The Road to Expertise in Antiquing for Designers

3.0 Hour CEU Course # ____Instructors: Juliana Catlin, FASIDand Charlie Miller, Show Manager

1 - Maker's Mark - Richard Martin & Ebenezer Hall.2 - Lion Passant - Sterling Silver Mark.3 - Assay Office Mark - London Post 1821.4 - Date Letter -‘E’ for 1880.5 -Monarch’s Head -(Victoria) showing duty paid. NB Monarch’s Head no longer stamped after 2nd May 1890 

1 - Maker's Mark - Mackay & Chisholm.2 - Monarch's Head (Victoria) showing duty paid. Discontinued after 1890.3 - Assay Office Mark - Edinburgh Assay Office4 - Thistle indicating sterling silver. This is the Assay Master’s Mark and is equivalent to the lion passant in England5 -Date Letter - 1861 (Different

shape E from first example)

What is an Antique?

Items made prior to the early 1920s are considered

antiques and newer pieces are collectibles. The antique scale slides in terms of the

actual age of these objects as we continue to move forward

through the calendar.

18th Century Mahogany Chippendale Lowboy on straight legs with three drawers. Circa 1760. Recent Price:

$6,250.00

Why, How and Where to Acquire Expertise

• Develop an Eye for Quality

• Study Books, Price Guides, and Magazines

• Visit the Ritziest Jewelry or Department Store

• Visit Stores that Specialize in Reproductions

• Subscribe to Antique Week or Antique Trader Weekly

• Join a Collecting Club

• Get to Know a Local Dealer

Tabriz Persian RugRecent Price: $5,400.00

Yang Cheng is the ancient name of Canton (Guangzhou) City, literally meaning Goat City. The

picture is a pair of goats holding a vase. Possibly 1940-60's.

Antique Paintings

Artist: H. Lambert BellSubject: Fishing Boats in

St. Ives Harbour, CornwallMedium: oil on canvas

c.1950/60. 

Subject: Bright Sunshine, Hope Cove, South Devon

Artist: Donald Greig Medium: WatercolorRecent Price: $945.00

Antique Porcelain

How to Spot Fake Antique Furniture

• Be cautious if something is very cheap for what it is supposed to be

• At antique fairs, look around and if there are numerous examples of one kind of items, be suspicious

• Stand back and look at the whole piece

• Look at the marks of wear on furniture

• Is the dirt and grime where it should be?

• Look at the underside or back

• Look for woodworm holes without tiny cracks coming from the hole

• A square or circular table will no longer be the perfect shape

• Pegged joints should protrude

• Be careful of items described as antique pine

• Look at dovetail joints

• Veneers on furniture from the early 19th century are thicker

Creamware Earthenware Pottery, c. 1755-1800, not only the ultimate refinement of the British pottery industry, it was

the product that launched Josiah Wedgwood into fame and

riches.

Creamware plate, typical and one of the most common patterns, c.

l775

A Game Dish, c. l840 with an English Coat of Arms

Antiques in Interiors

Early blue and white Staffordshire pearlware display plate.  Boy on a Buffalo pattern. It dates from c.1795-

1800.

Worcester press-moulded powder blue ground lobed plate hand painted with the Fan-Panelled Landscape Pattern. First Period Worcester blue and white

pattern of fisherman in watery landscape panels.

Worcester Platehttp://www.antiqueszone.co.uk/zone8/worcesterfanlandscape.html

Staffordshire blue printed earthenware plate with gadrooned edge from the Elkin, Knight and Bridgwood partnership at Fenton 1827-40. Pastoral

landscape Canton Views and is named to the reverse in cartouche. Unusual extra backstamp "Lawrence Red Lion Hampton" which refers to what was a prestigious

hotel/inn in Hampton, Middlesex. 

Three lobed bowl, with calligraphy in dull black enamel "Flowers dancing in the breeze, Spring arrives, birds find their tunes", dated "1892". Red base mark Guan

yao nei zao (Imperial Kiln for Inner Palace), dated 1903.

Bocage figure of two gardeners by a fountain, pearlware glaze. Circa 1820 Recent price - $1,498.00

Antique Case Pieces

Dutch figured walnut bureau cabinet. Pediment top opens to reveal a fitted interior of drawers and dividers. The bombe form bureau opens to likewise reveal a fitted interior of drawers and pigeon holes. Circa 1750

William and Mary oyster veneered chest of drawers with hollywood stringing and inlay. Circa 1690. 

Regency period satinwood, mahogany and ebonised rent table. The satinwood top with both working and faux mahogany fronted drawers, surmounting an unusual support of four ebonised, ring-turned columns, terminating in a platform, from which radiate four splay legs, with ebonised stringing, with gilt-brass caps and casters. Probably Scottish. Circa 1810

Late Regency giltwood and ebonized convex mirror. The circular plate with reeded ebonized slip and foliage clasp turned border. The frame is surmounted by an acanthus-scroll crest, and the apron centered by a shell and flanked by acanthus. Circa 1820

Chinese and Japanese porcelainhttp://gotheborg.com

Antique Arthttp://www.antique-fine-art.com

Antique Furniturehttp://www.wakefieldscearce.com

Antique Creamwarehttp://www.rufusfosheeantiques.com/articles/creamware.html

Transfer Warehttp://www.antiqueszone.co.uk/zone4/spodeboyonbuffaloplate.html

Antique Arthttp://www.antique-fine-art.com

Staffordshire Figures http://www.bishopantiques.com/fullphoto.asp?prod=1145

Info sheet on Staffordshire Figures http://www.myantiquemall.com/AQstories/staffordshire/Staffordshire.html

Silver maker's marks http://www.wheathills.com/pages/identify_silver_hallmarks.aspx

Rugs http://nazmiyalantiquerugs.com/antique-rugs/tabriz-persian-rug--41241-3852.cfmhttp://nazmiyalantiquerugs.com/Interior-Design-Antique-Rugs.cfm

Mirrors http://www.chappellmccullar.com/af05015.html

ANTIQUE RESOURCES

Field Guide to American Antique Furniture: A Unique Visual System for identifying the Style of Virtually Any Piece of American Antique Furniture by Joseph T. Butler

Kovels’Antiques & Collectibles Price Guide 2010: America’s Bestselling and Most Up to Date Antiques Annual – 42nd Edition by Ralph M. Kovel