Archive for Fascinating Finds
Art Deco Earrings Colour Change Sapphires
Posted by: | CommentsArt Deco Earrings Colour Change Sapphires
I’ve spent a lot of time investigating these art deco vintage earrings today, they are so beautiful and rare I though I would show them to you.
At first glance , I though I had a nice but unremarkable pair of art deco amethyst set earrings. Then when I put them under artificial light I saw they were a stunning magenta colour which is certainly not something you would expect from amethysts. Out comes the gem testing machine and to my surprise they test as sapphires.
Art deco earrings
These colour change sapphires measures about 1 cm diameter and vary between a blue purple colour and a red magenta – sometimes you see both colours at once. These gems are very very clear and so I suspect that they have been treated in some way to create the colour or are possibly lab grown. I know that these techniques and treatments were available in the 1920s when these earrings would have been made.
Colour change
Any one knowing more about this type of stone , please do get in touch and let me know more.
Colour change sapphire
Mystery antique object, What am I?
Posted by: | CommentsThere is something about the origin of strange objects which fascinated me and which led me to becoming and antiques and vintage jewellery dealer. Working out what they are, what they are made of and how old can be quite a treasures hunt. Here is a mystery object which so far defeats me, can you help identify it? This is made of metal which I believe is brass and measures a little over 8 cms high. What I have here is a reproduction but I am interested in finding out what the original item was.
Antique Mystery object
One side appears to be date 1012, if this is an English object then King Ethelred 11 ( The unready) would have been on the throne at that time. I’ve checked and his pictures do not show him looking like the helmeted chap on one side of this piece. A Viking perhpas? But would they be show with a Christian type cross on their helmet? There are words around the outside which I cane really make out, if I could then typing them into Google could well give me some clues about the piece. And what about the two strange fishy / dolphin things sitting on top?
Please do get in touch if you can provide any further information. Do you have an antique mystery object you would like help identifying? Get in touch with me and I will post it here on AntiquesAvenue blog and see if we can find the answer.
Reverse of mystery object
Owl and Pussy Cat Jewellery
Posted by: | CommentsSome time ago I wrote about vintage owl and pussy cat brooches in the shape of two of my favourite creatures owls and cats and this put me in mind of Edward Lears nonsense poem “The owl and the Pussycat” . Imagine how delighted I was to find a vintage silver charm in the shape of this poem:
Owl and Pussy Cat Charm
I’m looking out for more pictures of vintage jewellery which commemorates this poem. Do you have any? If so I would love to see them and if you agree publish them here.
The Owl and the Pussy-Cat by Edward Lear:
The Owl and the Pussy-Cat went to sea In a beautiful pea-green boat. They took some honey and plenty of money Wrapped up in a five-pound note.
The Owl looked up to the stars above,And sang to a small guitar,’O lovely Pussy! O Pussy, my love,What a beautiful Pussy you are,You are,You are!
What a beautiful Pussy you are!’ Pussy said to Owl, ‘You elegant fowl! How charmingly sweet you sing!O let us be married! too long we have tarried: But what shall we do for a ring?’
They sailed away, for a year and a day,To the land where the Bong-Tree grows And there in a wood a Piggy-wig stood,With a ring at the end of his nose, His nose,His nose! With a ring at the end of his nose.
‘Dear Pig, are you willing to selling for one shilling Your ring?’ Said the Piggy, ‘I will.’So they took it away, and were married next day By the Turkey who lives on the hill. They dined on mince and slices of quince, Which they ate with a runcible spoon;
And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand They danced by the light of the moon, The moon,The moon,They danced by the light of the moon
What am I? unusual antique identification
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What am I?
Here is this weeks What am I? Do you know what these are? These special type of scissors have gone completely out of fashion these days but were regularly seen in fashionable Victorian and Edwardian households. You can also see them at banquets and in the poshest restaurants.
Very collectable these days – especially in their original boxes and when they have a full set of Victorian Silver hallmarks:
Grape Scissors
Grape scissors can be identified by their rounded tip and the handles being angled away from the blades.
This particular pair of Grape Scissors are fully hallmarked for London 1897 and have the makers mark “GJDF”. I believe that this makers mark is for: George Maudsley Jackson and David Landsborough Fullerton of Josiah Williams & Company a high quality and sought after silversmith.
Here are the hallmarks for those interested:
Hallmarks on Grape Scissors
What am I ? – antiques object identification
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Mystery object
The first in an occasional series of mini articles I will be writing on identifying your antiques. Antique dealers are often faces with strange items they dont recognise – things from the past which are not often seen today. Before we can work out a value we have to know what it is. Should I by this item? what can I tell my customers about this ? So antiques object identification , knowing what and item is, is quite important to me.
This piece is made of porcelain and has the Wedgwood backstamp dating from the very early 1900s, it is prettily decorated and so you can guess that is was for use by a lady. This is a small object, quite delicate and not for heavy use. Any ideas?
Here is is again showing its original intended use as a ring tree:
Wedgwood Ring Tree
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
