Old maps, old-style bowl have Parisian roots

For today’s What’s It Worth? — Allons tous à Paris — “let’s all go to Paris.” We answer readers questions about their items from the French capital. One group is quite a bit older than the single metal item, although each is from the 20th century.

Q. My parents traveled quite a bit, and while dealing with their estate we found this heavy metal bowl. It has five different marks on the bottom, several of which have the word “Paris.” Can you tell us something about it and if there is any value here? We wonder if it is something made of silver that they may have purchased at a French flea market. — Rita in Richland

A. Yours is an attractive, 9-inch-wide, three-footed bowl made in a very old style.

It is not silver, but pewter — a mixture of metals always containing a large percentage of tin. Pewter was made in nearly all European countries, going back at least 500 years.

Highly malleable, pewter was so indestructible that it was said to follow the owner “from cradle to grave.” Baby’s toys were made of pewter, as were identifying badges for coffins. Pewter was also used for table utensils, medical instruments, clock hands and even as roofing material.

Since it could be polished to a high shine, pewter was also known as “the poor man’s silver.”

Pewter was first recorded in France as early as the mid-1500s. This piece comes from the Le Fontaine company and is not as old as one might think at first glance.

While it is clearly marked for La Fontaine and Paris, it also carries the mark of the European Pewter Union — a trade association formed in 1979. La Fontaine, in fact, was the first French maker to join the union, and the mark identifying this piece carries the company’s correct number — 701.

So while it looks old and may have come from a flea market, it was made no earlier than the late 1970s. We wouldn’t call it a fake, merely an object made in an old style but with modern marks.

Le Fontaine itself says they “work in modern techniques, directly from the traditions of the old pewter master makers.”

Value is $50 to $75.

Q. I bought a nice selection of old French travel brochures at a Tri-Cities yard sale recently. They are quite interesting and colorful and several concentrate on tours of the famous World War One battlefield of Verdun. All seem to be from the 1930s, maybe the 1940s, but most are undated. Do these have any value as a group or individually? — Lois in Richland

A. Lois’ stash of guidebooks seems to be a mix of decades.

Several of the booklets and maps of Verdun appear to come from just after World War I, although they are undated. The map of Paris we feature in today’s What’s It Worth? was first published in 1944.

This booklet and map came out shortly after the liberation of Paris, in August of that year. At the end of World War II, there were a lot of American GIs stationed in and around the city. A good number of British troops were there as well.

The Here Is Paris souvenir guide book, with map of the city and its significant monuments, also had a map of the Paris subway system on the back cover. The map was pasted inside the back cover and, as it made using the foldout map easier, it was removed by a previous owner. Makes sense, as the unfolded map measures 29 by 22 inches. A bit unwieldy if still attached to the guidebook.

The black and white photos in the booklet were all taken by Paris’ most famous photographer of the post-war years. Guy, as he singularly signed his work, took many images of the city that were printed as postcards.

Material of this type comes to the market from time to time. Some of these items are very hard to locate. While the number of interested buyers might be small, each of these pieces does have value.

We have seen the 1944 Guide To Paris, in no better condition than this example, offered for sale at $35. Some of the other items will fall in a similar price range.

This story was originally published October 2, 2015 at 4:26 PM with the headline "Old maps, old-style bowl have Parisian roots."