Identify the designer of an antique and it will usually sell for more. Sometimes an attribution is enough. This Aesthetic Movement table with ebonized finish, incised gilt decoration and flower panels sold for an impressive $6,144 at Neal Auction. While you can’t dismiss its visual appeal — after all, it was made during the Aesthetic Movement of the late 19th century, the time of “art for art’s sake” — its attribution to New York firm Kimbel & Cabus was probably a factor in its selling.

The Kimbel & Cabus firm was active from 1862 to 1882 and famous for exhibiting their furniture at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876. The ebonized table is typical of their designs, with its dark finish, elaborate gilt and incising, sturdy square shape and nature-inspired decoration. Very little information about the firm survives. They marked their furniture with paper labels that have worn away over time, so the only way to identify their furniture is to match it to the pictures in their one surviving trade catalog. That is why this table is attributed to them, not confirmed. Because they are so difficult to identify, Kimbel & Cabus furniture pieces are extremely rare, and therefore valuable.

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Q: I have quite a large collection of Roseville pottery. Do you know where I can find current prices?

A: For current prices, we recommend checking local stores or looking online. There are several books on Roseville Pottery that are helpful for identification, like “Warman’s Roseville Pottery” (second edition, Denise Rago, 2007) or “The Collectors Encyclopedia of Roseville Pottery” (Volume 2, Revised Edition, Sharon & Bob Huxford and Mike Nickel, 2001), but they are old enough that prices are outdated. The website Just Art Pottery (justartpottery.com) is a good source for information and prices. It has a section for Roseville. Another way to find current prices is to check recent auction results. Look online for auction houses that specialize in art pottery and search their archives of past auctions. Rago Auction (ragoarts.com) has a strong reputation in the art pottery world. Remember, with pottery, condition is an important factor in price.

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Q: I need help identifying an antique witch ball passed through generations of my family. I don’t know anything about it.

A: Witch balls are hollow balls of blown glass that are suspended in the air or placed on a pedestal, usually as garden decorations. They became popular decorations in the mid-1800s. There is plenty of folklore surrounding the name “witch ball.” Some say it is because witches can use them as divination tools; others say they offer protection from witches’ spells and evil spirits, either by reflecting them away or trapping them inside the ball. Yet another story claims that they were originally called “watch balls” because you could see their surroundings reflected in the glass, making them useful for monitoring a room, if kept indoors, or seeing who is approaching the house, if kept outside. They are also called gazing balls. They are made in many different colors and patterns; glassblowers may have made them as whimsies, which were pieces made in their spare time to practice techniques, use up glass remnants or give as gifts. Like many 19th-century glass forms, they experienced a revival in the 1920s and ’30s. Antique witch balls sell for about $100 to $350. The value is higher if you can identify a maker and narrow down the year it was made.

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CURRENT PRICES

Current prices are recorded from antiques shows, flea markets, sales and auctions throughout the United States. Prices vary in different locations because of local economic conditions.

Porcelain, Asian, plate, two quail on ground in center, leafy and blossoming branches around rim, blue and red geometric bands on exterior, Nabeshima, Japan, 8 inches, $30.

Quilt, applique, Sunbonnet Sue, multicolor figures, embroidered animals, hand stitched, crib, 47 x 57 inches, $50.

Toy, radio, station, Remco, sends and receives messages, telegraph, two-way phone, signal detector, flashlight, box, 1950s, $110.

Steuben, candleholder, satin glass globe, free blown, cut to clear, round base, marked, 4 x 4 3/4 inches, $185.

Furniture, mirror, Adam style, giltwood frame, reverse painted frieze, nautical scene, gilt swan’s neck pediment, flower vase finial, trailing bellflowers along sides, scrolled pendant base, 54 x 22 inches, $210.

Lighter, figural, oil lamp shape, scrolled handle, gold tone cap, silver, marked, Roberts & Belk, Sheffield, 1901, 3 3/4 x 5 1/4 x 3 inches, $270.

Porcelain, Chinese, vase, globular, blue and white, dragons, allover scrolling vine, wave border around rim, short foot, pierced side handles, blue seal mark, 15 inches, $290.

Furniture, dry sink, grain painted, two upper cabinet doors, zinc lining, three drawers next to two doors on base, internal shelves, bracket feet, two parts, 74 x 49 inches, $630.

Auto, gas pump globe, Texaco, flat top, eight-sided, alternating flat and ridged faces, green stars on flat faces, milk glass, 9 1/2 x 8 inches, $660.

By April Ide

Library Director

Here are few of my favorite recent reads. Library staff would be happy to help you place requests on these or any other titles. If you’d like to place your own request, visit www.newulmlibrary.org and choose Library Catalog.

