample for use with traveling salesmen to sell commemorative items for the centennial of the Civil War and was as used as a point of sales store display.
A clue that this was a salesman sample is the writing at the bottom of the card that shows that these were available in boxes of 12 dozen per pair.
Dealer’s sample sets like this are very rare and this card dates to the early 1960s and was produced of the centennial of the Civil War  (1961-1965)
These buttons are plain backed and unmarked so the ability for the advanced collector to attribute these buttons to La Mode is unparalleled. One will also notice that the buttons/cuff links do not have the links attached to make them cuff links.  They would have also been sold with out the links for reenactors of the period such as the North South Skirmish Association (NSSA) which was founded in the 1950's

Note that the buttons on the card have a 4 digit model number and that they have a single axillary number to indicate metal color. the numbers are as follows

8372 Infantry

8370 General service

8371 General service

8373 Artillery

Metal color Finish were designated as

7 Silver

9 Gold

10 Pewter

25 Antiqued Brass

They obviously had a separate card for Union buttons because the small confederate flags are just pasted in place as opposed to being directly printed. Notice that one has been picked off.

Here is the back of this card showing how the buttons were originally factory sewed in place.

Also of interest is that authenticity apparently was not a very big factor in the over all design of these cuff links/buttons.  Notice that 1903 Springfield rifles appear on the Infantry model 8372 as opposed to civil war era guns. The Artillery Buttons model 8373 are based on 1820's Artillery buttons that are not Civil war era. Also note that one of the Infantry model 8372 buttons is a reversed factory error on this card.

La Mode is a division of B. Blumenthal and Co that was a major costume jewelry wholesaler and button maker that was founded in 1877 for more information on La Mode visit their website.

Civil War Buckle with Bullet on the TV Show Pickers

I was just watching an episode of the History Channel's Pickers and I was shocked when they showed a counterfeit Union belt buckle with a bullet lodged in it, similar to the one above. The one guy on the show Michael has been a MySpace friend for a number of years now. I was totally shocked by him paying $50 for it and then they said that he had sold it for $200. This is just ridiculous! I can not believe that these people call themselves pickers! In my opinion they are apparently nothing more than actors! This buckle is a very common counterfeit. It is believed that these pieces were made just as something cool.
They were originally not made to be sold as historical artifacts.  Here is a link to a forum that is discussing the very same buckles like the one that Michael was so excited over on the show and made no mention of that fact that the buckle is a modern reproduction and that the bullet is not fired into the buckle, but applied.

U.S. Militaria Forum

This is a copy of the message that I sent to Michael of The Pickers:

To Antique Archaeology on MySpace

If you even see this, I am just letting you know that after having just watched an episode of your TV show where you paid $50 for a Civil war buckle with bullet embedded in it and stated that you sold it for $200, I am removing you from my friend list on MySpace. I and my business partner have spent our lives fighting the against people selling obvious counterfeit historical items. I have been outraged at how little you actors seem to know about antiques. I am embarrassed to even have had you on my friend list.

Michael W. Moses
South Coast Antiques
Ocean Springs, MS

and if you think I am outraged, you should hear what my business partner who also deals in historical items from the war between the states has to say!

SAMOVAR Tea Urns At South Coast Antiques & Gallery, Ocean Springs, MSSAMOVAR Tea Urns At South Coast Antiques & Gallery, Ocean Springs, MS

Samovars, you see these curiosities in antique shops all over America but few customers or dealers know exactly what they are or how they work.  We have a few in my shop as well, but I have lived in countries where samovars are in common use and have owned and collected samovars for decades.  I thought the subject for this blog might be about these misunderstood items.  I won’t go into great detail but just cover the high points.

SAMOVAR HISTORY
Samovars directly evolved from the Russian sbiten brewing pot, which was a large metal teapot, which had an internal boiler. 
Sbiten (Russian, сбитень) is a traditional honey-based beverage consumed during the long winter months and sometimes jam or wine was added.  It was a popular drink for a thousand years in Russia and was not replaced with tea and coffee until the 1890s.

It was fairly easy to add the teapot holder to the top of the sbiten maker and the modern samovar was born.  The first recorded samovar makers were the Russian from the late 1770s.  Tula alone eventually had dozens of major samovar makers in that city alone.

The earliest forms of samovars were in the shape of a barrel lying on its side and by the 1820s urn or pot shapes began to take form.  One reason for the teapot on the top of the samovar was to keep the tea concentrate hot, which could be a task in the freezing cold of Russian winters.

Samovars caught on and spread quickly to the tea drinking central Asia and the Middle East such as Persia and Turkey and they made their own variations of samovars.  Interestingly, samovars never took hold in China however or in tea-loving England.

HOW THEY WORK
Samovars can be just humble copper urns to finely engraved and plated or enameled status symbols.  Some costly samovar sets were made of silver.  A samovar, no matter the shape or size always have an outer jacket that is the body of the samovar and inside a boiler and chimney.  Above the chimney is a bracket to hold the teapot for the tea concentrate. 

Drop hot coals down the chimney and fill up the water reservoir with water.  On the tea pot bracket put your tea pot filled with loose tea and water.  Eventually the water boils in the samovar and the tea concentrate in the little teapot is ready.

To make tea, just decant boiling water into your teacup and add concentrate tea from the little teapot.  Add lots of sugar and you have tea the old fashioned way!  Newer samovars can be electric, but the best tea is made from the old-fashioned coal samovar.

SAMOVAR VALUES
Samovar values are highly variable based on condition, shape, age and quality of embellishment.  A modest samovar in fair but serviceable shape made from copper or brass with no plating might set you back only $100.  A finer samovar in good condition with good engraving and plating would be double to triple.  A very fine samovar could easily top a thousand dollars, which would have silver plating and all the matched accouterments and original tray intact.  A solid silver samovar with enamel work made by a master would be rare indeed.  One should expect to pay in the thousands of dollars for one of this type that was fit for royalty.

Large Persian Samovar At South Coast Antiques & Gallery, Ocean Springs, MS

 

 

 

 

Very Large Copper Turkish Tea House Samovar At South Coast Antiques & Gallery, Ocean Springs, MS

Small Brass Samovar At South Coast Antiques & Gallery, Ocean Springs, MS