DEAR HELAINE AND JOE: Enclosed is a photo of some relatives. I took them to a camera shop to have copies made and the man told me the pieces of glass in these old frames are very rare because they are no longer made. The glass is oval and raised in the middle. Can you tell me if the man in the shop was right, and who might want something like this? Thank you. - N. S., Port St. Lucie, Fla.
DEAR N. S.: This letter arrived just a few days after we had done an appraisal clinic for a senior citizen's group at a church, and one of these frames came in for our evaluation. As we began we asked the audience to tell us which item among the ones that had been brought in for evaluation was the most valuable.
The lady who had brought in the frame with the convex glass quickly raised her hand and offered the firm opinion that her piece was the most valuable item because of the "rarity" of the oddly shaped glass that covered the picture. She also said that such frames were very rare in general because she had "never seen another one like it."
People are also reading…
Unfortunately, we had to disagree with her about the value and the rarity of her convex glass frame - just as we are going to disagree with the opinion of the camera shop person who told N. S. the glass in her frames was no longer made and, therefore, were rare and, by inference, valuable.
It is true that the convex glass for these frames is no longer widely made on a commercial basis, but it is still made.
There is a similar problem with china cabinets made in the early 20th century that have curved glass panels on the sides. For a long time, if one of these fragile sheets of glass were broken, the owner was in big trouble because there was no suitable way to replace it. Plastic inserts were available, but to collectors, these were not acceptable.
Then things changed and a number of companies around the country and around the world began making or providing curved glass replacement panels for these china cabinets. While checking the Internet, we found the PECO Glass Bending Company of Smithville, Texas, which offered both curved glass panels and convex glass replacements for picture frames.
They have been in business for 28 years and they can provide convex glass in oval, octagonal, hexagonal, round and rectangular shapes. This fairly well destroys the notion that all picture frames with convex glass are rare because this particular kind of glass is not available any more.
There is also some thought that these frames are rare and hard to find in general. This, too, is not true.
Over a year's time we see dozens of these originals in homes and on the marketplace. Many times, there is a World War I doughboy in the frame. Some times there is a reverse painting on glass accented with mother-of-pearl. Other times, these frames hold images of ancestors and are of interest to few people except maybe relatives and descendants.
Convex glass picture frames do not appear on the market all that much because so few people want them. They are often in poor condition, and the pictures they contain are generally not the sort of thing that is attractive to most buyers.
For insurance replacement purposes, these frames should be valued in the neighborhood of $150 to $200.
(Helaine Fendelman and Joe Rosson are the authors of the "Country Living: American Glassware - What is it? What is it Worth?" (House of Collectibles, $19.95). Questions can be mailed to them at P.O. Box 12208, Knoxville, TN 37912-0208.)
SHNS
