AMBER     14th century     A variable color averaging a dark orange yellow.

AMBERINA (a trademark)     1885     A late 19th century American clear glassware of a graduated color that shades from ruby to amber.

AMETHYST     A deep purple.

AN HUA     Secret decoration. Faint engraving or painting in white slip, visible only against the light, found especially on early MING and 18th Century white porcelain. This type of decoration is found often in the bottom of tea cups, these are often 19th century pieces.

ANTIQUE     United States law, must be at least 100 years old. The value of an antique depends upon its authenticity, beauty, age, rarity and condition. Seeking clarity (and a guidepost for what to collect duty on), the Customs Office polled dealers for a definition and from these formulated one of its own. Antiques, they concluded, were objects that pre-dated the mass production of objects in the 1830s. Since the defining moment went back about 100 years, the office defined an antique as something made over 100 years ago. Duty was collected on objects younger than the century-old divider, and it still is.Anything made before 1830 (before the industrial revolution) It has recently come to mean any item of special value or of historical significance. To purists however the 100 year rule is still used.

2 EXCEPTIONS I FOUND - Rugs over 60 years old. A private passenger motor vehicle, more than 20 years old, that has not been altered from its original factory specifications. It is generally a unique design and/or limited production base.

ART DECO    1966     A popular design style of the 1920s and 1930s.  Characterized especially by bold outlines, geometric and zigzag forms, and the use of new materials (as plastic).Also called Style Moderne, a movement in the decorative arts and architecture that originated in the 1920s and developed into a major style in western Europe and the United States during the 1930s. Art Deco design represented modernism turned into fashion. Its products included both individually crafted luxury items and mass-produced wares, but, in either case, the intention was to create a sleek and antitraditional elegance that symbolized wealth and sophistication.

ART NOUVEAU     A design style of late 19th century origin characterized by foliate forms and sinuous lines.  Art Nouveau aka Tiffany Style had its roots in the British Aesthetic and Arts and Crafts movements. The style first took form in Belgium c. 1892-3 and then spread to France at the end of the 19th century. Art Nouveau was on the decline around 1914 when art deco began to surface. The basic inspiration for Art Nouveau motifs was the natural world and the female form.

ARTS and CRAFTS movement    An American and British movement in the last years of the 19th century and early 20th century, peaking from 1880-1910, between Art Nouveau and Art Deco.  It tried to move away from ideals of the machine age and it embraced hand made items and the concept of a craftsman taking pride in his work. In the U.S. it is also referred to as Craftsman Style.

AZURE     The blue color of the clear sky.

BAROQUE    French    A 17th century artistic style marked generally by use of complex forms, bold ornamentation, and contrasting elements that convey a sense of drama, movement, and tension.

BASALTS basaltware   The name given by Wedgwood to his fine quality black stoneware introduced in 1766.

BELLARMINE      A stoneware jug or flagon of a pattern originated in the neighborhood of Cologne, Germany, in the 16th century. It has a bearded face or mask supposed to represent Cardinal Bellarmine, a leader in the Roman Catholic Counter Reformation.  Also called graybeard or longbeard.

BISQUE     1664     Unglazed china that is not to be glazed but is hard-fired and vitreous.(that's in here too)

BOBECHES     1855 French     A glass collar on a candle socket to catch drippings or on a candlestick or chandelier to hold suspended glass prisms.

BOOK VALUE     The value of your antiques and collectibles in a price guide; NOT the value you can expect to receive when you sell your antique dolls or other antiques or collectibles. I personally refer to this as an insurance replacement price. Also, please note that a Book Value is generally for an item in excellent condition, antiques and collectibles of lesser condition are valued accordingly.

BOUDOIR   1781 French    A woman's dressing room, bedroom, or private sitting room.    

BUFF   A moderate orange yellow, a light to moderate yellow.

CERAMIC     1850     Relating to the manufacture of any product (as earthenware, porcelain, or brick) made essentially from a nonmetallic mineral (as clay) by firing at a high temperature, also of or relating to such a product.

CHIC Pronunciation: \sheek\     1856     Smart elegance and sophistication especially of dress or manner : style (wears her clothes with superb chic) A distinctive mode of dress or manner associated with a fashionable lifestyle, ideology, or pursuit (wearing the latest in urban chic) A faddishly popular quality or appeal; also : something (as a practice or interest) having such appeal (the transient tides of academic chic — Irving Kristol)

CITRINE     Resembling a citrone or lemon in color.

CLARET     A dark purplish red.

CLOISONNE    French     A metal body covered with motifs made of wire cells filled with enamels.

COMPOTE     1693    A bowl of glass, porcelain, or metal usually with a base and stem from which compotes, fruits, nuts, or sweets are served. A dessert of fruit cooked in syrup. 

