Archive for Books
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.
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 :
