The purpose of this article is to analyze a current eBay auction offered by Auction Depot LA with a Global Antiques COA titled: “ORIGINAL HARMONEY ROSE CONTAINER OWNED BY LUCILLE BALL”.
After performing some research, it appears that the item being offered for sale matches contemporary pieces available at the retail store T.J. Maxx. This “Part 1” article compares the current I Love Lucy “TV Prop” with a different item from the same pattern set purchased new at retail this week. The forthcoming “Part 2” article will include a comparison of the same item from the same pattern set, which I have purchased online but not yet received.
Items listed and sold on eBay by this seller and consignor/authenticator have already been topics of past articles:
“Gone With The Wind, Global Antiques, and Auction Depot LA“
“Global Antiques, Auction Depot LA – Reader Experience With “Original” Casablanca Prop”
“I Love Lucy, Global Antiques, and Auction Depot LA”
“Thomas Edison, Global Antiques, and Auction Depot LA”
“Mark Twain, Global Antiques, and Auction Depot LA“
“Al Capone, Global Antiques, and Auction Depot LA“
“Gone With The Wind, Global Antiques, and Auction Depot LA – “Original Dagger Sword”“
“The Lord of the Rings, Global Antiques, and Auction Depot LA“
“I Love Lucy, Global Antiques, and Auction Depot LA – Silver Creamer“
An article published a few days ago reviewed the sales activity of eBay seller Auction Depot LA and their “Entertainment Memorabilia” items consigned/authenticated by Global Antiques over a two week period, based on the public eBay records:
Some of the findings of this analysis included:
- Within that two week time frame, eBay reports 361 listings ended.
- Of the 361 listings that ended in the two week period, 330 sold and 31 (less than 10%) went unsold.
- The prices realized for the 330 items sold amounts to over $15,000 (not including shipping or other charges), or an average of about $1,000 per day over the 14-day period.
- The average price realized: $46.81
As discussed in the previous articles, “Auction Depot LA” (auctiondepotla1 on eBay) offers a large number of items on a regular basis (less than 100 items are currently live on eBay in the “Collectibles” category of their eBay store, as of the writing of this article).
These collectibles, attributed to film/television use and/or ownership by Hollywood stars and public/historic figures, are apparently consigned and authenticated by “Global Antiques” (also referred to as “City of Los Angeles Global Antiques”).
For example, many of these items are described as “original” and “authentic” props from “Gone With The Wind”, “The Wizard of Oz”, “Casablanca”, “I Love Lucy”, “Star Trek”, “Star Wars” “James Bond”, “Lord of the Rings”, “The Matrix”, and other films and television programs, as well as many collectibles and antiques marketed as owned by John Wayne, Marilyn Monroe, Lucille Ball, Shirley Temple, Vincent Price, and other classic and iconic Hollywood stars as well as objects previously owned by public figures such as Sigmund Freud, Babe Ruth, Mark Twain, Thomas Edison, Al Capone, Andy Warhol, and others.
The following piece is another item offered for sale to the public on eBay by Auction Depot LA, with a Certificate of Authenticity from the same source/authenticator, also described as “curator” in the listings, “City of Los Angeles Global Antiques”.
“TV Prop”, “Harmoney Rose Container”, “Lucille Ball”, & “I Love Lucy”
“ORIGINAL HARMONEY ROSE CONTAINER OWNED BY LUCILLE BALL” (eBay Item #320253524164)
High Resolution Full Auction Archive: eBay Listing – auctiondepotla1 “ORIGINAL HARMONEY ROSE CONTAINER OWNED BY LUCILLE BALL“
This is the marketing description for the item:
You are looking at an ORIGINAL HARMONEY ROSE CONTAINER OWNED BY LUCILLE BALL + COA.
Now is your chance to own a piece of Celebrity history!!
Product Details:
- Owned by Actress, Lucille Ball.l
- Container with Handle
- by Harmoney Rose
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Do you have any more information about this item?
A: Since this item was pulled from a large vault of celebrity property, exact details are not available. It may be recognized as something personally worn by the celebrity or it may be personal property never seen by the public.
Q: How do I know this prop is authentic?
A: Global Antiques is the curator of all of the props available for auction through Auction Depot LA. They acquire these props from collectors and studio personnel. The item is authenticated by Global Antiques after its provenance has been validated and certified. Every prop we sell is accompanied by a Silver (used in production) or Gold (personally owned property) Certificate of Authenticity. No other documents are included with the auction.Q: What does the date on the COA represent?
