Archive for September, 2008
Collecting Ceramics ~ What is my pot made of?
Posted by: | CommentsWhat is a pot pade of? This is one of the basic questions to answer when you are looking at a piece of ceramics.
The basic types of ceramics can be categorised as:
- Porcelain ( Made with the inclusion of China Clay in the body). It is finer and more translucent than pottery. Pots tend to be lighter weight and more delicate. The easiest distinction is to shine a light into a pot. If you can see the light though it it is most likely to be Porcelain. There are two main types:
- Hard Paste ( most porcelain found today). This is used for most ” China” produced in Britain examples of which can be found from many of the best manufactures and seen on www.AntiquesAvenue.co.uk Fine China pages. A chipped piece can have a shell like edge which helps to determine that the piece is porcelain.
- Soft Paste ( early European porcelain)
- Pottery. Thicker walled and more solid than porcealin. Light does not show through a pottery body. Pottery needs to be glazed before use with liquids as it is pourous in its unglazed state. The main types are:
- Earthenware. Lightly fired and unglaze it is known as “Terracotta”. Earthenware pots were the earliest type of pots produced in Britain. The clay is quite coarse. These examples of Devon and Cornwall pottery are made of Earthenware. This is quite a soft body and chips easily.
- Stoneware ( fired at a very high temperature) is harder and more durable than Earthenware. A good example of Stoneware used today can be seen in Denby Pottery.
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- A Susie Copper porcelain Jam Pot
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- Denby Stoneware vase
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- Devon Mottoware tyg made of earthenware showing chip
Collecting Ceramics ~ The basics
Posted by: | CommentsOk so you’ve decided to collect ceramics or your looking at an old pot and want to know a bit more about it.
Here is Anne’s AntiquesAvenue guide to the things you should be able to discover about your pot. I will be posting more detail on each one over the comming few days.
The basic types are: Pottery, Porcelain and StoneWare
Part 1:Yes, you can get a good ideas even if there is no manufacturers backstamp. Useful pointers to dating you pot
Part 2: How to date pots from the marks on the back
- Who made it?
How to decipher a backstamp
- What form is it and how was it built?
Ceramics are in all sorts of forms from Flat tiles, through vessels such as jugs and vases to ceramic figurines. Hand thrown or slip moulded?
How is it decorated?
Transfer printed or hand painted? Glazed or not? And what type of glaze?
Value?
Whats it worth, note I’ve put this last as its often easiest to determine a value when you know the answers to the questions above
Contemporary Studio pottery vase
Completely Riveting
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Victorian soap Dish - Indian Tree pattern
In the days before the advent of strong fast setting glues, it was common place to mend broken china and glass items with metal rivets. Apparently this work was often performed by travelling workers who moved around the country looking out for work. These riveted pieces still turn up occasionally and are even collected by some. The photos here show a Victorian Indian Tree pattern soap dish where the base has been completely broken in two and riveted back together. The rivets were then painted white to match the china. Strangely the riveting hardly shows on the inside of the dish which makes me wonder why they riveted on the side that did show?
Rivets in place
Art Nouveau Tiles
Posted by: | CommentsHere are a few of my favourite Art Nouveau Tiles. These are all genuine antique tiles and all measure 6 x 6 inches. They date from between the very late 1800s and the first few years of the 1900s. Enjoy!
Remember you can buy art nouveau tiles from antiquesavenue.co.uk
Introduction to miniature enamel and porcelain boxes
Posted by: | CommentsAntiquesAvenue Guide: About Collectable Enamel And Porcelain Boxes
Collectable boxes were first fashionable in the Georgian Period. From the mid 1700s they were popular as snuff boxes, needle or bodkin cases, patch boxes, pill boxes, stamp cases, keep safes, souvenirs and love tokens.
You can find both trinket boxes and enamel boxes. These boxes often have metal fittings with a hinged lid and some have screw on lids. There is occasionally a little decoration inside the box as well as on the outside.
Today both porcelain and enamel boxes are once again popular with collectors. These can be found in a wide range of subjects and themes with the art work often being to a very high standard.
Themes include Childrens stories ( eg Beatrix potter), Christmas & Easter annual collectors editions, Historical & modern event commemoratives, Royalty, Floral & animal themes ( cat and dog boxes are popular gifts).
Boxes can be round, oval, square shapes. They can also be in the form of animals and other objects such as bags, fruit and in particular egg shaped boxes .
Whatever their form collectable boxes are small and precious – manufactured to please the eye and to be kept long term.
Antiques to buy, Antiques to collect, Antiques to cherish
Posted by: | CommentsIf you are looking to buy a small decorative antique, please do take a look at AntiquesAvenue.co.uk shop where you can find the following:
Jewellery: Victorian Jewellery through to the later 20th century – a wide range of affordable pieces all of which are quite wearable as well as being collectable. The Victorian loved their silver Jewellery and especially those with a Scottish / Celtic influence. These is also a selection of Black and mourning Jewellery so popular following the death of Prince Albert until the late 1800s. Grab yourself a bargain from the Contemporary Jewellery section, pieces from circa 1980 to now – all costing much less than a new piece would today. AntiquesAvenue loves older silver charms and has a wide selection of individual charms and charm bracelets for sale.