COPPERFOIL     Narrow strips of copper tape used to wrap the edges of glass pieces that have been cut to fit a pattern. When wrapped, solder is applied, bonding the glass pieces together.

CORDIAL     Liqueur

CORNUCOPIA     1508     A receptacle shaped like a horn or cone. A curved goat's horn overflowing with fruit and ears of grain that is used as a decorative motif emblematic of abundance.

CRAZE crazed, crazing     14th century     To produce minute cracks on the surface or glaze.

CRUET    14th century     A vessel to hold wine or water for the Eucharist. A usually glass bottle used to hold a condiment (as oil or vinegar) for use at the table.

CRYSTAL    13th century     A clear colorless glass of superior quality; also objects or ware of such glass or the glass or transparent plastic cover over a watch or clock dialect.

CROCK     before12th century   Earthenware

DANISH MODERN     Arne Jacobsen (February 11, 1902 – March 24, 1971) was a Danish Jewish architect and designer, exemplar of the "Danish Modern" style.

Among his architectural achievements are St Catherine's College, Oxford, work at Merton College, Oxford, the Radisson SAS Royal Hotel, Copenhagen, the Danish National Bank building in Copenhagen, as well as a number of town halls and other buildings in his native Denmark. Jacobsen has created a number of highly original chairs and other furniture. He has received several international distinctions and medals.

Many of Jacobsen's furniture designs have become classic, including the Ant chair from 1952 and the Swan and the Egg which were both designed for the Radisson SAS Hotel. Jacobsen is, however, perhaps best known for the Model 3107 chair of 1955, known also as the "Number 7 Chair" which has sold over 5 million copies. The Number 7 chair is perhaps best known for being the prop used to hide Christine Keeler's nakedness in Lewis Morley's iconic portrait of 1963. Morley just happened to use a chair that he had in the studio, which turns out to have been a copy of Jacobsen's design. Since then, Number 7 chairs have been used for many similar portraits imitating the pose.

DECANTER     1708     A vessel used to decant or to receive decanted liquids; especially an ornamental glass bottle used for serving wine.

ECRU     Beige, Unbleached, Raw.

ELEGANT GLASS     Depression Glass that has been etched.

EMBOSSED    Raised relief on a surface, decorative patterns and maker stamps.

EPERGNE     An ornate tiered centerpiece consisting typically of a frame of wrought metal bearing dishes, vases, or candle holders or a combo of these.

ETAGERE      A piece of furniture with open shelves for displaying objects and sometimes having an enclosed cabinet base.

EWER     14thcentury     A vase-shaped pitcher or jug.

FAB      1957    Fabulous.

FAIENCE     French    Earthenware decorated with opaque colored glazes.  Associated with Capo-di-Monte.

FAUX     1975    Imitation, fake, false, sometimes manmade as in faux pearl.

FIGURE      A bodily shape or form, especially a person.

FIGURINE     A small carved or molded figure.

FILIGREE   1693 French     Ornamental work of fine wire in gold, silver, or copper applied chiefly to gold and silver surfaces.

GAY FAD     Gay Fad was a company that was in existence from 1947-1963 in Lancaster, Ohio. They were across from the Anchor Hocking Plant in Lancaster. They purchased cases of glassware from Anchor Hocking, and hand-painted the dishes for resale. Also, Fire-King's fruit patterns of the 50's are considered gay fad.

GIRANDOLE      1749 French/Italian     An ornamental branched candlestick.

HIGHBALL     Glassware for an iced drink containing liquor & water or a carbonated beverage and served in a tall glass.

HOBNAIL     A sharp cone or a bumpy pattern on glass, especially milk glass. 1592 a short large-headed nail for studding shoe soles.

IRIDESCENT     1796     A lustrous rainbowlike play of color caused by differential refraction of light waves (as from an oil slick, soap bubble, or fish scales) that tends to change as the angle of view changes.

JARDINIERE     1841   An ornamental stand for plants or flowers. A large usually ceramic flowerpot holder.

LAVABO    1858 Latin    A washbasin and a tank with a spigot that are fastened to a wall, often used as a planter.

LUSTERWARE    1825     Pottery with an iridescent metallic sheen in the glaze. 

MAJOLICA     A 19th century earthenware modeled in naturalistic shapes and glazed in lively colors earthenware covered with an opaque tin glaze and decorated on the glaze before firing, especially Italian ware.

MILK GLASS     1869    An opaque and typically milky white glass used especially for novelty and ornamental objects.

MUFFINEER    A dish for keeping muffins hot

NAPPY    A rimless shallow open serving dish.

