Archive for November, 2008
More information on Staffordshire enamel boxes ?
Posted by: | CommentsFrom my postbag: An enquiry asking if I had further information on Staffordshire enamels. The best I could do is to point the lady to the Staffordshire enamels website where there is a list of artists signatures and so each box can be checked back to the original artist.
Enamel boxes are popular with collectors and also make excelelnt gifts as they can be used as well as admired.
Here are a few enamel boxes available from the range offered by antiquesavenue.co.uk including Crummles and Halcyon days enamel boxes:
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- enamel box – flowers
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- enamel box – Golf
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- Enamel box – Ducks
Are these Tiles by William Morris ? From my post bag.
Posted by: | CommentsFrom Yesterdays postbag;
I have tiles around a very old fireplace. A friend tells me they look like William Morris Design, how do I find this out?
Art Nouveau tiles
My Reply:
I have taken a look at your tiles, I can see from the small half tile in the picture why your friend might think they are a William Morris design but it is my opinion that they are not.
Here are my reasons: The main tiles have a strong art nouveau design which was after the time that William Morris was designing tiles. William Morris tiles are hand painted / Printed onto flat tiles where as your tiles have the design moulded into the surface.
I have been known to be wrong however I have searched through my William Morris design books and my tile books and can find no proof of a Morris attribution.
I will add them to my blog in the next few minutes – it is just possible that someone with specific knowledge of these tiles may leave a comment.
Any one else have an opinion on this? You can see more Art nouveau tiles on Antiquesavenue.co.uk
John Hart Silver Scottish Jewellery Luckenbooth
Posted by: | CommentsJohn Hart silver is quite sought after these days. He was a silversmith making jewellery in the Celtic manner during the 1950s, 1960s an 1970s. Here are two piece of scottish silver jewellery with the JH makers mark which are particulary interesting as they retain their original boxes and information cards.
The Luckenbooth Pendant
Luckenbooth Pendant
This is a very lovely Scottish Luckenbooth pendant set with a central real amethyst. Here is what the information card has to day about the Luckenbooth:
” The Luckenbooth design is probably the most romantic in the history of Silver-smithing in Scotland. Said to have been designed as the betrothal brooch for Mary Queen of Scots from the Dauphin of France whom she married in 1558 hence the two hearts surmounted by the crown, the name derives from the “locked Booths” near St Giles in Edinburgh where the design was coppied and sold for betrothal ( brooches were given instead of rings in those days) and later, when pinned to the baby’s shawl the Luckenbooth gave the child protection from Evil Spirits, Deamons and Wicked Faeries”
The Celtic Interlacing Brooch
Celtic Brooch
This Celtic Interlacing brooch is set with a real citrine. It is an excelent example of the type of Scottish silver jewellery sought after by collectors of Vintage Brooches . The information card reads:
“Celtic Interlacing. The over and under twisting of two cords is the basis of all Celtic design. The teachers of Old wanted to show that Man did not have a life on Earth alone and a new beginning in Eternity but that God sends his Eternal Spirit to help in this life , and the two are forever entwined with no beginning and no ending”
For those of you interested in collecting John Hart Silver jewellery you could look for this makers mark allong side a full set of Scottish silver hallmarks:
John Hart Silver
News on Antiques and Jewellery from UK and USA
Posted by: | CommentsIf you take a look at the left hand side of my blog you will see I have added some new features. There is the latest news on Antiques from the UK as found on the BBC . I have also added the latest news on Antiques from the USA as reported in the New York Times. On the far left there are the latest articles on Jewellery from Ezine.
I will keep monitoring these to see how interesting and relevant they are and also try and bring in more relevant information from the internet for example related blogs. Perhaps a page of antique, collectables and Jewellery related videos?
Vintage brooches – Collecting Mourning Jewellery
Posted by: | Comments
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- Georgian mourning brooch
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- mourning brooch
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- mourning pin
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- mourning locket brooch
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- mourning locket stick pin
In the Georgian and Victorian eras death at a relatively young age was much more common than it is nowadays and it was the fashion to remember departed loved ones by holding a lock of their hair in either a locket worn arround the neck or pinned to clothing as a brooch. These lockets were usually made of heavy gold filled construction. When they were worn as a brooch the loved ones hair was held in a central compartement which could be decorated around the edge with seed pearls, black enamel or the name of the person and something sentimental written.
Particulary sought after are mourining brooches which have information about the name and date of death of the loved ones. nowadays I regularly get asked for these lockets as the potential new owners want to replace the original hair with that of a beloved pet.
Here are a few genuine antique mourning brooches for you to see:
Anne on TV
Posted by: | CommentsI’m not a great fan of the television shows which turn antiques into a game . I regularly turn up at auction houses only to find that they have been taken over for the day by the television crews and they make the day buying antiques even harder work than normal. The auctions are much slower, the days longer and they set unrealistic expectations on prices. Added to that they take up the few carparking spaces available and I really can’t say here what I think of some ( but not all ) of the celebrity presenters lording it about.
Anyway, they often manage to film me in the crowds as I try not to let the presence of the TV crews interfere with my normal daily work. Here is the result of one such day in the summer:
Try and spot me in the crowds, I appear several times in this one!
Caithness Glass Paperweight Photo Gallery
Posted by: | CommentsAs promised here is my gallery of Caithness Glass Paperweights :
Glass paperweight manufacture ~ Video
Posted by: | CommentsJust before I bring you the gallery of Caithness glas paperweights promised in my last post, I have just found this Video on the making of glass paperweights. Worth at these fascinating works of hand made art :