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If we want to make the world a cleaner place we can make our homes more beautiful at the same time. How do we do this? A great step into that direction is to furnish our houses with antiques, because there really is almost no carbon footprint in something which was made hundreds of years ago and without the use of machinery (which was only used from around 1830 on). Hopefully, there will be no carbon footprint created when we do not want the piece any more, because we will sell or pass it on to the next owner, who will look after it, until they sell/pass it on and so forth. The only footprint would be in transporting the piece. And since Alys Antiques source their beautiful English Antiques within New Zealand, even that is minimal. So – antiques really are the green way to go!

Man has known how to make glass for centuries, from about 2000 years before Christ. The Egyptians knew how to make it by casting the molten glass around a core. It was precious and rare. The technique of glass-blowing is “only” about 2000 years old and was first used in the first century AD (after Christ). The glassblower uses a hollow tube or rod to produce all sorts of wonderful and useful shapes out of the molten glass (called “gather”) at the end of it. Glass-production became plentiful in Roman times, and products and techniques traveled wherever the Romans went, which of course, included England. Empires come and go, and as the Roman Empire withdrew from England, so did their wonderful glass (and many other ‘refinements’). However, glass continued to be made, particularly around the Mediterranean. The Venetians became famous for their glass-ware, and they exported it all over Europe. Needless to say, this was an expensive process, not only because of the cost of transport. So glass remained rare, and people in inns, taverns and homes used wood, pewter, horn or glazed pottery vessels to drink their ale, cider or mulled wine. Those who could afford it, used silver vessels.

What is glass made of? The raw product is mainly Silica, which is basically sand. The whiter the sand the clearer the glass – the greenish tinge in old glass comes from residues of iron. In 1676 the English Glass Sellers’ Company engaged a chemist to find out how to make better glass. He was named George Ravenscroft and he discovered that, by adding lead oxide to the mixture, the glass became clearer, more brilliant and hard enough to be engraved. This was the invention of lead-crystal, although Ravenscroft called it ‘flint-glass’.

During the eighteenth century (=1700s) artists and craftsmen produced extremely beautiful, greatly innovative new work in various fields like furniture, porcelain, pottery and silver. There was a spirit of cross-fertilization from which the new English glass industry greatly benefited. In English glass making centres like Bristol, the Midlands and the North-east thousands of drinking glasses were made. Amazingly, many have survived and are eagerly sought after by collectors.

Imagine the romance of using a glass which has been around at the time of Queen Anne? Or a Jacobite glass which indicated, to those “in the know” where your sympathies lay in regard to Scottish rule? Early drinking glasses looked most unlike today’s large-bowled wine glasses: they were smaller and made in three pieces, the foot, the stem and the bowl. The stem tells us when the glass was made, as there were fashions of decoration. The foot is large, flat and round and the bowl is often very small. Prices of these early glasses are very high, and there are many fakes about. A genuine 17^th or early 18^th century glass will be heavy, will show the indentations, striations and pontil-mark showing that it was hand-blown.

There are a great many types of 18^th century drinking glasses. Famous are are Georgian drinking glasses with air-twist or facett cut stems and very small bowls. These glasses were made in three parts, bowl, stem and foot. The art of the glassmaker showed itself in the stem. Another well-known antique glass is the Rummer. The word Rummer relates to the German word Roemer, which means “Roman” glass and describes a low glass with a large bowl. The German kind often has a coloured stem, the English kind does not.

An excellent reference work is: L.M.Bickerton (1971). Eitheenth Century English Drinking Glasses. An Illustrated Guide. Antique Collectors Club Ltd: London.

When somebody asks me “ How old is this?”, the answer is often something like, “150 years or 200 years or even 250 or 300 years”. So what century does this relate to? We now we live in the 21^st century. Before the year 2000, from 1900 onwards, we lived in the 20^th century, from 1800 until 1900 in the 19^th century. The 18^th century lasted from 1701 until 1800, the 17^th century from 1601 until 1700, the 16^th century from 1501 until 1600 etc.. Quite simple really, but often extremely confusing, too. I often label pieces as 1800s, rather than 17^th century, in order to remind customers that they were made 200 years ago. However, once we really talk antiques, we need to know what century we are referring to, so I thought, it would be worthwhile mentioning.( I remember it by deducting 1 from the century I am talking about, i.e. 1810 refers to the 17^th century, 1715 to the 16^th century.

