Antique Art

a H A P PY
and a SAFE
SUMMER, 2013

*** Remember your Dad on June 16th ***

Tips, Thoughts & Observations

More and more Sellers are intentionally or inadvertently NOT giving CONDITION Details, so, insist on a Condition Report in Writing without relying on the Photos which are Misleading at best....Look carefully at Dimensions. 'Feedback' on Sellers is a Buyer's first inside look at a Seller, so look at Feedback carefully before bidding. Sellers who split 'Sets' of anything, increase the Risk of your Not getting the complete Set, e.g. 2 auctions for 6 Cups or, 6 Spoons each. Some Sellers have removed the Buyer's Option to 'Ask a Question'.

Avoid Bidding against yourself by repeatedly adding to your Bid as if that will deter someone else from Bidding. Wrong!

March 18th ***eBay item #190812331318 in my Opinion is NOT 18th Century. Without 18th Century Hallmarks and not the Form of the 18th Century. Beware/. The Coin which was inserted at a later date does not date the piece itself. I have written to the Seller.

BEWARE of 'Deceitful Descriptions' e.g. 'Some very minor Blemishes', which turned out to be Dents, dings and an Old Repair. see Item#300439985201 or, 'Condition as Expected'.....

Avoid a Seller Whose Condition Report consists of the item being in 'Good Condition as far as He or She is concerned or, the Photos show what you are Buying.

ODIOT Silversmiths Paris France was purchased by BOULENGER Silversmiths in 1906.

** One sees all too often in a Description the Noun 'RARE' which has acquired a Secondary Connotation and one should remember the Definition offered by Merriam Webster - "marked by unusual quality, merit or appeal - Distinctive, Uncommon"

** That SALT which is Sodium Chloride, essential for animal life is Toxic to most land plants. CAREFUL leaving it in your Silver Salt Cellars, risk of corrosion. This is why Salt Cellars have been Gilded or have interior Glass or Crystal Liners. Don't leave Salt between the Liner and Salt Cellar. Have you tried Salt from France, Hawaii, New Zealand?

** The Name, Art Deco, is derived from the Famous "Exposition des Arts Décoratifs" which was held in Paris, France in 1925 and brought about the 2nd Revival of Art following the Art Nouveau Period.

** The famous and often infamous acid engraved BACCARAT Hallmark only came into existence circa 1936 and before that, Baccarat used stick on Lables with a similar hallmark. These latter labels were lost, washed off, removed etc. and some unsrupulous people use them to deceive. SEE an Example of the Hallmarks under Crystal & Glass. BEWARE!!!

** The term "Sterling Silver" emerged in England by the 13th century. The minimum Sterling Silver Standard within the U.K. has been historically set at the STERLING standard (92.5 %) purity and this is represented by the Lion, either PASSANT for English or Lion RAMPANT for Scottish. BEWARE of MEXICAN Silver on eBay with just a '925' Mark, which alone, is not a Hallmark & does NOT necessarily mean Sterling Silver! THE USA & Canada uses 92.5% for their minimum Sterling Content!

Britannia silver is an alloy of Silver containing 95.84% Silver. This Standard of Silver, was introduced in England by Act of Parliament in 1697 to replace Sterling Silver as the obligatory standard for items of Silver. The Lion Passant Gardant Hallmark denoting Sterling was replaced with "the figure of a woman commonly called Britannia", and the Leopard's Head Mark of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths was replaced with a "Lion's Head Erased". Britannia standard silver was first introduced by the British government as part of the great Recoinage Scheme of William III from 1696, when attempts were made to limit the clipping and melting of Sterling Silver Coinage. It was thought that by maintaining a higher standard for Silver there would be less incentive to put the newly issued Sterling Coins in the melting pot. Sterling silver was approved again for use by Silversmiths from 1 June 1720, and thereafter Britannia Silver has remained an optional standard for silver assay in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Since the Hallmarking changes of 1 January 1999, Britannia Silver has been denoted by the millesimal fineness hallmark '958', with the Symbol of Britannia being applied optionally.

Sevres Porcelain traces its roots in France to early craftsmen who had small manufacturing operations in such places as Lille, Rouen. St. Cloud, and most notably Chantilly. It is from Chantilly that a cadre of workers migrated to the Chateau de Vincennes near Paris to form a larger porcelain manufactory in 1738. French King Louis XV, perhaps inspired by his rumored relationship with mistress Madame de Pompadour, took an intense interest in porcelain and moved the operation in 1756 to even larger quarters in the Paris suburb of Sevres. Sevres was also conveniently near the home of Madame de Pompadour and the King's own Palace at Versailles.

From the outset the king's clear aim was to produce Sevres Porcelain that surpassed the established Saxony works of Meissen and Dresden. Though the French lacked an ample supply of kaolin, a required ingredient for hard-paste porcelain (pate dure), their soft-paste porcelain (pate tendre) was fired at a lower temperature and was thus compatible with a wider variety of colors and glazes that in many cases were also richer and more vivid. Unglazed white Sevres Porcelain "biscuit" figurines were also a great success. However, soft-paste Sevres Porcelain was more easily broken. Therefore, early pieces of Sevres Porcelain that remain intact have become rare indeed.

About the time when Napoleon Bonaparte named himself Emperor of France (1804), a new director was named for the Sevres Porcelain Manufactory. Alexandre Brongniart, highly educated in many fields, resurrected Sevres Porcelain. Soft-paste porcelain was eliminated altogether thanks to the earlier discovery of kaolin near Limoges. For 4 decades until his death, Brongniart presided over monumental progress for Sevres Porcelain, catering not only to Napoleon himself, but at last to include the more financially profitable mid-priced market in the emerging middle class.

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Tips, Thoughts & Observations