Know your Terminology in ‘vintage’!

There is a lot to understand when looking at vintage prices - the ‘buzzwords’...what do they all mean? We hope you find this simple glossary of some use!

Firstly, what is ‘vintage’?!
This term is accepted as appropriate to describe an item already in the marketplace (old, second hand, antique) which is typical and evocative of a period in the past. Vintage can be used to describe items typical of, and from, the seventies, sixties, fifties etc in addition to older pieces from periods more usually described as Victorian, Art Deco, Edwardian, Georgian etc....or styles, such as Art Nouveau.

These period and style terms can often be mis-used, manly when items are offered for sale and the seller has mis-identified its origins. Below are the approximate periods to which descriptions should relate.

1558 -1603  Elizabethan, denoting the reign of Elizabeth I
1603- 1625  Jacobean, from the reign of James I (both of these periods are related to ‘gothic’ style)
1625 - 1649 Carolean, from the reign of Charles 1st
1649 - 1660 Cromwellian - the commonwealth period (Baroqoue style is generally accepted as dating between 1620 -1700)
1660 - 1685 Restoration, from the reign of Charles II
1685 - 1689 Restoration, from the reign of James II
1689 - 1694 William & Mary (note: Rococo period was c. 1695 - 1760)
1694 - 1702 William III
1702 - 1714 Queen Anne period, from the reign of Anne
1714 - 1727 Early Georgian (George I)
1727 - 1760 Early Georgian (George II) (NeoClassical period c 1755 - 1805)
1760 - 1811 Late Georgian (George III)
1812 - 1820 Regency (George III) (note Empire period 1799-1815)
1820 - 1830 Regency (George IV) (note: Regency period was 1812 - 1830 approx)
1830 - 1837 William IV (Eclectic period 1830 - 1880)
1837 - 1900 Victorian (Queen Victoria) (Arts & Crafts period was strongest 1880- 1910)
1901- 1910  Edwardian (and art nouveau period from 1880’s onwards)
1925 - 1935 Art Deco period...followed by Retro (1935 - 1950)

Glossary of Terms

Agate Glass
The blending of molten glass in varying colours to imitate semi-precious stones

Amber
Fossil resin with a rich yellow-brown hue, most commonly from the Baltic area

Art Deco
Spawned by the Paris Exposition Internationale des Artes Decoratifs in 1925 - a style associated with the late 1920’s and early 1930’s in particular. Strong shapes and materials, semi-abstract, ‘jazz inspired’ angular shapes are typical, and rooted in the art nouveau style typified by Rennie Mackintosh. By the 1930’s the lines were becoming more fluid in shape, less garish in colour, and supremely elegant in nature.

Art Nouveau
A style regarded as originating with the Paris Exhibition of 1900, Charles Rennie Mackintosh is probably one of the best known names, producing both regulated linear, and curved, forms in very elegant flowing styles.
 

Bakelite
This is a chemically produced resin material, cheap, durable, and the herald of a new age of mass production. It cannot be melted, can be easily coloured, and when wet is resonant of carbolic.

Beilby, William
Widely regarded as the best enameller on glass, he worked in Newcastle Upon Tyne c 1762 - 1778, he and his sister worked in London and then Fife.

Biscuit
This is earthenware (or sometimes porcelain) which has been fired in an unglazed state, giving it a matte, sometimes granular appearance..

Bone China
Made from kaolin and can be partly made with up to 50% bone ash. Introduced in the late 18th century.

Bright Cut
A method of engraving which effectively removed a thin slice of silver on a vessel or item enabling the cut edge to burnish and provide a more decorative shiny appearance.

Britannia Metal
This was used as a cheaper version of pewter, usually an alloy of copper, antimony and tin, ised from the late 19th century.

Bronze
An alloy of copper and tin.

Cameo Glass
(see Bacchus glass..same technique)

Carat
The famous measure...of the fineness of gold. A system based on 24 units which measures the purity of gold as it has to be mixed with other metals to make it workable. 22ct is the finest (22 parts of gold to 2 parts of the base metal).
The carat is also used to weigh precious stones (where a stone has already been placed into a setting the value has to be calculated using size and depth of the stone.

Celtic Revival
Produced in jewellery designs with enthusisasm right the way through from the 1850’s to around 1910, often using similar design references within the art nouveau and art deco style periods..

Cymric
A trade name used by Liberty & Co for their mass produced celtic art style silverware, from 1899, and often incorporated enamelled plaques.

Czech Jewellery
Produced from the 1890’s until the outbreak of WWII, in what was then ‘Bohemia’, there existed high quality manufacture of glass stones for jewellery. Czech jewellery is not often signed but can be marked ‘Czech’ or ‘Czechoslovakia’. Pieces tend to be large and many were assembled by outworkers, and some were assembled in France.

