Q:We would like information about our antique clock. It was made by F. Kroeber Clock Co. [It has a wood case] and a porcelain face with a glass door that opens for access to wind the clock. It is about 14 inches tall. -- J.C.

Answer: F. Kroeber was founded in 1887 in New York. Florence Kroeber was a German immigrant who moved to America with his family about 1850.

His first job was as bookkeeper at New York City clockmaker Owen & Clark.

Kroeber, beginning in the 1870s, outsourced movements and supplied cases, metal decoration and figurines.

After he formed his own company, he began producing complete clocks. The firm went bankrupt in 1904.

This clock was manufactured about 1890. It would retail for about $200. Q:I inherited two paperweights from my mother and would like to know the age and value. Are they American or German? There are no marks. -- C.W., Richmond

Answer: They are millefiori paperweights. Millefiori is the Italian word for a thousand flowers. The decoration is made of colored glass canes that are sliced. Makers in Murano, Italy, are given credit for developing the technique.

Early millefiori glass was first made in the form of beads used as jewelry. Later, millefiori was incorporated into paperweights that mostly were manufactured in France and America during the mid-19th century. In the 1930s, many early French and American paperweights were reproduced in China.

These Chinese paperweights, identifiable due to the use of soda glass, would retail for around $30 each. For more information, check out paperweight expert Allan Port's great site at: http://paperweights.com/chinese.htm.

Millefiori paperweights have been heavily reproduced and are still being made.
Have a question about an antique or collectible? Send e-mail to home@timesdispatch.com with a digital image, or send a complete description with a clear photograph to Jay Moore, Flair Department, Richmond Times-Dispatch, P.O. Box 85333, Richmond, VA 23293. Photographs will not be returned. The large volume of mail may mean a delay in publishing answers.