Q: Recently, I found what appears to be a very early child's highchair. I think it could be as early as the late 18th century. Am I correct that this chair is an early survivor of the distant past with very good patina and remnants of its original red paint? Where do you think it was made?

A: When this piece was new, people did not run down to the local furniture store to buy what they needed to furnish their homes. Everything was handmade and to order.

In some cases, there might be a local cabinetmaker making fancy furniture for fancy homes and perhaps another cabinetmaker in the area who specialized in making more utilitarian pieces.

But when this charming highchair was made, it was probably crafted at home as a labor of love for a very young child or grandchild.

The turnings on the piece are very simple, the kind that did not require the fancy equipment a professional cabinetmaker might have. The most difficult part for the home craftsman who made it was probably the finials on the chair's side posts. The maker may have been going for an acorn shape, but they achieved an oval egg shape with a scribe line around the middle.

Once a chair like this was made, it was used by not just one child, but by the generations of children who followed. The split oak seat probably had to be replaced every 30 years or so during the period of its active use as a highchair, but the current seat appears to be mid-19th century or maybe a bit later.

As for the vestiges of red paint, this may or may not be original, but it is old, and like the split oak seat it has probably been with the chair since at least the mid-19th century. As for the age of the chair itself, it appears to have been made in the 1780 to 1820 time frame. A circa 1800 date is probably what we would assign to the piece.

As for its place of origin, all we can say is it was probably made somewhere in New England. Without more information we cannot rule out New York, Pennsylvania or Maryland. It would help to know where you bought the chair, and where the person from whom you purchased it found it. These two bits of information could help immensely.

As for the monetary value, it is enhanced by both the fragmentary red paint (which should never, ever be touched except for a gentle cleaning) and by the old but not necessarily original split oak seat. It has a wonderful folky quality that should appeal to many collectors who love this sort of American children's furniture.

For insurance purposes, the highchair should be valued in the $1,200 to $1,500 range.

Jugendstil style vase

Q: My mother may have gotten this Majolica vase from her grandmother who might have gotten it for a wedding gift around 1911. The marks on the bottom make no sense to me, and I have looked around the web and found nothing as cool as my vase. It has a little damage to the raised twigs with the leaves, otherwise it is in good condition. What can you tell me about it?

A: Truthfully, the marks mean nothing to us, either. They are probably workman or decorator marks, and their meaning has been lost in the fog of time.

However, this is a wonderful Continental European piece — probably made in Austria or somewhere in the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the years prior to World War I. The story really begins in 1896, when a group of disgruntled artists resigned from the Association of Austrian Artists and established the Union of Austrian Artists.

In a nutshell, the group, which included important artists such as Gustav Klimt (painter), Koloman Moser (glass maker) and Joseph Maria Olbrich (architect), left because of the ultraconservative nature of expression under the Association and wanted to explore more modern avenues of art. They came to be called the Vienna Secessionists and produced work in a style that some call "Jugendstil," which might be considered as a sister movement of French art nouveau.

Jugendstil buildings — and objects — can have very blocky forms with naturalistic floral accents, and this seems to describe the vase in today's question to a proverbial "T." It is a miracle that the raised flowers that look something like hydrangea to us, but may indeed be apple blossoms, have not been mangled and extensively chipped. A few damages to the stem tendrils is not uncommon and if not unsightly is often referred to as "expected losses." It impacts the value only slightly.

Now, let us discuss these being "Majolica." Actually, there are two types of "Majolica" — one is spelled with a "j" and the other spelled with an "i." In simplest terms, one is a tin-glazed earthenware and the other has a lead glaze. The tin glaze variety originated in Majorca in the 15th century and is spelled "Maiolica." The lead glazed version — which the piece in today's question resembles — is associated with Minton's in England, which introduced this type of ware in the 1850s.

We think the vase did indeed have a lead glaze, and we would identify it as being Jugendstil with applied floral decoration, but not as "Majolica." We also believe it is pre-World War I, and the product of an anonymous Austrian factory. This is quite a lot to suggest about an essentially unmarked piece, but we feel that we are on solid ground.

Value, however, is more difficult. Again, we do not know the size. The price we mention is for a piece that is 8 to 10 inches tall. With the slight damage and its anonymous nature, this Jugendstil-style vase should be valued in the $100 to $150 range for insurance purposes.

Helaine Fendelman and Joe Rosson have written a number of books on antiques.