By Helaine Fendelman and Joe Rosson
Scripps Howard News Service
Dear Joe and Helaine: We have in our possession an old cup that we have been told is quite valuable. On the bottom is "Villeroy and Boch" encircled in an eagle-type emblem. There is also 1140 and 2327 and "1/4 liter." Can you determine anything from this? — K.C., Provo, Utah.
Dear K.C.: There are two details about the mark described in the letter that need some clarification. First, it is not an "eagle type emblem" but the image of the Roman god Mercury on top of a circular design that was used as a mark by Villeroy and Bock on its "print-under-glaze" wares from 1874 to 1909.
The second detail is that the word "Mettlach" was not mentioned, but it appears in a semicircle below the name "Villeroy and Boch." This is important because Villeroy and Boch had eight other plants making ceramics in other locations, but collectors are most interested in the ones made at their Mettlach facility — and in fact, these wares are often just called "Mettlach."
Although Villeroy and Boch is a Belgian company, the town of Mettlach is located in far western Germany near the border with France and Luxembourg. The factory was located at the old Benedictine Abbey in Mettlach (which means "between the lakes" in Latin). This abbey had been founded in the late seventh century, and the church tower which was used in the most famous of the Mettlach marks was erected around the year 1000.
A wide variety of wares were made at Mettlach, but collectors are most interested in the steins, which can fetch prices above the $10,000 mark (but the vast majority of pieces bring only a small fraction of that sum). Other products include plaques, centerpieces, punch bowls, vases, planters, bottles, baskets and beakers like the one owned by K.C.
Mettlach products were decorated in a wide variety of ways, some of which were very labor intensive and artistic. The beaker in today's question, however, was embellished with a print under the glaze, and collectors sometimes refer to these wares with the acronym "PUG."
These are some of the least desired and least expensive of all the Mettlach wares, but they did come in a fascinating variety of designs. For example, it is possible to find beakers with images of gnomes or the names and crests of American Universities such as Columbia or the University of Pennsylvania.
There also were beakers with the names of American cities such as Chicago, Seattle, Denver, Cincinnati and Asheville, N.C. The decoration on the "PUG" beaker in today's question is somewhat less specific and is called "Three Men at a Table." Unfortunately, this particular beaker is not worth a great deal of money, as K.C. has been told, and the insurance replacement value in perfect condition is between $100 and $125.
(Helaine Fendelman and Joe Rosson are the authors of the Price It Yourself (HarperResource, $19.95). Questions can by mailed to them at P.O. Box 12208, Knoxville, TN 37912-0208.)
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