Henry Rifle Forums

So my dad has been in full time care for just over a year now, and has been dealing with various cancers, type 2 diabetes and most recently vascular dementia. He just had his 88th birthday on the 17th, and was having a good day where he was able to enjoy some amazing cake with family. His wife is just 71 and decided to sell the family home and move in to a very nice condo. It is a smart move for her as she doesn’t need to deal with a 3500 sq ft house and the yard maintenance etc.

She is giving a bunch of stuff to my wife and I, and we picked up a few boxes this week. Part of the booty was some antiques she brought when she moved here from Germany 45 years ago. I am a history buff, and had been eyeing up two beer steins for the past 35 years. They were a surprise for me along with a painting (which she hated and had in a box in the basement) and a Jugendstil or Art Nouveau sculpture. I’m trying to find out some more about the painting and sculpture, but I thought I’d share some pics as it’s neat stuff.

The back of the painting is covered in World War I ration stamps! Some are dated from 1919 and the fact that they weren’t used for food is very interesting. Whoever owned the painting at that time must have been very well off. The amount of food represented on the stamps would have been a huge bounty in Germany 6 months after the end of the war. There are stamps for bacon, eggs, butter, bread etc etc. That stuff was still like gold at that point. To not collect the rations musthave been crazy!

The beer steins are from two Bavarian military units from 1903 - 1913. One belonged to a Pioneer or PFC equivalent, and the other a Feldtwebel or Corporal. They are in astonishingly good shape compared to some I found online.

Anyway, pics below. Enjoy!

The Jugendstil sculpture which she paid €450 for backin ‘75 (Deutschmarks at that time) . That’s around $2500 in today’s money. I’m going to see if I can find someone to put a real value on it).

Finally, the steins. Pictured with a 1914 Iron Cross my dad brought back from Europe for me in about 1978. They look good together on my office bookshelf along with my grandfathers engraved silver cigarette case he carried as an ambulance driver in the Russian Revolution. You can just imagine the two characters in the old black and white photo having a much deserved pint out of the steins after a long day of training!

Very cool... I have a few old things but have little idea of the value, they came down from my Grandfather.

Can view the front and back of the picture only. These things passed down from your family are to be treasured.

Antiques Roadshow is calling your name. You might be able to get some real money for a bit of that stuff but I'm sure there are things that have priceless sentimental value.

Very neat items. I like the painting myself. I hope you find out about it. Great steins also.

I'm sad to hear of your father. I hope he gets the best of care possible.

The picture frame is probably worth more than the painting so don't forget to get that appraised also.

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Awesome!

Original post got swallowed...anyway, those are some really nice pieces James! As Duane said there may be a good amount of value there, but may be more valuable to YOU!
Will be sharing post with my wife. She is very interested in these types of things, as am I. We watch Roadshow a lot.
BTW...sorry about your Dads' issues and hope he is able to enjoy all the time that remains.
Oh...as you probably know, I would think an appraisal is in order for insurance purposes.

Thanks for the well wishes guys. I’ve dealt with a lot of deathin my life from working in stunts and mountaineering, so I’ve become fairly pragmatic about it. He has lived an incredibly full life, and really didn’t have any noticeable issues until age 87. I think that’s pretty good, given that a lot of people end up with cancers and Alzheimer’s etc in their 60s. The crappy part is he is a 10 hour drive away, so I only get to see him maybe once per month.

As for the booty, I don’t plan to sell any of it. My questions on the heritage and value are purely for curiosity sake. Although if it turns out something is worth $1,000,000 I might have to consider cashing out;)

most importantly, hope the medical issues take a positive turn .... a very interesting range of items, thanks for posting them