"Collector's Corner: Tips & Insights".

When Looking at Ceramics, the First Thing to do is Determine if the Item is Pottery or Porcelain.   The easiest way to tell pottery from porcelain is to hold the object up to a strong light source (i.e. 100-watt light bulb), if you see "light" coming through the object then it is made of porcelain if not, it is made of some type of pottery. There are two basic types of porcelain, soft-paste, and hard-paste. Soft-paste porcelain is oftentimes somewhat "malformed" or misshapen and with the paste having imperfections (i.e. tiny black specks). When held up to the light...

Clear Glass Prior to the 18th century, is Usually Discoloured Due to Manufacturing Difficulties During the Early Years of Glass Making.    To help Authenticate Clear Antique Glass, try using a small Piece of Modern Glass as a "Control" for Comparison.   Under Ultraviolet Light, the Old Lead Glass will Appear Blue-Purple, Newer Soda Glass will Emit Green-Yellow Light.    The pontil mark on glass can help reveal its age, glass made during the 18thc will have a pontil mark as at that time, there was no known way to remove it, grinding techniques developed in England and Ireland in...

My First and Foremost Piece of Advice to Any Collector of Antique Furniture is to Never Strip That Old Finish Off!   The original finish on an antique is part of its valued charm....a lovely old patina (finish) develops over decades of polishing that can never be replaced and once removed may reduce its value by up to 50%. This is not to say that you may not clean or restore an old finish (in the antique trade known as "restoration");  this is sometimes recommended to remove decades of dirt, white rings, spots, burns and scratches that detract from the...

Do you want to Collect Vintage and Antique Silver? For The Best "Buys", Look for Sterling Pieces that Date From The First Quarter of the 20th Century & Earlier and 19th & Early 20th-Century Silver Plate from the Best Silversmiths/Companies.  There are Three Major Categories of Collectible Silver; Namely - Sterling, Silverplate, and Sheffield Plate.    Always look for a maker's mark (hallmark) on old silver; these marks can be found in the form of a hallmark (usually indicating English or Continental origin) or a maker' s or company name. Although hallmarks are a good indicator of age and authenticity, be...

The Legs and Feet of Furniture are One of The Best-Identifying Factors for Furniture Styles.   The earliest feet were either plain (being an extension of the style) or were large "balls". Later, the growth of the styles of feet used on furniture was based on the imitation of the feet of quadrupeds, birds and even "dragons". Caveat: the fact that an item of furniture has one of the styles of foot/leg shown below does not indicate it is from that period as these styles have seen frequent revivals over the centuries and often times these revival pieces were of...