Popeye, Swee' Pea jars are rarities

— Micki, South Gate, Calif.

A Judging from the photos you sent, you have two very collectible jars made by American Bisque. Launched in 1919 in Williamstown, W.Va., the company moved into cookie-jar production in the 1930s. It closed in 1983.

The shapes and decoration of your jars, plus the sizes quoted, are well-documented as American Bisque, despite the lack of marks.

"The Complete Cookie Jar Book: Fifth Edition" by Mike Schneider (Schiffer, $29.95) includes your jars. The book price is $900 for Swee' Pea and $375 for Popeye. But the old salt in the book has a replacement pipe. If yours is original, the value zooms. Best of all, both of your jars are extremely rare and don't often hit the market.

These are very desirable and may well reach book price.

Here's a caveat: A contemporary potter has reproduced both jars, and his versions resell at about $200. His version of the Swee' Pea jar recently brought close to $200 on eBay. Repro jars from this maker are well-made and carry his initials, plus the year of make on the bottom. As far as I know, no one else made reproductions of these figures.

Assuming yours are the real thing (as always, hands-on inspection is needed), how does one sell such treasures? Your goal is top dollar, and the only way to reach that is to place the cookie jars on the open market. One option is a trusted auction house in your area that has experience with high-end pottery. There will be selling costs, but it is in the auction house's interest to sell high.

An online auction is another way to reach a huge pool of motivated buyers. If you are uncomfortable posting and selling online, an eBay trading partner in your area can do all the work for you.

Q I bought some glasses, and several have a white film on the inside. I've tried washing them with Bar Keepers Friend, but when the glass dries, the white film returns. Any ideas?

— Billie, Hominy, Okla.

A There is a phenomenon known as "sick" glass. Cloudy glass is most often noticed on pieces intended to hold liquid, such as perfume bottles, decanters, vases and the like. The milky look appears as a patch on the side, or in the neck or bottom of a vase or bottle.

Sick glass happens for many reasons — primarily a breakdown in the chemical composition of a glass piece. When filled with liquid, the vessel looks fine. But when the piece is dry, you see a milky surface resulting from salts that leach out of the material in the absence of humidity. This can't be repaired, and neither can a network of fine crackling.

Unscrupulous sellers try to pass off sick glass by putting a thin coat of oil on the surface. The effect is temporary. Others try to sell sick-glass bottles filled with a liquid to disguise the cloudiness.

In some cases, the glass is not terminally sick and suffers from a buildup of carbonate deposits. Sometimes this can be fixed.

There are many home remedies. It's like medicine: Specialists use heavy artillery, such as diluted hydrochloric acid. It's better to fill the glasses with a mixture of water and dishwashing liquid, soak them, and then rinse them well.

Some people put a few drops of ammonia in the rinse water. Others soak the glass in water with a denture-cleaning tablet. Break the tablet in pieces to get it down the neck of a narrow vase, then shake. Allow the filled glass to stand overnight.

Still others put a handful of rice grains in the glass, add white vinegar and shake vigorously. The rice polishes, while the vinegar cleans. Then rinse. If all home nostrums fail, nothing more can be done.

The Smart Collector

By Danielle Arnet

» AUCTION ACTION

A fine 18th-century English watch key brought $5,900 in a recent Antiquorum sale. The rectangular, gold-bordered panel on one side featured an enamel hand-painted scene of God looking down on a garden. The reverse had feathers against a white enamel ground. Before wristwatches, pocket watches were wound with keys. Some, such as this, were very decorative.