I don’t want this blog to turn out to be the Robb Report of Quistgaard eBay auctions. Pepper Mills for the Rich and Famous. Nothing like that. But I gotta include this one. I think it’s a record for a mill – at least that I’ve seen. Might even be close for a Dansk item, surpassing even some of the most elaborate Rare Woods pieces.
The record setting mill – one of my favorite designs that I still don’t have – is this cylinder bisected by a cube. It sold for $660 earlier today. It is in kinda rough shape and needs a lot of restoration. The whole thing is covered in gook, the plug has pliers marks, and the grinder’s plastic ring is coming off. I’m sure in the right hands it will come out looking great. Very nice. I think this is a great indication of the prominence of JHQ’s design and increasing recognition of the value of his work. Expect to see a few more of these popping up soon!
Even though it may seem like the mills are getting expensive, that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to start a collection. I won an auction for a Rare Woods wenge tray today – for $19 – because nobody bid against me. Keep your eyes open!
I had my eye on that Wenge tray as well, but it didn’t have any Dansk markings. I’ve seen Dansk items with only partial impressions, but never one missing them entirely, so I concluded that it wasn’t Dansk.
Yes, I am amazed at that price too. Again, it depends how much you want a paticular mill and how much you are willing to pay. I agree, The mills are out there, patience… I just got two harder to find mills this month. They normally go for at least $100 each, but I got them for about $30 each, makes me happy. I have been collecting the Dansk mills for about 3 years and have maybe 18 of them. It is a fun and rewarding sport of collecting them. I look forward to seeing how many of this type ofmill will now pop up on Ebay, they seem to come in groups. By the way, I love Marks book, Danish Pepper and Todd I will send you the pictures of my mill collection soon. Life has been like a hamster on a wheel, a real fast wheel! Cheers
I bid $650 on this mill early on because I wanted to be sure to win it. I figured it would go for between $400-$500…boy was I wrong! I have 31 mills currently but am missing most of the rare and hard to find pieces like this one. I inherited my collection last fall when it was only 18 mills strong. I started shopping on ebay shortly after that. It seems that prices and competition have been going up ever since.
I bought Mark’s book as soon as it came out–great work!!
You must have a nice collection, Heath. I saw one auction you won for one that resembled the tip of a screwdriver with a hole through the middle. I haven’t seen that one before or since. I think you and I (gargoylemt) have been bidding on the same mill on occasion.
Out of curiosity, how did you inherit a collection of Dansk peppermills? What drove that person to collect them?
You are right–I was the winner of the “screwdriver w/hole” mill–you’re good! My father gave me his collection because he was trying to scale down in preparation of retirement and moving into a smaller house. He had been collecting on and off since the early 60’s when he received his first mill (#826 mill with grinder only) as a wedding gift. Of course, without the power of ebay he was limited to only a few different places in which to ever find them over the years. He was very into mid-century furniture, lighting, architecture, etc. when I was growing up and we always had Dansk dishes, silverware, salad bowls, and of course the pepper mills. I always thought the obsession with pepper mills was silly and even poked fun–now I’m more obsessed than he ever was!! It’s a funny addition. I think they call it OCD.
Addiction, rather.
Good? Why, thanks. 🙂
Does your 826 have a band? I’ve seen it both with and without. Mine has one. I don’t think that style was produced very far into the 1960s… I’ve only seen it in print from 1960-1962. My sources are far from comprehensive, though.
Do you have any other styles that haven’t been seen on eBay? I only really started looking in April of 2007, so I may have missed some really nice ones. Mark’s book covers some I haven’t seen as well.
Mark, sorry for turning your blog into more of a forum. Heath, if you want to talk via email, you can reach me at todd.pederzani@gmail.com
Todd – Thanks for all the comments. I’m glad to have this be a forum for us Dansk and peppermill collectors. If people have photos or ideas they want to share, just let me know and I’ll do my best to incorporate them into the blog.
Todd- My 826 does indeed have the “bridge” style grinder.
I probably have a few that aren’t regulars on eBay but it’s hard to say since I am always concentrating on what I don’t have yet. I think that we will continue to see more of the rare and unexpected mills on eBay as collecting becomes more and more popular.
I just won another mill this evening, the “rook” style mill, and am now up to 32. Only another 30? 40? who knows?–to go!
Mark- I am curious how you got the illustrations of some of the very rare mills in your book?
Mark only published pictures he took himself, or pictures from ads. Before the book, he had a gallery of pictures on his site, culled from the Internet and eBay. Copyright and picture quality were probably both factors when Robert Chipman sketched those designs for use in Mark’s book.
I’m sure Mark has a better or more correct explanation… I just had to share the information since I knew something.
Hi Heath
Yeah, Robert Chipman created the drawings based on photos I collected over the years. He’s an amazing artist and a lot of work went into trying to figure out the relative size of these mills and how they would look positioned together in a perspective drawing – which is sometimes hard to discern from a blurry photo of just one mill. I have no idea how he does it! His first drawings were very sharp and realistic – I asked him to rough them up a bit so they felt more sketch like.
And yes, Todd is right, that I couldn’t use photos found on the internet due to copyright and quality issues.