Archive for October, 2008
How do I sell my Antiques?
Posted by: | CommentsA lady rang me today wanting to sell her collection of vintage enamel boxes and didnt know where to start. As I dont buy privately I could only suggest two options:
- she sells them on eBay
- she takes them to her local auction house who should be able to advise how to sell them as a job lot.
I would suggest these as the two best options for any individual with just a few antiques or collectable unless you happen to know and trust a specialist dealer
enamel box
Vintage Chains – how long should my Jewellery be?
Posted by: | CommentsChain Lengths
Want to buy a vintage chain to go with you antique locket or just to wear on its own? Need to know how long it should be? Chains of different lengths have names, here is AntiquesAvenue’s rough guide to these accessories:14- 16 inches – Choker – sits above the collar bone
18 inches – Princess – Sits over collar bones
20 – 24 inches – Matinee – Sits over clothing
30 – 36 inches – opera – this can be worn single or double
Longer than this up to 60 inches is a Muff Chain Popular in Victorian times
Vintage Jewellery and Antique Jewellery Bargains
Posted by: | Comments.
What sort of vintage Jewellery and Antique Jewellery can I find at a reasonable price?
Here are my top 5 picks for todays bargains and see the photo gallery for pictures. These can all be found for under £20
- Silver Brooches
~ look carfully at these and there are some wonderful older pieces available .
- Diamante necklaces
~ Full of sparkle for the party season or the vintage Bride
- Silver Bangles
~ 1970s retro chunky bangles are much cheape than new and very boho hippy chick
- Gold rings
~ 9 carat gold rings with gemstones can be much cheaper if bought as vintage than new.
- Costume Jewellery Earrings
~ You do have to be careful with earrings if your ears are pierces. Whilst vintage earrings can be found very cheaply please do make sure that they are cleaned properly if you have pierced ears.
Clip on earrings are plentiful
Reasons to collect Antique Jewellery and Vintage Jewellery
Posted by: | Comments
Antique Jewellery and Vintage Jewelley can be both fun and most rewarding to collect.
There are a huge variety of pieces to buy in all materials, shapes, sizes and functions and in all prices ranges. So the first of my guides to Vintage Jewellery and Antique Jewellery is taking a look at the reasons you might like to collect these special pieces – the next part takes a quick overview of some items available at a reasonable price.
Top five reasons to buy Vintage Jewellery and Antique Jewellery:
1. You like it
~ personal appeal is always the most compelling reason for buying a piece after all hopefully you will be able to wear
2. It is more likely to be unique than a piece bought from a shop
3. Its a bargain
~ just compare prices with new for the same quality
4. There’s a huge variety available
5. Its more likely to be a better investment than a new piece
cameo brooch
Reference Books for Antique Pottery Backstamps
Posted by: | CommentsAs mentioned in my post “How old is my pot? Useful pointers to dating part 3″ one of the best resources you can have when looking at the bottom of Antique Pottery is a “Book of Marks”.
Here are my favourites:
Encyclopaedia of British Pottery and Porcelain Marks – G. Godden
(If you only buy one get this one)
Handbook of Pottery and Porcelain Marks – J Cushion
(This has an excellent section on Registration numbers)
British Studio Potters Marks – Yates-Owen and Fournier
Millers Pottery and Porcelain Marks – G Lang
Cheap but very useful especially for pictorial marks
Pottery and Porcelain Marks (European, Oriental and USA) - E.George Perrott
Directory of European Porcelain - Ludwig Danckert
Some of these are quite costly and would not be worth buying unless you have lots of pots to identify. If you have just one or two you can always send me a .jpg of the pot and its backstamp and I will see if I can help
Comming soon: Websites that can help date your Antique Pottery and Porcelain from the backstamps
Antiques News and Events
Posted by: | CommentsDo you have some news from the world of Antiques, Vintage and Collectables. Perhaps you are running an event which could use some publicity?
For a time AntiquesAvenue is offering a Free service to add news and events here. Just contact Anne with you details, photos in .jpg format welcome.
How old is my pot? – useful pointers to dating part 3
Posted by: | CommentsThis is the final part of my guide to dating you antique pottery. Here is a look at manufacturer Trademarks and how to decipher them.
If you are planning to decipher lots of backstamps you will need reference books and websites which can help – I will list these in the next post. Before these websites and books can be of any help you need to read the backstamps.
Backstamps come in several varieties: hand painted under or over glaze, printed under or over glaze, incised, molded and impressed are just a few which spring to mind. It is useful to tell the difference as any one manufacturer may have used different methods at different times in their history. For example
Derby have hand painted backstamps in the Victorian era and printed ones nowadays.
Victorian Derby Backstamp
- Modern Royal Crown Derby backstamp
Wedgwood pottery – Blue Jasper Ware
Posted by: | CommentsWedgwood have made Blue Jasper pottery since the 1800s. Over its history is has changed sometimes having a solid blue colour “sprigged ” with with reliefs and at other times the blue is solid. There are also variations in the blue from a wonderful deep Royal Blue to a much paler almost baby blue. Antique pieces can be very valuable fetching several hundreds of pounds each whilst newer pieces of Wedgwood jasper can be found for less than £10.
The reliefs tend to have classical inspirations – I am in the process of cataloguing them and hope to add a list here soon. Do you havee any rare examples you could send in photos of to add here?
This Wedgwood Blue Jasper Ware comes in all sorts of forms: Vases, trays, lidded boxes, candlesticks thimbles and even table ware. Blue Jasper miniatures are especially popular with collectors.
Wedgwood has also made Jasper Ware in many other colours but the Blue endures as the most popular and the colour it is produced in today is known as “Wedgwood blue”.
When purchasing a piece of Wedgwood Jasper do take care to look beneath the pot. Not all Jasperware was made by Wedgwood and you need to see the impressed manufacturers trade mark to be sure who made it.
There is lots of Wedgwood Jasper to buy on antiquesavenue.co.uk . Here are a few examples as a preview:
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- Antique Wedgwood jasper urn
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- Wedwood Jasper Desk Stand
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- Wedgwood blue Jasper Jug