ASK THE EXPERTS - A chance to have your special piece, or mystery item, identified by our expert panel.

The more information you can provide, the more chance we have of helping you. Photographs of items are also useful for us to gather information from, but if you wish them to be returned then you will need to send an appropriately-sized stamped, addressed envelope. Send your questions and pictures to Judy Welsh, Prospect House, Rouen Road, Norwich, NR1 1RE.

Q: I would like to learn more about a chair which I inherited from my parents. I remember they bought it in 1960 or 1961. The original sticker on the bottom says: “Manufactured by Plycraft Inc., Lawrence, Mass., designed by Bernado.”

A: You have a Cherner chair, a classic Mid-Century Modern design created in 1957-58 by Norman Cherner (1920-1987). Cherner worked on the design with Paul Goldman, the owner of Plycraft, to create a chair that could be manufactured at a reasonable cost. The matching armchair was made for only a short time because it was too expensive. In the early 1960s, Cherner and Goldman battled over rights to the design. Plycraft continued to manufacture the chairs into the early 1970s, and Goldman deliberately obscured the origin of the design. It was sometimes attributed to Cherner, sometimes to George Mulhauser, sometimes (as on your label) to a fictional designer named Bernado or Bernardo, and sometimes to Goldman himself. In 1999 Cherner’s sons formed the Cherner Chair Company in Westport, Connecticut.
It is now the sole licensor of their father’s designs, and both the armchair and side chair versions of your chair are being manufactured. A set of four side chairs from the 1950s recently auctioned for £1,200. A set of three side chairs in good condition auctioned recently for £420, and a pair of armchairs in very good condition sold for £1,200.

Q: I have an old tin wind-up ladybug my uncle gave me years ago. It’s four-and-a-half inches long and is red with white dots and black feelers and legs. The built-in key is on the bottom. When you wind it up, it travels on two wheels and its feelers move a little. The marks on the bottom include 1911, an SG logo and the name S. Gunthermann’s.

A: S. Gunthermann was founded in Nuremberg, Germany, about 1877 and became one of the world’s most respected manufacturers of metal vehicles and other toys. Your ladybug, patented in 1911, could sell for up to £110 if it’s in excellent and working condition.

Q: I have this little sewing machine. It is black-painted metal decorated with flowers and scrolls. It measures three inches wide by four inches high and is stamped “Germany”.

A: Your toy sewing machine probably dates from about 1900 to 1925, judging from the style and decoration. Although adult-size sewing machines first became widely available after 1850, toy versions weren’t widespread until the early 20th century. You have a particularly small one.
Most of the toy machines measured about eight by seven. They actually worked, and children could use them to make doll clothes. Value for a small-size toy in good condition is about £80 to £110

Q: I would like information about my 14-inch hard plastic Toni doll (they are pictured left) by Ideal. She has blonde hair and is wearing her original clothes – plaid V-front taffeta jumper, white blouse, white socks, and red oilcloth single-snap shoes.

A: Ideal Toy Corp. introduced its line of Toni dolls in 1949, the year after Gillette Safety Razor Co. bought the Toni Co. and granted Ideal a licence to use the Toni name.
Toni dolls were sold with a Toni home permanent that could be used to curl the doll’s nylon wig.
The advertising scheme was designed to help Ideal sell dolls and Gillette sell Toni home perms.
Your doll, with blonde hair and plaid jumper, was sold from 1949 to 1953.
The doll alone, in perfect condition, with her hair in its original set, is valued today at about £200.
If you have the original box and her original Toni products, unopened, then she would sell for £300 or more.

Ask The Experts - Issue 5