Dutch Gold
An alloy made up of (mainly) copper with zinc, to ‘fake’ gold leaf in the 18th century. it was poor quality and had to be laquered or varnished to avoid it degrading quickly.

EPNS
Electroplated Nickel Silver - a nickel alloys coated in silver by using the electroplating process

Gold
Until 1798 the marks used on gold were the same as silver in Britain, but from that point 18ct and 22ct gold were permitted. They were indicated by 0916 for 22ct and 0750 for 18ct, and with a crown to replace the lion passant standard.
In the early 1850’s 3 lower standards were permitted. 9ct (0.375), 12ct (.5), and 15ct (.625), with the crown mark reserved for 18ct and 22ct.
In 1931 14ct (.585) replaced the 12ct and 15ct standards.

Hard Paste
True porcelain made of china stone (petuntse) and china clay (kaolin), fired at high temperatures to fuse into a vitreous glass0like substance. Much harder than soft-paste, more glass-like. Soft-paste, when chipped, looks grainy, but hard paste remains uniform inside.

Hardwood
Wood from broad-leaved deciduous trees

Harewood
This is sycamore wood, stained a green shade. Was used as inlay material and sometimes known as SIlverwood in the late 18th century

Ironstone
Patented 1813 by Charles james Mason, stoneware made from grassy slag (by product of the iron smelting industry)

Majolica
Moulded and heavy pottery with transparent glazing, produced by the Minton factory in the mid 19th century

Pewter
This is an alloy of tin and (usually) lead (the higher the tin content meant the higher quality of pewter). Some producers added small amounts of antimony to make it hard with a highly polished surface, or it was mixed with copper or bismuth. Prized as far back as Roman times as a metal, it is malleable and easy to work. Over time the metal oxidises and takes on a grey appearance (if it was made with lead it will eventually turn black). Please don’t ever eat from antique pewter items! Modern pewter tableware is produced without lead.

Pinchbeck
Christopher Pinchbeck was a great London watchmaker from the early 18th century. he invented an alloy of copper and zinc which resembled gold. It was used for snuff boxes, watch cases, and a host of ‘cheap’ jewellery. In more recent times it was replaced by gilded metal and ‘rolled gold’. Pinchbeck is often wrongly attributed as a ‘name’ to describe small items of gilt metal and is often used to refer to anything made from a zinc/copper alloy.

Preiss, Frederick
A master of art deco sculpture, 1882 - 1943. He specialised and became known for superb athletic female forms, some of his pieces are marked ‘PK’ (Preiss Kassler).

Ramsden, Omar
An art nouveau designer (1873 - 1939) os silverware. he was a Sheffield producer and partnered Alwyn Carr, who both registered their marks in 1898 - working in London together. After 1919 his pieces were usually maked ‘Omar Me Fecit’.

Soft Paste
‘Fake’ porcelain made by adding ground glass, bone ash or soapstone. Often used by european producers in the 18th century and usually be recognised bit its soft, soap-like feel.

Softwoods
Evergreen coniferous trees

Spelter
This is zinc treated to look like bronze. Widely used as a chap substitute in particularly art nouveau production periods.

Sterling SIlver
Sterling is the term for British silver that is a minimum of 92.5% pure - an alloy containing 92.5% pure silver and
7.5% other metals, usually copper, to provide a harder finished product. It tarnishes when in contact with air. Often referred to or marked as .925.
Pure silver is often known as ‘fine silver’, 99.9% pure but too soft to work with in most instances, but does not tarnish as it is the alloy in sterling silver which attracts tarnish.

From 1300 the mark was a leopard’s head, by 1478 it had a crown, from 1544 it was a lion passant walking to the left, and from 1820 the lion was uncrowned.

The hallmarking process enables a buyer to determine year, maker and assay office in most cases. Look carefully at the marks - they are struck with accurate dies which leave a sharp impression for many years. A blurred or soft mark may indicate it has been faked using substandard dies...especially if a blurred mark is shown alongside a sharp mark on the same piece and would have aged at the same rate.

Transfer Printing
Used from the mid 18th century for mass-produced ceramic wares. An engraved design could be transferred onto a slab of glue or gelatin, and then laid over the item to leave an outline which could then be coloured by hand.

Trifari
Gustavo Trifari. An italian jeweller who wne to make his fortune in New York in 1904, but not using his own name for his work until 1912. By the time 1930 arrived he had crated the Trifari business with partners L Krussman and C Fishel, alongside a great french designer, Alfred Philippe (who had worked for Van Cleef & Arpels, and Cartier). They specialised on costume jewellery, but of superb design and quality, and the brand survivies to this day - even managing to continue production through WWII and utilising plastic lucite instead of high quality paste stones.

Tudric
This is a name given to celtic style art nouveau pewter - designed for the mass market by Archibald Knox (and others), and retailed by Liberty & Co. Generally regarded as high quality.

Contact us at any time on hettypeglersales@hettypeglers.co.uk