Spicy Antiques Add Flavor

By Tammy Springer

One priceless substance inspired men to traverse the globe, brave uncharted territories and conquer kingdoms. Was it gold or platinum, diamonds or rubies? No, they put their lives on the line for something more rare—exotic spices. If that all sounds a bit far to go for flavor, picture chocolate chip cookies without vanilla or sweet rolls without cinnamon. Cuisine as we know it would cease to exist. And for some collectors, so would their hobbies....

The ancient Assyrians believed that their gods drank sesame wine while they mulled over their creation plans. Even our modern archeologists suspect spices date from 50,000 BC. In ancient times, exotic herbs and spices traveled arduous routes to the West from China and India.

Christopher Columbus stumbled upon America in his haste to reach the legendary spice lands in the East. Invaders who actually found what they sought often conquered kingdoms like the cinnamon-rich land of Sri Lanka, alternately controlled by the Portuguese, Dutch and English until it achieved independence in 1948. Only within the last century has the spice trade grown large enough to put products on grocery store shelves.

Now let's take a closer look at the delicious array of spice-related antiques on the market. A natural choice might be a collection of assorted antique spice jars, priced anywhere from $20 a set to $100 per jar or more, depending on the items. You'll find lovely spice jars in jadeite, Depression glass, milk glass and more. Some of the most sought-after pottery examples include quaint collectibles like the "Old McDonald" jars that include figural human head lids atop red labeled spice barrels, which now sell for as much as $125 each. Another popular pottery choice is the blue-and-white striped English Cornish ware jars, which—with more than 100 different varieties—could keep a collector busy for years. Antique Cornish ware spice jars and covered canisters now fetch anywhere from $150 to $400 each for unusual labels!

Another popular category is advertising spice tins, the earliest of which are prized for their fine lithographed labels. These can range from the highly affordable, starting at just about $15, on up to several hundred each or more, depending on the usual variables of rarity, quality and condition. If you're lucky, you might just find an antique spice rack to accommodate your new spice jar or tin collection.

The top antique spice items are the many fine wooden spice cabinets or boxes with labeled pull-out spice drawers. Such a valuable commodity as spices deserved a special storage area free from accidents and off limits to greedy hands, so special spice cabinets were often fashioned of oak with decorative wooden or even painted ceramic drawers or handles. These lovely pieces start at about $150 each, rising up to as much as $400 and more for the most unique specimens. Even if you're not up to storing your spices there, the little drawers make nice storage areas for smaller items and collections.

So consider a collection dedicated to the preservation of substances once valued more highly than gold itself. Even if your own spices are limited to salt and pepper, this is an area that's sure to tickle your collecting taste buds.

Tammy Springer is a Channel Manager for CollectingChannel.com. These are the opinions of the author, not the opinions of eBay, and therefore eBay does not validate the accuracy of or endorse these opinions.

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