Q: Enclosed you will find a photo of a Vaseline glass dish. It measures approximately 5 inches by 5 inches and 1 inch deep. It is in mint condition.

What can you tell me about my dish?

A: Your have a nice example of Early American Pattern Glass. Vaseline glass is popular with pattern glass collectors. The yellow-green color was achieved by adding uranium oxide to the formula. Large amounts were made from 1850 to around the1920s. The term "Vaseline," used to describe the dish, is based on the yellow-green glass looking similar to petroleum jelly. The pattern is "Daisy and Button."

Early American Pattern Glass was made from around the mid-1800s to the early 1900s. Your early 20th-century dish would probably be worth $25 to $50.

Q: This mark is on the bottom of a porcelain figurine of a mother and small child that I have. It has been in my family since the early 1900s. It is 15 inches tall and in perfect condition.

I hope you can tell me something about its history and value.

A: A. W. Fr. Kister Porcelain Manufactory made your porcelain figurine. It has produced porcelain in Scheibe-Alsbach, Thuringia, Germany, since 1838.

Your circa 1900 figurine would probably be worth $800 to $1,200.

Q: I have a cedar hope chest that is decorated with a coat of arms on the front and flanked by carved crests in relief. It was made by the Edward Roos Company. I think it was located in St. Louis and went out of business in the 1950s. I paid $39 for it at an antique sale in 1971.

Is it worth anything?

A: Edward Roos Company Cedar Chest Factory was established in Forest Park, Ill., in 1918. Its cedar hope chests were made in a wide variety of styles and wood. They were lined in cedar to help prevent moths. One of the most popular designs was its art deco waterfall. Roos developed a successful magazine promotion directed toward young women who were planning on marrying. Even before a young woman was engaged to be married, they began gathering linens, towels and blankets that were stored in the hope chests, thus the name. By in the late 1940s, the factory was in decline and soon closed. The building was purchased in the 1960s, and the owner planned to turn it into condos. The venture failed and the building was torn down.

Similar cedar chests can be seen selling from $125 to $400.

Vaseline glass was made in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

A. W. Fr. Kister Porcelain Manufactory has been in business since 1838.

Address your questions to Anne McCollam, P. O. Box 247, Notre Dame, IN 46556. Items of a general interest will be answered in this column. Due to the volume of inquiries, she cannot answer individual letters. To find out more about Anne McCollam and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com