by Cindy Michalak 

I hope everyone had fun and safe holidays and that all is well in your neck of the woods. All is okay here in the Midwest. Not much snow to speak of now but by the time you read this, we could have plenty of the good old white stuff! For this issue of Unique Zoitiques, I have chosen to show you some functional metal pieces. They are all old and uncommon items and I hope you enjoy reading about them.

Many of the seasoned collectors may have seen the metal cigar cutter before but did you know that there was also a matching bottle opener? The bottle opener is an exact likeness of the cigar cutter, measuring just a bit smaller. The cigar cutter ( 5¾" long) is from the early 1900s and has lost most of its chrome finish. The bottle opener (5¼" long) looks like it has a nice silver finish, which I believe to be chrome instead. The cigar cutter can be found from time to time and the prices I see fl uctuate between $150 and $300. As for the matching bottle opener, I value it around $200 because it is very rare.

This is a nice metal figurine with a copper finish (patina) and measures 3" tall x 4¾" long. The back has a slot the lighter fits into. Actually, the lighter fits better facing the other way but I believe the front was intended to face towards the Borzoi head. It is also easier to just pull the lighter out of the “holder” and use it that way. Of course, since Mike and I quit smoking over a year ago, there is no need to use it and it just sits in one of my cabinets. Since that this is an uncommon and older smoking item, I value it around $45.

Sheesh! I have another useless smoking item here. But it is one of the older figural metal lighters that actually housed the lighter fluid and flint, unlike the one above that only held the lighter in place. You cannot see the lighter because it is located inside the head of the Borzoi! The head is fitted with a hinge at the back of the neck, and when you fl ip the dog’s head back, it reveals the works of the lighter. This was made in Japan, I would guess, in the 1920s. Measuring 2¾" tall, it still has a nice patina, works well and is highly collectible to the lighter collectors. A very hard to fi nd item I value it at $75.

Here is a favorite of mine (but then again I have many favorites). An old celluloidbased calendar with a gorgeous deco chrome Borzoi. I found this several years ago at an antique show that catered to, what else, art deco. I remember traveling almost two hours to get to this show and being quite disappointed to only see about 35 dealers. Thirty-fi ve may sound like a lot, until you see some of the dealers only have jewelry, or deco furniture...and a few actually having figurines. It wasn’t until the last booth that I came upon this wonderful piece. I believe I was taken aback by the price but being so happy to actually see a Borzoi item I didn’t have, made it a difficult task to try and walk away from it. The base measures 4¾" long with the overall height at 2¼". The cards for the months were missing when I bought it, which takes away from the value but I will say that I paid $125 for this about 8 years ago and think it would go even higher at auction.

Another bottle opener made of metal! I don’t think you will find this bottle opener very often, because I believe it was made for a dog show some years and years ago. It took me forever to talk this one out of Joyce Brandin’s (Nightsong) hands! She had a few of these at the time which is the only reason I was able to buy one from her. It measures 3¾" long. The flip side of the opener does not have the detail and is what I would call "hollow." Even though it was made for a specific dog show, I’m sure the bottle opener collectors would love to get their hands on one of these! Value for this opener would be around $75.

If missing paint on antique items doesn’t bother you, then you’re sure to love this old metal pencil sharpener. In the likeness of a black and white Borzoi, complete with a blue ribbon, the sharpener is located at the base of the neck. We tried to get this picture at an angle to show the hole where the pencil goes in. The Borzoi head measures 2½" long and has nice hair detail; however, the paint is fl aking off in spots. I would re-paint it but that would take away from its original condition and drop the value. Believe it or not, there are a lot of pencil sharpener collectors out there that would love to have this. Even in its current condition, I would value this at $40.

As I usually do with the items I gather for each issue, I like to save my favorite of the bunch for last. This is definitely the favorite of the bunch today, that being an old art deco inkwell. Housed on a black onxy base, the inkwell, ribs for holding the pens in place and the Borzoi are all chromed metal (similar to the material used for making the old hood ornaments). The bottom has the original felt liner that helped keep the old wood desks from getting scratched. The Borzoi has a dynamite art deco style to it. The base measures 8" and is 5" tall. This was probably made in the 1920s. Due to it being an inkwell and from the deco era, the value on this is around $200 or more.

By the next issue, I will hopefully have met several of you at the 2004 BCOA Nationals. I will be doing the "Ugly Borzoi" contest. Since I am doing that, I won’t be able to submit my own ugly artifacts but I’m sure many of you out there have some of your own to enter. So, until next time, please be safe and I wish continued success to everyone for 2004!