CIGALIA SOAP

Q: Recently I bought a very interesting bar of soap called "Cigalia" by Roger & Gallet. It looks like a cricket. The box has a bed of silky material. The soap looks like it hasn't been used, although there are end bits missing. Can you tell me anything about this?

A: Roger & Gallet was founded in Paris in 1862. The company made perfume and cosmetics. Perfumed soap was first made in 1879. The soap was wrapped in silk paper. Cigalia perfume was introduced c.1910. "Cigale" is French for cicada. The perfume came in a Lalique bottle embossed with cicadas and two cicadas were impressed on the lid of the box it came in.

GOOD ECONOMIC NEWS

Good Economic News

The Scotland auto license "S1" just sold for 400,000 British pounds ($752,000). Now the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, wants the Lord Provost to sell his plate, "S0," worth perhaps 500,000 pounds ($940,000). He says it belongs to the city and he will not sell. Some in the city think money from the plate's sale could be used to improve city services; others think it is a symbol that should remain with the city and not be sold. Plates in Dubai and Hong Kong have sold for similar prices, but valid license plates are rarely sold by individuals in the United States.

A carved rock crystal pitcher at first thought to be a cheap French claret jug just sold for $5.58 million. It was made for Egyptian rulers about a thousand years ago. The ewer, carved from a large piece of flawless rock crystal, was at first thought to be glass. Estimated at less than $350 at a small-town auction awhile ago, it sold for $383,692. It was resold for the record price at a later auction. We always wonder how expensive antiques like this hide for so many years without being noticed. It couldn't have been packed away in a little box all these years.

LA FRANCAIS

La Francais

Q: I have an old platter that belonged to my mother. It has this mark on it. I would like to know who made it and how old it is.

A: La Francais is a pattern made by the French China Company in Sebring, Ohio. The pottery was founded c.1900. It became part of the Sebring Manufacturing Company in 1916. Since your platter also has a 1910 patent date mark, it must have been made between 1910 and 1916.