Promotional toys have been a popular form of advertising for a long time. The doll pictured here is Bandy, an advertising mascot created for General Electric in the 1920s. General Electric had many other advertising toys, including the Hotpoint doll and a circus set. Bandy promoted their radios; his name comes from the “big band” jazz music that was popular at the time, even if his colorful uniform and tall hat, which undoubtedly helped catch customers’ attention, might be a better fit for leading a marching band.

This example, complete with his baton, sold for $504 at Donley Auction services. Bandy dolls were 18 inches tall, made of wood and composition with jointed limbs, and appeared in shop window displays with General Electric radios. They were made by the Cameo Doll Company, known for familiar figures like Kewpies, Betty Boop dolls and other advertising mascots and cartoon characters. Designer Joseph Kallus created many of their dolls. His designs for Bandy and his fellow (or perhaps rival) radio advertising mascot, RCA’s Radiotron, may have been based on work by illustrator Maxfield Parrish, who designed promotional posters and calendars for General Electric that are highly collectible today.

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Q: I am downsizing and have a beautiful bowl that I would like to sell. It has pink roses in the center and a lot of gold work. On the back, it has a blue mark that looks like a leaf with letters under it. The words “Hand Painted” are next to it in cursive. Can you help me find a value for my bowl and tell how to sell it?

A: The mark on your bowl sounds like one used by Morimura, a trading company founded in Japan in 1876. One of their marks was a maple leaf with the word “Nippon” underneath and “Hand Painted” in larger letters next to it. “Nippon,” the Japanese name for “Japan,” was used on exports from 1891 to 1921. Nippon ceramics sell frequently at shops and auctions, but usually for low prices. Bowls usually sell for less than $50, unless they are a very rare shape like a punch bowl. Selling your bowl at a local antiques or consignment shop may be the easiest option, but a pattern-matching service that deals in individual pieces of discontinued china, glass and silverware may get you a better price. There is also an International Nippon Collectors Club (nipponcollectorsclub.com) that may have more information or help connect you with buyers.

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Q: I have a picture, probably a lithograph, of a young girl done by a 14th-century artist from Italy. There is an inscription on the back of the picture: “Florentine Master / A Young Lady / About 1460 / Museum Berlin.” The picture was passed down to me from my English-American grandmother, a lover of art, who traveled widely after having her seven children, one of whom was my father. She traveled alone throughout Europe and South America during the 1930s. I would love to know the picture’s value, other than aesthetic.

A: Your picture is a copy of a famous portrait from the Italian Renaissance. Sometimes called “Profile Portrait of a Young Lady,” it has been copied by many other artists, printed on decorative pieces like ceramic plates and reproduced as a color or black-and-white print. It appears in the reference book “The Picture History of Painting” by H.W. Janson and Dora Jane Janson, first published in 1957. The original painting was acquired by the Gemaldegalerie in Berlin in about 1898 and is still displayed there. The museum attributes it to Piero del Pollaiuolo, who was active in Florence, Italy, in the 1400s, but some historians believe it was painted by another artist, possibly Piero’s brother Antonio. Your grandmother may have purchased her copy as a souvenir during her travels in Europe. The Gemaldegalerie licensed copies painted in oil on plywood in the early to mid-20th century. One sold at a European auction a few years ago for the equivalent of about $750 in U.S. currency. Vintage prints sell for less, about $100 to $200.

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CURRENT PRICES

Current prices are recorded from antiques shows, flea markets, sales and auctions throughout the United States. Prices vary in different locations because of local economic conditions.

Disneyana, cookie jar, Donald Duck, bust, hat as lid, head on hand, Treasure Craft, box, 11 1/2 inches, $25.

Shaving mug, occupational, woodworker, in shop, multicolor scene, gilt lettering, marked, T& V Limoges, 3 1/2 inches, $60.

Pottery-midcentury, bowl, asymmetrical, scroll handle, black spiral, yellow spots, footed, marked, Ruscha Keramic, 7 x 13 1/2 x 11 inches, $85.

Rug, needlework, Aubusson style, large center oval medallion, leafy scrolled spandrels, bellflower vine border, Lacey Champion, 20th century, 11 feet 10 inches x 15 feet 6 inches, $160.

Lamp, electric, banker’s, green shade, cased glass, metal base, fluted column, ridged dome foot, scalloped edge, c. 1920, 7 1/2 x 11 inches, $175.

Furniture, daybed, G. Nelson, birch, upholstered cushion, two pillows, springs, tapered legs, metal tag, Herman Miller, 16 x 74 inches, $625.

Longwy, vase, bottle shape, red ground, dense multicolor flowers and leaves, slightly flared neck, cobalt blue elephant’s head handles, metal top and base, marked, c. 1900, 12 inches, $690.

Clock, Gubelin, silver, guilloche enamel, garland, oval dial, rectangular case, marked, Swiss, 2 3/4 x 2 inches, $960.

Railroad, poster, London & Northeastern Railway, family on beach, “An East Coast Tonic,” canvas mount, frame, England, 43 x 53 inches, $1,720.

Furniture, buffet, A. Ungenthum, art nouveau, mahogany, two tiers, four upper doors, glass panels, marble top, two lower doors, carved trim, c. 1905, 75 x 76 inches, $1,835.

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