It took me a while to get a clear screenshot of the book ends seen on the set of I love Lucy, it was difficult to make out what the shapes represented, but when I eventually discovered that they were owl figures the mystery deepened.
The book ends look very like the Borghese Owl book ends pictured below, made from plaster-like material with gilded finish, but they more closely resemble the more expensive pair of Austrian cold painted bronze bookends on marble base pictured left and below .
The curious thing about them is that they are owl book ends and it is well known that Lucille Ball had a phobia of birds, which she mentions in her autobiography, Love, Lucy, She would not allow any images or representations of birds in her home or hotel rooms she stayed in so how did these owl book ends end up on the set? They appear in the Ricardo’s living room set usually in the back corner of the room through many episodes where they may have gone unnoticed by the cast. However there are scenes such as below where they are in the foreground in plain view
An expert collector kindly mentioned in the comments that the original props were not by Borghese. The Borghese bookends tend to be much cheaper but less durable than the Austrian bronze pair and may have been copies of the Austrian ones.
Reference:
Although your heart appears to be in the right place by helping other collectors identify Lucy items, you’re actually doing the the total opposite.
Many collectors, if they share ANYTHING, share information privately among friends. They would never dream of blogging about it. Essentially, what this does is possibly identify items for SELLERS, thus raising the price for us buyers. Sellers aren’t going to a make the Lucy connection with their stuff until they start googling their items & stumble upon your site.
It also creates bidding wars among the buyers.
Some people are at different stages in their identifications and with that balance, comes the balance in pricing. Once you throw out identification after identification, it just creates an unnecessary bidding frenzy.
No offense intended at all. Your blog is wonderfully put together and all of that, but as a serious collector it makes me shake my head.
Us true collectors hope that by keeping the integrity of our identifications low key, it has also kept the price of items low as well.
With the spirit of good intention, I really hope that you reconsider any more posts of these kinds.
As a side note: the bookends in the Ricardo apartment were not borghese. They look similar, but they are not.
Sincerely,
Ivonne
Hi Ivonne,
Thanks for your feedback and interest. I take your point but there is another side to it also, I am a collector myself and I know that some items are very hard to find – for example the Nesco bread bin and canister set has only shown up a few times in online auctions in the past 5 years or more – so if my site helps potential sellers recognize one and to put one up for sale I am helping the collector too, and in doing so may help preserve a rare item that could otherwise be discarded as junk. Thank you for your input on the Borghese bookends, the Austrian pair are indeed a better match.
I can positively tell you they are NOT Borghese. As mentioned, they look similar, but are not. Take my word for it or not, but as it appears you seem rather new at this.
Thank you for your valuable input I have updated the blog post and added information about the Austrian cold painted bronze bookends.
Yes I am very new at this I only began looking at I Love Lucy Props in the past few months I am learning as I go from re-watching the show. Fortunately with high definition video the details are all on screen for anyone who cares to look for them. I don’t know any other collectors except for the very helpful people I heard from since I began this blog and a couple of knowledgeable sellers I have bought from on eBay.
Ivonne,
Good grief. Think you are over reacting on your criticism. This seems like a fun hobby to partake in. The internet makes this idea feasible for all sorts of retro shows.
Lorrie