Increase Your Vocabulary With Pocket Dictionary

BOOK REVIEW

A useful little book for collectors has just been published by Speedie Graphics Pty. Ltd. The Concise Dictionary of Antique Collecting contains more than 6500 terms with plenty of cross-referencing to lesser-known terms, as well as today’s preferred terminology.

If you are continually running across words used in reference books - especially older ones - and wondering what in the world the author is talking about, this dictionary will be very helpful.

Some terms might not be anywhere in your vocabulary, such as oenochoe, which is an ancient vessel in a jug form, with a narrow neck, wide lip and looped handle, and made of metal, ceramic or glass.

Other terms, like oil gilding, you might think you can interpret, but don’t really know that it is the process of applying a thin gold foil to a wooden surface.

Other terms you might be reasonably sure you understand, but are glad to have clarified, like opal doublets and triplets. An opal doublet is a manufactured stone comprising two thin layers joined together; it is commonly a layer of opal on top of black onyx or ironstone. An opal triplet is a manufactured stone made of three thin layers joined together, in which a layer of opal is placed between clear quartz and ironstone or obsidian.

The words above I chose at random from two pages in the “O” part of the dictionary, but they should serve to give some idea of what one might find in the book as a whole. These two pages alone show the range of the book. The OO gauge of model trains is there, as is “The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe.” Even the phrase “old friend” is included, which is a trade term for an item that has been auctioned off numerous times.

The Concise Dictionary of Antique Collecting is an Australian publication, compiled by Julie Carter and Christine Kannard. They currently produce the leading antiques and collectables magazine in Australia, and are involved in the production of that country’s leading Antiques & Collectables Price Guide.

The Dictionary sells for US $32. It’s an easy size to slip into your pocket or purse. See www.acpp.com.au for details and ordering information.

Donna Miller

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Tear Catchers One Of Many Mourning Items

BOOK REVIEW

Many collectors look for the memorabilia which originated during the 19th century reign of England’s Queen Victoria. None of this material is more fascinating than the mourning jewelry, clothing and customs which developed during the 40-year period   following the death of the queen’s husband. She and her court remained in a state of mourning until the queen herself died.

Following Queen Victoria’s example, mourners in both England and America eventually had a vast amount of material associated with death customs: jewelry,  paintings, clothing, poems, armbands, hair receivers, tombstones, photo pins, stationery, and hair work.  These are the subject of  Fashionable Mourning Jewelry, Clothing & Customs, by Mary Brett. The book, illustrated with over 300 color photographs, is a 2006 Schiffer publication.

Tear catchers were one of the items that enjoyed popularity during this period. Mourners would collect their tears in ornate, hand-blown, hand-painted glass bottles, designed to lay flat on a table or slip into a pocket. They were usually accompanied by a cork-encased glass stopper. The rim of the bottle was designed to fit close to the eye and grooved so that tears could flow into an inner chamber within the main bottle. A funnel-shaped top chamber was designed with a tiny opening to keep the tears from evaporating. Most tear catchers were slightly textured or made with indentations for a better grip when wet. At the end of the period of mourning, some sealed the bottle with wax to keep the tears; others left the bottle open and allowed the tears to evaporate.

Items made from the deceased’s hair were also very popular. Although hair is known to have been used in jewelry since the 16th century, it really came into its own as a featured jewelry item during the mid 1800s. A lock of hair from the deceased could be made into rings, lockets and other tokens. The custom gradually lost favor by the end of the century, when mourning jewelry began to be made from other materials such as enamel, bakelite, bog oak (a fossilized dark brown wood,) gutta percha, jet, and porcelain.

Even simple straight pins were a part of mourning materials, being made with black pin tops. They were packaged in a tin or cardboard case marked “Mourning Pins” and were used to attach black crepe fabric to clothing.

See examples of these and hundreds of other items, from caskets to proper bridal attire (to be worn when a woman married during the required mourning period for a previous  husband or a family member) in this book, which showcases the mourning customs of an extremely interesting period.