A: That is the year (or year range) that the item was acquired. This acquisition date may vary from the production date if it is a Film/TV prop.Q: How can I contact Global Antiques or the original owner?
A: We act as an agent for Global Antiques and would be happy to answer any other questions you have. We cannot disclose contact info for our private sellers but you are welcome to call us toll free at (877) 337-6852
INCLUDED IN THIS AUCTION
- ORIGINAL HARMONEY ROSE CONTAINER OWNED BY LUCILLE BALL
- Certificate of Authenticity Global Antiques, Los Angeles
CONDITION
Appearance: Used as personal property of Lucille Ball. Signs of use.
DIMENSIONS
Width: 4.75″
Height: 4″
These are the details of the “Certificate of Authenticity (City of Los Angeles, Global Antiques)”:
The COA cites the television program “I Love Lucy Show”, “Lucille Ball – TV Prop” and “1959 to 1960”.
The narrative portion of the description opens:
Congratulations! You are the proud owner of a relic from an American historical figure.
Per Wikipedia (LINK):
I Love Lucy is a popular American situation comedy, starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance and William Frawley. The black-and-white series originally ran from October 15, 1951 to May 6, 1957 on CBS. The show continued on for three more seasons with 13 one-hour specials, running from 1957 to 1960, known first as The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show and later in reruns as The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.
Ms. Ball passed in 1989 (see Wikipedia), nearly 20 years ago.
The item offered for sale on eBay is merely described as a “container owned by Lucille Ball” with the manufacturer misspelled “Harmoney Rose” in each usage (rather than “Harmony Rose”), along with measurements.
This is a photo from the auction showing the hallmark:
The hallmark reads: “Harmony Rose”, “Established 18/90”, and “Antique Foley”.
Comparing & Contrasting Vintage China
In researching the china pattern “Harmony Rose” and “Antique Foley”, I did not find any historical examples. The closest comparable I could find was a “Harmony Rose” along with “Old Foley” (not the “Antique Foley” seen in the Auction Depot LA example).
This is one example of the “Harmony Rose” “Old Foley” I found at RubyLane.com:
Lovely James Kent Old Foley Harmony Rose Bachelor Set
This photo is an example of the pattern as seen on the tea cup, which they estimate is circa 1930s-1940s:
Here are a few comparisons of the patterns and the hallmarks of the two pieces:
I found a number of other vintage “Harmony Rose”, “Old Foley” pieces that had hallmarks consistant with the Ruby Lane example above, and main blossom patterns that differed, such as this milk pitcher from eFineAntiques.com:
#1572 James Kent Old Foley Harmony Rose English Milk Pitcher
Here are additional comparisons:
T.J. Maxx
In researching the specific brand and style of the piece offered for sale by Auction Depot L.A., I came across several eBay auctions with sellers offering “Harmony Rose” milk pitchers of the same miniature scale as the “Lucille Ball” piece, with a blossom pattern that appeared to match exactly. These were the only instances in which I found the “Antique Foley” (as opposed to the vintage “Old Foley”) reference paired with “Harmony Rose”.
In communicating with these independent sellers, I learned that these were purchased as new very recently, from the retail chain T.J. Maxx.
I visited several local T.J. Maxx stores to see if I could find the same piece, pattern, or line, and it was apparently cleared out very recently. One of the stores did have a companion piece from the same set, so I purchased that in order to perform further analysis and take high resolution photos for direct comparison to the Auction Depot L.A. “TV Prop” from “1959-1960”.
In my analysis, the primary and secondary blossom patterns as well as the hallmark on the bottom of the brand new T.J. Maxx piece all match the Auction Depot L.A. piece attributed to use/ownership by Lucille Ball.
High Resolution Archive: “I Love Lucy” Compared to T.J. Maxx
High Resolution Archive: “I Love Lucy” Compared To T.J. Maxx – Main Blossom Pattern
High Resolution Archive: “I Love Lucy” Compared To T.J. Maxx – Secondary Blossom Pattern
High Resolution Archive: “I Love Lucy” Compared To T.J. Maxx – “Harmony Rose” Hallmark
High Resolution Archive: “I Love Lucy” Compared To T.J. Maxx – Provenance, Receipt
I have also purchased one of the “milk pitchers” sourced recently from T.J. Maxx from another eBay seller in order to take higher resolution photos for comparison, which will be included in an update article once I have the merchandise.
This is a photo from the eBay seller compared with the current piece offered by Auction Depot LA:
Jason De Bord