Q: This is a photo of an antique chair that has been in my family for generations. It is in mint condition, and we think it belonged to our great-great-grandmother sometime in the late 1800s or early 1900s.

We would like to know anything about its history and insurance value.

A: You have a reproduction of a 17th-century Jacobean armchair. Seventeenth-century Jacobean furniture was made during the reign of King James I of England. He ruled England from 1603 to 1625. He is well-known for the King James version of the Bible and issuing the charter for American colonies in Virginia. During the Jacobean Era, the Puritan movement took hold; the educated class was growing, and exploration of the trade routes to the Indian Ocean and the Caribbean began. Jacobean furniture designs were ornate and heavily carved. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, factory-made reproductions were in demand.

Your chair is circa 1900 and should be insured for $300 to $500.

Q: This mark is on the bottom of a beer stein that was bought over 25 years ago. The stein is decorated with a blue-gray glaze and a drinking scene in a tavern, and has a pewter lid. It is 9 inches tall and in perfect condition.

I don't remember how much I paid for it and would like to know its current value and vintage.

A: The mark you provided was used by Reinhold Merkelbach in Hohr-Grenzhausen, Germany. The pottery was founded by Wilhelm Merkelbach in the Westerwald town of Hohr in 1845. The mark you provided is one of his early marks and was used around 1895. As a rule, the pottery also included a mold number and a liter size. Take another look at the bottom of your stein; it should include the mold/design and size. The steins were either blue-gray stoneware or cream stoneware. Most, but not all, had pewter lids. Some steins had recessed bases for music boxes. The pottery had several alliances, the first with Steinzeugwerke GmbH from 1912 to 1918 and the second with Goebel Company from 1982 to 1988. It is now known as Merkelbach Manufaktur GmbH.

You stein was made around 1895 and would probably fetch $75 to $150 in an antiques shop.

Reproductions of Jacobean furniture were made in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Reinhold Merkelbach was founded in 1845.