NIB    New In Box

NOS   New Old Stock

NR    No Reserve

OCCUPIED JAPAN     Japanese exported items made after World War II 1945 to 1952, when Japan was "occupied" by a foreign country for the first time in history. The term "occupied" was essential to Japanese economic resurgence, because hostility toward the Eastern nation stayed elevated for many years following the war. Some people absolutely refused to purchase anything with "Made in Japan" as its trademark, believing that American dollars could not go to a more unworthy cause than to support a country responsible for worldwide destruction. Since Japanese exports retained such superior craftsmanship, beauty and aesthetic symmetry despite the scarcity of materials and manpower, the trademark "Occupied Japan" assured consumers that their hard earned dollars weren't going straight to "JAPAN".

OPALESCENT    1813     Reflecting an iridescent light.

OPAQUE     1641     Exhibiting opacity : blocking the passage of radiant energy and especially light

PATINA     1748 Italian     A usually green film formed naturally on copper and bronze by long exposure or artificially (as by acids) and often valued aesthetically for its color.  A surface appearance of something grown beautiful especially with age or use.

PLATONITE     Hazel Atlas     Fired on colors over milk glass.

PORCELAIN    1530     A hard, fine-grained, sonorous, nonporous, and usually translucent and white ceramic ware that consists essentially of kaolin, quartz, and a feldspathic rock and is fired at a high temperature —called also hard-paste porcelain or true porcelain.

PORRINGER    1522 English      A low usually metal bowl with a single and usually flat and pierced handle.

POTTERY      Earthenware as distinguished from porcelain and stoneware and from brick and tile.

RETRO      Relating to, reviving, or being the styles and especially the fashions of the past : fashionably nostalgic or old-fashioned.

SALVER  1661 French    A tray especially for serving food or beverages.

SCONCE       A bracket candlestick or group of candlesticks; also : an electric light fixture patterned on a candle sconce.

SHABBY       Worn or seedy garments, threadbare and faded from wear.

SOFT-PASTE PORCELAIN   1854     A translucent ceramic ware fired at a low temperature that was produced in Europe during the 16th through 18th centuries in imitation of hard-paste porcelain.

SLAG (glass)     1552    The dross or scoria of glass or a metal.

SPONGEWARE     1943     A typically 19th century earthenware with background color spattered or dabbed (as with a sponge) and usually a freehand central design.

STONEWARE     A strong opaque ceramic ware that is high-fired, well vitrified, and nonporous .

SWANKY     Showy display, fashionably elegant.

TOLEWARE     Any object of japanned(varnished) tinplate or pewter. Iron or steel plates dipped in molten tin or pewter and worked into decorative items like teapots, trays, candlesticks, ect.

TRIVET     A three-legged stand, usually a metal stand with short feet for use under a hot dish.

TUMBLER      A drinking glass w/o foot or stem and originally w/ pointed or convex base.

TUREEN also french TERRINE       A deep and usually covered earthenware dish or casserole that foods are cooked in and served on.

URN     14th century      A vessel that is typically an ornamental vase on a pedestal and that is used for various purposes (as preserving the ashes of the dead after cremation) A closed vessel usually with a spigot for serving a hot beverage (a coffee urn)

 VASELINE/URANIUM    Vaseline Glass is a yellow-green glass made with 2% Uranium Dioxide, which gives it it's color.  Vaseline is ALWAYS verifiable by using a UV blacklight, which causes the glass to fluoresce a bright neon green. When Manganese is added to the glass formula instead of Uranium, the glass will glow a peach/orange color. Green depression glass is NOT vaseline although some of it does fluoresce, but nearly as bright.  Also sometimes called hippie glass because the glowing properties were discovered quite accidently in the 60's with the hippie culture & blacklight parties.  Can you imagine what that first misguided peace lovin' dirt head thought while trippin' on LSD & seeing glowing glass?  LOL

VERDIGRIS    14th century.  Literally "green of Greece"  A green or bluish deposit formed on copper, brass, or bronze surfaces.  A green or greenish-blue poisonous pigment resulting from the action of acetic acid on copper.  USING ACETIC ACID ON A BRIGHT NEW PIECE OF COPPER WILL QUICKLY GIVE IT AN AGED PATINA LIKE APPEARANCE. This can be helpful if you want to clean a stain or bad spot but yet retain the aged patina.

VINTAGE     15th century     A period of origin or manufacture. Length of existence : age

VICTORIAN      Of, relating to, or characteristic of the reign of Queen Victoria of England or the art, letters, or tastes of her time typical of the moral standards, attitudes, or conduct of the age of Victoria especially when considered stuffy, prudish, or hypocritical.

VITREOUS      14th century     Resembling glass (as in color, composition, brittleness, or luster) lassy (vitreous rocks) Characterized by low porosity and usually translucence due to the presence of a glassy phase (vitreous china)

WRAITH    The exact likeness of a living person seen usually just before death as an apparition, a barely visible gaseous or vaporous column.  Similar to the Grim Reaper.

YELLOW WARE, yelloware,yellowware 1785      Pottery made from buff clay and covered with a yellowish transparent clay.  A thick earthenware pot or jar.