Antiques, Books and Ephemera
Posted by Richard Gabriel on Mon, Aug 23, 2010 @ 09:24 AM
Sometimes when we go hunting for rare books, rare ephemera and antiques, some items we find strike our fancy. In this week's picking case we found a couple of items that are outside of our normal Antiquarian books and rare ephemera items that we go looking for and sometimes, that's what you should do as well. We buy items first on quality and unusual or rare occurance. The first item we found at Todd's farm, a mere 45 minutes up and back, up route 1A and back Route 1 (because its faster). Is this Avery scale: Click the picture and an new window will open for you.
The first item we bought on site and from an old dealer friend of mine was an antique, brass and iron Avery store scale that measures nearly 31 inches from base to top and weighs nearly 15 pounds. It is marked Avery with a model number on the bottom and it struck us as a very rare item in such good condition. My dealer buddie said in the 35 years picking and selling, he has had only two of these. It hasn't really been futzed with too much or too buggered as we say in the trade. What it doesn't have are the corresponding Avery weights for up to seven pounds (if it did, this baby would be worth twice what it is currently). Avery was a weight manufacturer from the 1760's all the way until 1918. The new Avery Berkel scales company is not the same company as these scales are often referred to as Avery Scales as well. On closer examination and you can see more pictures by following the link as the scales are for sale on our eBay website, the details of the workmanship is stunning. This is a product that was designed, built and made to last.
So sometimes, hunting for something else, leads you to another interesting find. This scale will make a great addition to someone's interior design. Filled with potpouri, properly balanced of course, is just one application. A stunning visual artifact from the 1800's, even though it's not a Rare First Edition, it is in fact a valuable and rare antique as many of these scales got tossed, melted or sold for scrap metal.