Cole, recently divorced, has moved from London to a small village on the English coast, where he is a park ranger for the coastal area. One day he has a verbal altercation with two young women who are hiking throughout the country to raise awareness of violence against women. The women are walking too close to a crumbling cliff, and Cole’s persistent urging for them to be careful leads to yelling on both sides. But when the women disappear that same evening, Cole quickly becomes a person of interest in the case. There is so much more to this plot than I can describe here, and I wouldn’t want to give away the many twists and turns in “One of the Good Guys” by Araminta Hall. It’s an interesting take on current social issues, in addition to being a page turner.

Lulu is recently engaged to one of Shanghai’s most eligible bachelors. But as her mother-in-law marches her through lavish wedding plans and her fiancé showers her with gifts, Lulu realizes she doesn’t love him and this isn’t the life she dreams of. It seems too late to call off the wedding without destroying everything she holds dear, so Lulu and her two best friends come up with a scheme to steal the gift money the couple receives at the wedding. Lulu will use her share to flee the country and the cloistered life of a dutiful wife. As they plan their heist, the women learn more about themselves and one another. Each woman begins to question whether money can provide what she really needs. “Women of Good Fortune” by Sophie Wan is a fun, yet heartfelt caper that focuses on friendship.

In “Something in the Water” by Catherine Steadman, Erin and Mark are in newlywed bliss on their honeymoon in Bora Bora. While scuba-diving on their own they make a discovery that turns their whole trip upside down; one that has the potential to make or break their married life. As secrets stack up, Erin must figure out who she can trust and how to disentangle her young marriage from the mess. I didn’t completely anticipate where this thriller was going, but I enjoyed the ride.

“The Winters” by Lisa Gabrielle is a retelling of Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca that completely surprised me. Our unnamed narrator meets wealthy Senator Max Winter when he vacations at the yacht club where she works. After a whirlwind romance he takes her back to his Long Island estate, Asherley, where his 15-year-old daughter Dani waits. Dani is entitled, rude, and unwilling to accept our narrator’s new place in the Winter family. A place that Dani feels should always belong to her legendary late mother, Rebecca. As the power struggle intensifies between Dani and the narrator, long-hidden secrets surface at Asherley and everything the narrator knows about the Winter family will be called into question.

If you’d like to request these or any other titles, visit www.newulmlibrary.org and choose Library Catalog, or call the library at 507-359-8331.

New Ulm Public Library is located at 17 North Broadway and open from 9:30 a.m.-8 p.m. on Monday-Thursday and 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. on Friday-Saturday. The library is closed on Thursday, July 4 for Independence Day.

Senior Meals

MONDAY

Beef stroganoff, egg noodles, green beans, dinner roll w/margarine, fruit crisp and milk.

TUESDAY

BBQ chicken, diced potatoes, mixed vegetables, bread w/margarine, fresh fruit and milk.

WEDNESDAY

Amanda’s lasagna, green peas, breadstick, margarine, tropical fruit and milk.

THURSDAY

CLOSED for 4th of July.

FRIDAY

Pot roast w/gravy, mashed potatoes, carrot coins, dinner roll w/margarine, fresh fruit and milk.

The New Ulm Community Center is OPEN for in person dining. Call 359-2243 for Delivery, or to reserve a meal for in person dining, or for pick-up. Meal Price is $9.50 for anyone under 60 years old. Participants 60 years or older are asked to donate $6, or whatever their budget allows.

2L The Journal, New Ulm, MN Saturday/Sunday, June 29-30, 2024 www.nujournal.com

Solution to 6/30/24Rating: SILVER6/30/246/30/24Solution to 6/30/24Rating: SILVERJANRIC CLASSIC SUDOKUFill in the blank cells using numbers 1 to 9. Each number can appear only once in each row, column and 3×3 block. Use logic and process elimination to solve the puzzle. The difficulty level ranges from Bronze (easiest) to Silver to Gold (hardest).© 2024 Janric Enterprises Dist. by creators.comJANRIC CLASSIC SUDOKUFill in the blank cells using numbers 1

to 9. Each number can appear only once in each row, column and 3×3 block. Use logic and process elimination to solve the puzzle. The difficulty level ranges from Bronze (easiest) to Silver to Gold (hardest).© 2024 Janric Enterprises Dist. by creators.comCreators737 3rd Street •

Hermosa Beach, CA 90254310-337-7003 •

info@creators.comSolution to 6/30/24Rating: SILVER6/to 6/30/24Rating: SILVERJANRIC SUDOKUFill to 9. Each number can appear only once in each row, process elimination to solve the puzzle. The difficulty Silver to Gold (hardest).© 2024 Janric Enterprises Dist. by creators.comJANRIC SUDOKUFill to 9. Each number can appear only once in each row, process elimination to solve