New In The Shop This Week

There's lots of new things just in!

From Art Deco furniture to barsony to 50s dresses to kitchenalia- and even a washing machine- we have all sorts of treasures for you.

50s kitsch cat salt and pepper set, made in Japan.

Fabulous pair of Barsony babies (Nelly be quiet or I'll come up and get them ;)

Gorgeous vintage dolls pram, in excellent condition complete with elasticised cover

 

Some great new green stuff in the kitchen too for all the green bakelite fans

All-bakelite Gulbransen blender, in excellent condition and it works perfectly

Eon harlequin bakelite full picnic set in the original box

Bakelite egg slicers in all colours of the rainbow

 

Even a green enamel stove for the truly authentic look

There's a mega-ton more vintage fabulousness-of-all-kinds on the way too- we are very busy preparing it all, not only for the shop but also for the upcoming Brisbane Vintage Fashion Fair on October 28 & 29 at Eagle Farm Racecourse.

Of course if you're really keen to see our latest you can just come over and play dress-ups, like someone did yesterday. (And if you don't know who this someone is, well, you're just wrong! Best you click the link to find out).

So much help from VB!

More about our dress-up shenanigans tomorrow, but if you follow us on Facebook you'll know all about it already. All I'm going to say is...WE CAN'T WAIT!!!!!

Know Your Collectables- Barsony Part 2

This is the second part of a two-part series on Barsony ceramics. The first part focused on lamps, their values and sourcing.

This second part will look at Barsony ceramics other than black lamps and correct identification.

First lets look at identification. Number one, not all Barsony products are marked. It is not known why this, nor which products may be unmarked, it may simply be that the mark was lost during firing on a variety of items.

 

This vase of mine, for example, has no marks at all, but I believe it is a Barsony, due to the style of the painting and the weight, finish and feel. 

The weight and feel can only be learned by handling the real thing, the finish is the typical satin black common to all black Barsony products.

If you refer back to part one, you'll notice the hand-painted stripes on this vase are very similar to many of the Barsony lamps.

Most, if not all, Barsony products would have been issued with a sticker, as shown above. The blue sticker, together with the mark 'Barsony' underneath, dates this lamp to the late 50s-late 60s period. From the late 60s to the 70s, a red and gold sticker was used and the word 'Barsony' was no longer seen.

Only items made from the late 50s until the late-60s were marked 'Barsony' and some were marked 'George Barsony Ceramics'. The other mark you see here, 'FL-41', is an example of the standard Barsony marking system.

All products were coded according to a letter and number system. FL for floor lamp, L for lamp, HL for head lamp, V for vase, etc, followed by a number. These are usually separated by a dash or a slash, but not always.

...as shown on this little lamp.

This little beauty is another of mine, I have yet to find the perfect plastic ribbon shade for it.

This Barsony figurine is from the earlier period, and you can see where the sticker was. It sold on ebay last week for $378.

An unusual marking, but there's no doubt as to the maker.

There's again no doubt about this lamps authenticity because of the sticker, but the backstamp, below, also fails to conform to the well-known standard.

Here are a few more examples of the Barsony backstamp or mark.

 

There has been some discussion and confusion here and there in relation to the Barsony backstamp, because the Sydney pottery Kalmar also had similar backstamps. Point being, sometimes it won't just be the backstamp you'll need to look at but a variety of factors including the style, look, feel and finish.

Now for a few examples which are NOT Barsony.

 

Some Barsony lamps were mounted on wooden bases such as this. In such cases, a backstamp will be present but not visible without taking the lamp apart. This is not a Barsony btw!

Aside from the obvious handpainting and colouration, things to look for when trying to identify Barsony products include soft features, especially of breasts, noses, but just the shape in general. Lips were almost always painted red, and sometimes fingernails were too.

 Look at the example above, you can see that it is far too angular to be a Barsony.

The above figurine is by Sydney pottery Arta, and dates to the late 50s, as does the lamp below.

Barsony Ceramics also produced works under the names Silver Cloud and Venice. These are far less well known and collected, although may command very high prices too. Below, a few examples.

Unfortunately I have only these few examples to show at this stage.

Lastly here's a link to a 3 minute segment of the Australian t.v. show Collectors. Presenter Claudia Chan Shaw largely repeats the information I've given here, but shows an enormous collection which is just breathtaking!

Know Your Collectables- Barsony

***UPDATE***DECEMBER 2105***

 These Barsony lamps are available now on my new website, kittysvintagekitsch.com.au
Click here to view full details.

**************

Today I'm starting a new series of posts called 'Know Your Collectables'.

I'll be looking in depth at various brands/makers, materials and styles from different eras. For budding collectors (and non-Australian readers) this may provide much new information, and for current collectors, I hope to expand your reference base.

I've chosen to start with Barsony ceramics. This will be a 2-part post.

The first part will focus on the lamp styles, values and sourcing and the second part will focus on other Barsony ceramics and correct identification.

Barsony ceramics was an Australian company in existence from the early 50s until 2005. Their most popular works, however, were only produced from the early 50s to the mid-70s. The company was started by Hungarian immigrant George Barsony and his English-born wife Jean around 1950.

