Statues and plants were important decorations in the large Victorian home. The designers of the day believed in filling all available space.

Wood or ceramic pedestals were put in halls and in corners of living rooms and dining rooms. Live plants, especially ferns, were popular.

Art pottery companies like Roseville and Rookwood made pedestals in their early years. The majolica potteries of England and Germany made elaborate pedestals with 3-D decorations of animals and birds.

One of the most famous 19th-century decorating firms in New York City was Herter Brothers. It made furniture for the rich and famous, including President Grant and William Vanderbilt.

Today Victorian pedestals are difficult to find but sell for moderate prices. Pedestals by well-known makers bring high prices. A Herter Brothers pedestal sold this year for $5,500.

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Q: How do you spot a Shawnee Corn King fake? I recently purchased three Shawnee Corn King dishes at an antiques mall. When I got home, I noticed that the items did not have “USA” stamped with the Shawnee logo on the bottom like the rest of my collection. Are these fakes?

A: The dishes you just bought are probably reproductions. Corn King pieces with bases too small to fit the words “Shawnee” and “USA” are marked simply “USA” or are not marked at all.

Compare the style of the logo on the dishes you just bought with the style on your other pieces. And compare the quality of the pottery and the way the corn rows align. Reproductions tend not to be as heavy or well-made as originals, and some have the corn rows on top of each other rather than staggered, as they are on originals.

Shawnee Pottery was in business in Zanesville, Ohio, from 1937 to 1961. A Georgia wholesaler now owns rights to the Shawnee trademark and has been selling reproductions marked “Shawnee” (without “USA”) for a few years.

Other copies have been around for decades.

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Q:A copy of the New York Herald newspaper from April 15, 1865, has been in my family for generations. The front page announces the assassination of President Lincoln the previous day and his death that morning. The center of the front page, below a drawing of Lincoln’s face, calls the newspaper the “Extra 8:10 a. m.” edition. All four sheets, yellowed with age, were encased in plastic 30 years ago. It is a precious heirloom we have treasured. What is its value?

A: You have a well-known fake newspaper that was printed in huge numbers between 1880 and the early 1900s. Most of the fakes probably were made to advertise the Herald or to hand out as souvenirs at historic sites. They weren’t meant to deceive.

There are several clues that prove your paper is a fake and next to worthless: There was no original 8:10 a. m. edition of the Herald. Originals were printed on rag paper, which does not yellow with age. The Herald did not publish a portrait of Lincoln on April 15, 1865. And the original newspaper was eight pages long, not four.