Fashionable Mourning Jewelry, Clothing & Customs (ISBN: 0-7643-2446-2) includes a price guide and is priced at $59.95.

Donna Miller

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New Books Provide Information On Art Pottery & Glass

Art pottery and art glass are the subjects of recent Collector Books publications.

Hanson’s American Art Pottery Collection, by Bob and Jane Hanson, pictures hundreds of pieces from not only their own collection, but those of several other collectors, too. Items are arranged in alphabetical order  by company, from the American Encaustic Til ing Company to Wisecarver.

The major companies producing art pottery, such as Roseville and Rookwood, are well represented.  It is especially interesting, however, to see pieces included from many of the lesser known potteries, such as Burley Winter, the Merrimac Pottery Co., Dave the Slave, Pillin, Pine Ridge Pottery, Rush more/  Colony Town, Taylor Tilery and Wheatley.

The Burley & Winter Company, usually just called Burley Winter, operated in Crooksville, Ohio, from 1872 to 1937. Interesting shapes and glazes characterize the pottery. It was seldom hand-decorated.

The work of Dave the Slave, made during the 1800s, while not strictly art pottery, does have some interesting glazes.

The Merrimac Pottery of Newburyport, Massachusetts, began in 1897 and eventually burned in 1908. It was hand-thrown and characterized by simple shapes and colors.

Pillin Pottery was made by a Polish immigrant, Polia Pillin, who immigrated to this country at age 15, in 1909. She operated from a studio in Los Angeles and her pieces are often decorated with portraits. Pillin died in 1992,

Pine Ridge Pottery was made on the Pine Ridge Reservation of South Dakota from 1937 until the 1980s. The pottery was made from the local red clay and often decorated with white clay, using Native American motifs.

Rushmore/Colony Town also began in South Dakota. It was founded in 1933 by Ivan Houser and W.S. Tallman. Much of the pottery was sold to tourists at Mount Rush more. Houser returned to his native Oregon in 1942, where he produced his Colony Town Pottery in Aurora for three years.

Taylor Tilery of Santa Monica, California, made brightly colored tiles from 1934 to 1938. Look for California motifs on much of the output.

Wheatley Pottery was located in Cincinnati. It had a short life span, from 1903 to 1910. characteristic pieces had a green matte glaze over a design in relief.

The book contains beautiful photographs and a price guide. It would be even more helpful to a collector if examples of the bottoms of pieces were included, to show marks when present or the type of clay and finishing used when marks were not used. It is priced at $29.95.

***

The Collectors Encyclopedia of American Art Glass, by John Shuman is in its 2nd edition. It begins with a vignette of a day in the life of a glassworker in the 1800s, continues with a general description of the varieties and colors of art glass, and gives brief histories of the major companies. Marks are included where they are known.

Included in the book is glass by Steuben, Mount Washington/Pairpoint, Hobbs Brockunier, Tiffin, Phoenix/Consolidated, New England Glass Co., Tiffany, Handel, Libbey, Sandwich, Fry, Findlay and more.

Color names are given a special section. Each company had its own names for the formulas it developed. Some are easy to picture, such as Steuben’s Cardinal Red, which is a transparent strawberry red. Chrysopras I, at least, couldn’t begin to guess from the name. Made originally by Mount Washington, it consists of brown streaks.

Other sections include catalog reprints, old postcard views, magazine advertisements, a glossary of terms, a pictorial description of glassmaking tools, a few “recipes,” a listing of museums with art glass displays, and several pages of cut glass and silverplate marks. (Art glass was often sold with a silver plate base or holder.) There is a pictorial description of glass making and an extended price guide of other pieces not pictured. The book really is the encyclopedia included in its title. It sells for $29.95.

Both books are available from Collector Books, PO Box 3009, Paducah, KY 42002 or online at www.collectorbooks.com. Check with your local bookseller first.

Donna Miller

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