They produced a wide variety of household ceramic items (ashtrays, figurines, wall plaques and lamps) in satin black, lustre, pastel and white finishes, but are best known and loved for their 'black lady lamps'.

Barsony products were so popular in the 50s and 60s that the factory in Sydneys west was operational 24 hours a day to cope with the demand. As with so many things 50s, the lamps became unfashionable in the late 70s/early 80s, and many people thought of them as junk, throwing out to the garage or in a box to collect dust. With the renaissance of MCM and 50s style in the last 15 years or so, they have experienced a huge resurgence in popularity, and are currently among the most sought-after and highly prized homewares among MCM/50s collectors in Australia.

Now for some examples. I've taken these photos from ebay, from reference books, from Sue and from my own photo stash, so the picture quality varies accordingly.

So, what does a Barsony black lady lamp look like? Well, there's a lot of different styles.

Expect to pay $800-$1100 for a rare, mint example with a lot of hand painting on it, such as this one. As is the way with such things, finding a lamp with the original sticker is rare (less than 10% chance). The presence or absence of a sticker doesn't really affect the value, but it's a nice bonus.

 

Lamps that don't have a shade are often the most desirable, this one is also worth $800-$1000. The one below sold around $400.

The best place to find Barsony lamps is of course ebay! (Australian ebay). Some people find them at garage sales, but I've never had such luck. I've seen the odd few pieces at antique fairs, antique centres and antique shops too.

If you're a Barsony collector or general vintage enthusiast, I strongly recommend attending your local antique fairs, as you'll often find an unexpected bargain but also gain knowledge, meet people with similar interests and be exposed to wider variety of goods than you might otherwise see.

 

Many, but not all, Barsony lamps that have shades were produced with plastic ribbon shades, and these are still the most popular shades now. The seated ballerina lamp above is one of the more common styles, usually worth $350-$450, but this one went for nearly $1100 just recently, and I think it was because the shade is just so pretty and was in superb condition.The ballerina lamp was produced in white, pink, blue and red.

The shades often don't last as long as the bases, and are commonly replaced.

 

Here's the same lamp with a different shade, both are likely original. Value $600-700 with excellent, matching shades such as these.

And because the original plastic ribbon shades were varied both within and between bases, it can be really difficult to know whether one has been replaced with another style of plastic ribbon shade.

In addition, there is no definitive Barsony reference material/book available. The starburst beauty above sold for around $700.

 

Another ballerina lamp with a beautiful original shade.

Black lady lamp bases generally feature much hand-painted detail, and, as shown below, many of the ballerina lamps have diamantes along the edge of the skirt (also see the seated ballerina above).

Those with a larger amount of hand-painting such as this tend to be more valuable and sought-after by collectors.

 

Bases without shades, and even without wiring, such as this one, will still fetch a high price and are worth selling as is or keeping until a suitable shade is found.

At the time of writing the 'bikini lady' is at $400 with 2 days to go.

 

Exceptional plastic ribbon shades  in excellent condition also fetch high prices, whether they are original to Barsony lamps or not. The above shade sold for $80.

You may remember this starburst shade I showed you not long ago- it sold for $176.

Personally I prefer the more atomic-looking shades, but these plainer ones are are cheaper, usually around $50, and in fact suit a variety of vintage lamps, and there are always a few on Australian ebay at any given time.

This red and white one is spectacular and very rare, again I'm not sure if it was originally on a Barsony lamp, but it would certainly suit many black lady lamps.

 

It is not known how many different Barsony lamps were produced, but there are certainly numerous styles and colours to collect, and the variety of shades gives collectors another focus too.

 

I just love the stars. Apparently Jean Barsony used to sit at her kitchen table at night, surrounded by grandchilren, painting them on. Value for this one around $450-500.

Here's a pair of ballerina lamps with different plastic ribbon shades. They are being sold as a pair, and are at $350 with one day to go.

 

And a little boy with a starburst shade, worth around $750.

Better picture, below, the same base with a different shade.

 

A different style of Barsony, the 'banjo boy', Sue sold this one a while ago, I think she got around $550 for it.

I love this lady below, but the shade looks not to be original. What do you think?

The colours and condition look to be stunning on this one!

It's currently at $350 with over 3 days to go.

 

Still with original earrings and red fingernails too.

These lamps with 2 heads seem quite rare and popular. With a better shade, this would easily sell for over $800.

I love this lady! I really go for the yellow and black ones. I haven't seen this one on ebay, it's listed in a reference book at a value of $645.

And another example, this time with a rarely-seen fabric shade.

 

Again a simpler style, not frequently seen, and worth around $350-$400.

This is a very rare style, listed in one of my books at a value of around $900.

 

This is another style of Barsony black lady lamp which isn't often seen. Sue sold this one last year, and it took her weeks to confirm it was definitely a Barsony before she could sell it.

 

And here is another. I hesitate to put a value on this one, as they are so seldom seen.

The second part of this series will focus on other Barsony ceramics and the identification of genuine Barsony products.