Archive for Books
Vintage jewellery book recommendations
Posted by: | CommentsVintage jewellery book recommendations
I have been asked to recommend a list of books on vintage jewellery which have lots of pictures . Trawling through my book shelf here are a few of my personal favourite jewellery picture books:
Costume Jewellery by Judith Miller pub Dorling Kindersley
Costume Jewellery, How to compare and value by Steven Miners pub Millers
Costume Jewelry Figurals by Kathy Flood pub Warmans
Rhinestone Jewelry by Leigh Leshner pub Krause
Costume Jewelry by Leigh Leshner pub Krause
Vintage Jewelry by Leigh Leshner pub Krause
Jewelry Identification and price guide by Christine Romero pub Warmans
Antique Enameled Jewelry by Dale Reeves Nicholls pub Schiffer
I hope you find this list useful
10 vintage jewellery books – introductory guides
Posted by: | CommentsHaving been asked to recommend a good book for identifying vintage brooches , I thought it would be useful to put together my top ten books for identifying vintage jewellery. These are in no particular order as their usefulness depends upon what you are wanting to know:
Title- Author- Publisher
1. Starting to Collect Antique Jewellery – John Benjamin – Antique Collectors Club
Good overview of what can be found in todays market for items from the 18th Century to the 1920s. Meant to be read not just a picture book
2. Antique and twentieth century Jewellery – Vivienne Becker – NAG
A book which was recommended reading on the Retail Jewellers course I attended. Good on the history of Jewellery a few pictures
3. Costume Jewellery- Judith Miller – Dorling Kindersley
Lots of big pictures of lovely jewllery, designer profiles for main costume makers
4. Costume Jewellery how to compare and Value – Steven Miners- Millers
Introductory book – perhaps a good one to start with
5. How to be a Jewelry Detective – C. Jeanenne Bell – A.D. Publishing
Examination of the detailed parts of vintage jewellery – how to test, read registration numbers. A practical but not pretty guide. Lots of information to read.
6. Collecting costume Jewelry 101 – Julia C Carroll – collectors books
In depth on designer signed costume Jewellery bit American
6a. Collecting Costume Jewelry 202 – Julia C Carrol – collectors books
Pattern numbers, patent numbers to help you date costume Jewellery from 1935 to 1980. Not a beginners book
7. Collecting Victorian Jewelry – C Jeanenne Bell – KP Books
Identification guide – pricing a bit out so ignore that bit. Alot about clothing fashions and the jewellery which went with them
8. Questions and Answers about Old Jewelry – C Jeanenne Bell – KP Books
Black and white photos rather than colour which would have been more useful but lots of detailed pictures to help with dating 1840 to 1950
9.Warmans Jewelry Identification and Price Guide – C Romero – Warmans
I like this one – a good read and good pictures. Lots of silver artist made jewellery
10. Bradburys book of Hallmarks – Bradbury – Sheffield assay office
No collector of silver or gold jewellery can be without at least one good hallmark book.
I hope this helps – I have a list of more specialized books eg cameos, silver jewellery which I will be compiling soon
Anne x
Hallmarking on Vintage and Antique Jewellery – resources
Posted by: | CommentsThe final part of my guide to hallmarking on Vintage Jewellery and Antique Jewellery provides a list of useful resources.
Books:
Bradburys Book of Hallmarks : The most useful single set of hallmarking tables. Want just to look up a hallmark or read a clear guide to the rules then buy this little book, quite inexpensive too.
Jacksons silver and gold marks: A much more comprehensive guide including makers marks. Expensive and for the dedicated collector
Websites:
Online silver marks Guide to silver marks worldwide – I often use this to look up European hallmarks and makers marks
London assay office
Learn more :
Retail Jewellery courses I’ve completed their Jewellers diplomas 1 and 2 . If you really want to learn in detail I recommend these courses. Expensive, hard work and time consuming.
I do hope this mini series on the hallmarking on antique jewellery and vintage jewellery has been useful and interesting. Any questions ? drop me a line either through this site or on Twitter.
Information on Poole Pottery please?
Posted by: | Comments
Poole Delphis dish
From my post bag:
“I am finding it hard to find info on Poole pottery designs and artists. Is poole pottery always marked Poole on the back?
Who is MA? thats what my piece is marked. When was the Delphis line made and who started that line? “
My Reply:
When you are looking for specific detailed information about an art pottery there are two good things to try: Collectors clubs and Books dedicated to that pottery.
In the case of Poole Pottery there is loads of information around in fact it is possibly the best documented of all art potteries due to the number of enthusiastic collectors.
The Book “Poole Pottery” by Hayward and Atterbury has a long list of the decorators and artists with their signatures. You need the book alongside a picture of the piece and the mark to determine exactly who the artist is. I would need to see a picture of the “MA” signature to be able to help more here.
Another (cheaper) usefull book is “Collecting Poole Pottery” by Robert Prescott-Walker with lots of pictures and background information ( no artist signature lists in this one). Many years ago I attended a several week long course on ceramic identification run by the author of this book and he certainly seemed to know his stuff.
The Poole Collectors club website has forums galleries and reference pages which will help you lots too.
Is Poole Pottery always marked on the back ? I have come across the occasional piece without factory markings but this is relatively rare.
The Delphis line seems to have run from circa 1963 to circa 1979 with the earlier studio range being the most desirable. According to the Poole Pottery” book, the line was started from a range of shapes designed by Robert Jefferson, thrown by Guy Sydenham and decorated by Robert Jefferson and Tony Morris”.
Researching your antiques and vintage items is part of the fun of collecting – Enjoy
Book Review – Wedgwood Glass by Susan Tobin
Posted by: | CommentsRecently I was delighted to bump into Susan Tobin on the interenet. Susan is the author of the book “Wedgwood Glass” which ( to the best of my knowledge) is the only book on wedgwood glass available.
I have found this book most useful and it is always my first call if I have need for more information on a piece of Wedgwood Glass. For me there are two particularly interesting sections – “Paperweights” and “Candlesticks and Candleholders”. There is also a fascinating section about Kings Lynn glass and how where many of wedgwoods famous glass designs started out.
With plenty of colour pictures and a reference section indexing the wedgwood codes to their shapes and colours this book is a must for serious wedgwood glass collectors. I had hoped to be able to point you to this book for sale but unfortunately it seem to be out of print at the moment so good luck hunting for it on second hand book sites.
Published in 2001 and has 26 pages, ISBN 0-9580234-0-9
Wedgwood glass parrot paperweight
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
Books about Antiques
Posted by: | CommentsWant to buy a real book rather than surfing the web? I am collecting all my personal recommendations :