Tiles: I offer tiles ranging from Antique Georgian Delft Tiles through to 20th Century collectable tiles. There is quite a good selection of Victorian tiles both picture tiles and the ever popular flower tiles . Towards the end of the 1800s the fashion changed and many Art Nouveau tiles were produced until the 1910’s . 20th Century tiles include examples from Packard and Ord, Poole and Pilkingtons
Glass Paperweights: These are mainly from the British manufacturers with a special section for the Scottish Paperweights and a whole range of Caithness glass paperweights. Collectors of Murano and Chinese paperweights will also find plenty to buy.
Art Pottery and Studio Pottery: Decorative pottery ( earthenware and stoneware) vases, jugs, bowls, dishes and animal figurines date from 1880 to circa 1980. Examples are offered from Poole, theDevon and Torquay potteries, Denby and Langley and now I have a new area for contemporary studio pottery dating from circa 1980 up to date. Pieces in the Contemporary Studio pottery section are all from individual artist potters and are likely to be very sought after in the future.
Wedgwood: Wedgwood Jasper ware always fascinates me ( my grandmother had a self full I was never allowed to touch). I look out for different shapes, patterns and colours along with particularly collectable pieces of other Wedgwood patterns.
Enamel and Collectable boxes Tiny little boxes which make excellent gifts and keepsakes. One of these would make an excellent gift containing a piece of antique Jewellery from AntiquesAvenue or a small trinket of your own
Collectables The collectables section mainly has vanity and dress related pieces. Hat pins and hatpin stands, buckles and buttons – all genuine antique and vintage items
And More to Come!
What can I collect?
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Collection of vintage brooches
Having recently discussed where to start collecting antiques, it seems appropriate to take a quick look at what can be collected.
The brief answer to this is anything can be collected, all you need to do to form a collection is to amass a quantity of a given type of object. As the collection grows it can be documented, categorised and displayed as the collector wishes. I have a brief article on Wedgwood Jasper Jewellery which gives just one idea and here are a few more:
Decorative Collectables and Antiques
These antiques and collectables can be used to decorate your home:
- Wall Art; Pictures, Paintings, Prints, Photographs
- Ceramics: Pottery and Porcelain, Vases, Figurines, Animals, Tiles
- Glass: Vases, Paperweights
- Sculpture
- Kitchenalia and Garden implements
- Silver and silver plated ware
Useful Antiques
Vintage and antique items which can still be used today
- Furniture, lighting, rugs
- Soft furnishings, cushions, curtains
- Kitchenalia and Garden Antiques
- Writing and desk accessories
- silver and silver plated ware
Wearabable Pieces and vanity accessories
Just right for the fashionable retro look
- Jewellery
- Vintage Clothing and accessories
- Buttons, Hat Pins, Perfume bottles
Small and Cabinet collectables
- Stamps, coins, medals
- Antiquities
Vintage Motoring, Advertising, Books, Postacards, Toys, Scientific Instruments, autographs – the list really does seem endless
Where to start with a Collection
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Collection glass baubles
This week I was asked about where to start collecting Antique Hat Pins. The answer to this must be the same as beginning any other collection and there are a few general rules which apply to all areas of collecting.
- Buy what you Love
Unless your financial resources are vast you are going to need to put in a lot of time and effort into building a collection. Collect what appeals to you, what suits your home and surroundings, something that you are willing to devote the necessary time, money and thought to and that you can appreciate for its own qualities rather than for its financial value. As they say ” The value of your investment can go down” but with antiques their own unique qualities remain.
- Research
Much easier these days with all the information available from the internet than it was when I started. A few hours spent on eBay and Google will reap huge amounts of information on the values of items, its history, collectors clubs, on-line shops and even on-line forums dedicated to your favourite antique
Other good resources include specialist Books, Collectors Clubs, Dealers and real life events such as fairs and auctions. Get to know the other collectors and the specialist dealers in your chosen collectable.
- Condition
Some writes only recommend that you should buy perfect pieces. In general this may be true and I believe that newer collectables should always be sort out in pristine condition. Some antiques are quite rare and having a worn, damaged or restored piece may well fill a gap in a collection until something better comes along. Say you are on a very tight budget and wish to collect Art Deco pottery. A collection of Clarice Cliff vases may be beyond you means but a very decorative collection of brightly painted vases can be aquired very cheaply if you can live withhairline cracks at the back, chips below the base or internal staining.
- Rarity
Most collectors start buying the more common and cheaper pieces of their chosen collectable and then as their colleciton develops they become fussier about what they buy and develop a taste for the rarer and more valuable pieces. Generally the rarer a piece the more costly it will be.
- Quality
Similar to Rarity, the better quality a piece the more costly it will be. For example, all other things being equal, hand made pieces of studio glass are likely to cost more than mass produced pressed glass. This is because the quality pieces cost more when they were new and so there are fewer of them about to collect these days. Also the current demand for quality items is likely to be more than for inferior items.
- Cost
The price of an antique object is determined by the current demand for it and its rarity. Current demand can change with fashion and the state of the economy and so the value of your antique can go up and down. In todays market there is little demand for 20th century floral cups and saucers and so these can be picked up quite cheaply. A few years ago when there was a fashion for decorating homes withChintz there was a greater demand for floral china and so these cups and saucers were worth more.
The best quality, condition and rarity is going to cost you more than a common, lowgrade item in poor condition.