Need help identifying a few items

[cellblime]

I bought a box of miscellaneous items from a guy closing his antique booth.  I was able to locate info about all of them except a few.  I apologize if it's not appropriate to list a bunch of items into one post.  I'm a newbie....tee hee.

**The first is an old Chinese hand mirror with a (possibly) jade handle.  Not sure what jewel on back of mirror is.  There appears to be a bubble in it, so possibly resin??  Found a similar one on liveauctioneers.com, but there wasn't any info about it.  Four Chinese characters on back but I could only figure out the first one with three lines.....oddly enough it's the number 3. Mirror is approx 9"H x 4"W

**The next item is a wood sign for Red Hots and Orange Crush.  Searched and searched and couldn't find anything like it.  It is approx. 1/2" thick, and approx. 9"H x 12"W. 

**The next one is an old tin (not sure of this) pitcher.  There are some decorations on the spout lid and around the top lid, but other than that it looks pretty crude.  Haven't been able to find any markings and my searches came up with nothing.  The pitcher is approx. 15"H x 6"W (at the belly).

**And last, but not least, I have a statue of some sort.  Appears to be a Chinese piece.  Dragon on the gong, but other than that not much for markings.  Not sure of material but it has seams from being cast.  Found a few slivers of gilt or paint, but not enough to know what it originally looked like.  It is approx 7"H x 4"W

Any help with these would be greatly appreciated.

[waywardangler]

Love the Red Hots and Orange Crush sign! Great graphics!

[cellblime]

Thanks....could have been more visually appealing if the previous owner didn't put a price tag on the front.  Tried to carefully remove it, but you can see where it removed the paint. (above the guy's head).

[waywardangler]

The next time you try to remove an adhesive (I assume) sticker, use a hairdryer to heat it up and loosen the adhesive. Then carefully and slowly peel the sticker off. This trick works very well even on paper items.

[CuriousCollector]

Stones are hard to tell in pictures, of course, but off the cuff, I'd say the carbuncle is either Sard or Coral.  Sard is mined in the Middle East, while coral would be widely available in the far east.  Also in favor of coral is that it is commonly shaped into carbuncles, while Sard, being harder, is often used to make carved gemstones (with raised figures and designs on them).

That mirror is just beautiful!

[cellblime]

Thanks for the new term (carbuncle), and your help with the stone. 

Anyone have a rough estimate of value on any of these? 

Thanks in advance!

[KC]

Sorry, I would needs a hands on Look at them to determine if they were "old" or antique/vintage! 

IMO the hand mirror doesn't look antique....

Can you post a pic of the undersides?

Thanks!  Nice Pieces!

[hosman321]

I didn't want to be the only one of the bunch to say that the mirror doesn't look old, thanks KC.
It's looks a little too "cheaply" made. Not high quality. I don't know, maybe they had cheapo stuff back then too.

[cellblime]

I'll try to take some pictures of the undersides, but I've looked and there are no visible markings.  With the way they are constructed, except for the statue, I would have to assume they are old.  How old, I don't know.  The crude construction of the pitcher would normally mean that it was made pre-machine production.  If it was made more recently, I would have to assume it was made by hand, but not sure why someone would put the effort into it and leave it looking so badly.  I figured the mirror was old because of the way the handle was held on just by wrapping the metal around it.  I'm very new at this, but I thought with the amount of work that went into it, they would have fastened the handle more securely if it was a newer piece. I found a very similar mirror at: http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/7191417  I created an account so I could see what it sold for....it went for $700 Canadian, which is about $735 US.  Again, I'm new, so there's a LOT that I have yet to learn.  

[mart]

Stones are hard to tell in pictures, of course, but off the cuff, I'd say the carbuncle is either Sard or Coral.  Sard is mined in the Middle East, while coral would be widely available in the far east.  Also in favor of coral is that it is commonly shaped into carbuncles, while Sard, being harder, is often used to make carved gemstones (with raised figures and designs on them).

That mirror is just beautiful!

Pics are so big I haven`t seen any of the items yet. Whats a carbuncle aside from the obvious ?? Is it like a cabochon ??

[waywardangler]

A carbuncle (gemstone) is an archaic name given to any red cabochon cut gemstone. The name applied particularly to red garnet. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbuncle_%28gemstone%29

A cabochon or cabachon, from the Middle French caboche (head), is a gemstone which has been shaped and polished as opposed to faceted. The resulting form is usually a convex top with a flat bottom.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabochon

I think CC means cabochon but I am just guessing.

[CuriousCollector]

Yes, cabochon!  I've been reading "Paradise Lost", so "carbuncle" stuck in my head:

So spake the enemy of mankind, enclosed
In serpent, inmate bad! and toward Eve
Addressed his way: not with indented wave
Prone on the ground, as since; but on his rear
Circular base of rising folds, that towered
Fold above fold, a surging maze! his head
Crested aloft, and carbuncle his eyes;
With burnished neck of verdant gold, erect
Amidst his circling spires, that on the grass
Floated redundant: pleasing was his shape
And lovely.