Alys Antiques deal mainly in English antiques. So I need to know what the period we are talking about is called. With English antiques the period is usually named after the reigning monarch: Furniture made during the reign of Elisabeth I (1558-1603, i.e. 16^th and the very beginning of the 17^th century) is called “Elizabethan”. Elisabeth I was followed by James I (1603-1649, i.e. 1^st half of the 17^th century) and the period is called ‘Jacobean’, followed by the Carolean, Cromwellian, Restoration , William & Mary, Willliam III and Queen Anne periods. There is an excellent chart in the front of each of the Miller’s Price Guides. We also have this chart at the shop, and you are welcome to view it.

It would be very rare to find any furniture from the above centuries, so let us start again at the Georgian periods, divided into early Georgian, late Georgian and Regency periods. These span the years 1714 until 1830 (parts of the 18^th and 19^th centuries) and the reigns of George I, George II, George III and George IV. The period after that is called William IV (1830 until 1837, Victorian (1837-1901) and Edwardian (1901-1910). The Arts and Crafts and the Art Noveau periods go from the late Victorian until the end of the Edwardian period.

A genuine Antique needs to be more than a 100 years old, preferable older, belonging to a time, when everything was made by hand, let’s say up to 1830s. Amazingly even in today’s confusing economic times, reports from England show that top range pieces of sufficient age achieve high prices and are a good investment. It seems that in times of economic strife, the market in art, antiques, gold and silver is easily holding its own, but for antiques this refers only to the very best of pieces. A good piece of antique furniture will always have a resale value and is, therefore, an excellent choice if you need or desire a beautiful piece of furniture or art for your home. Allow yourself some time out and visit the local antique-shops. Most dealers will be happy to answer your questions and help you to make a wise choice. Come and see us at Alys Antiques where we have good antique furniture and paintings in stock.

Quick reminder:

1500-1599 = 16^th century

1600-1699 = 17^th century

1700-1799 = 18^th century

1800-1899 = 19^th century

1900-1999= 20^th century

2000-2099= 21^st century

Barometers are wondrous instruments designed to measure air-pressure and, in this way, predict weather changes in the short term. They have been around since the middle of the 17^th century (1600s) and were invented in Italy. It is generally assumed that a young scientist with the lovely name of Evangelista Torricelli was the first to successfully experiment in using a vacuum to measure the weight of the air. Have you ever been in a position where you needed to take some petrol out of a car-tank? How is it done? It is quite similar to sucking a drink through a straw – by sucking the air out of the straw (or the hose you have put into the petrol tank) you create a vacuum which is quickly filled by the liquid into which the straw (or hose-pipe) reaches. Naturally you only swallow the first and not the latter – the petrol is allowed to run into a container. This process is possible because of the outside air pressure. Torricelli noticed that with a change of weather there was a change of air pressure. He went on experimenting and eventually achieved to create a so called ‘Stick-Barometer’, consisting of a flat board to which a glass tube containing mercury and a measuring scale were attached, so people could see the atmospheric pressure changes and, therefore, the weather changes from ‘Very Dry’ to Change to Rain to Stormy.

Very quickly, by about 1670, this instrument became a fashionable and desirable novelty item and to be in great demand. Soon Italian barometer makers worked in London and other large cities to produce the by now very decorative stick-barometers and, from the 19^th century onwards, the wheel or banjo barometers. They were made of fine woods like walnut, maple, mahogany, ebony and rosewood. Marine Barometers were often made of brass. The best (and most expensive) barometers carry the maker’s name and mark, sometimes with a date or registration number. By the second half of the 19^th century in the wheel or banjo barometers the mercury tube was encased and the readings cleverly transferred to a needle over a circular register at the front. As time progressed there were different designs of the mercury barometer.

About 200 years after Torricelli’s experiments a Frenchman called Lucien Vidie managed to use a different type of vacuum to register changes in air pressure in a drum-shaped container. As the pressure changed the drum expanded and contracted and these changes were transferred to a needle over a dial. This type of barometer is called an Aneroid Barometer, aneroid meaning there is no liquid involved.

This revolutionary design was easier to produce and made the instruments portable. Since the mercury barometers were very difficult to transport without spilling the mercury or introducing air into the vacuum, the Aneroid Barometers took over the market and soon they were manufactured everywhere by the thousands. Some were still cased in wood using the well loved old shapes and materials – but most are in brass or steel cases.

Barometers are highly collectable, especially the older wooden versions. Should you wish to own a mercury barometer, make sure the mechanism is intact, as it is extremely difficult to have it fixed if it is not. When transporting it, make absolutely sure the tube is corked for transport and the instrument is transported upright. Alys Antiques always have a good selection of these lovely antique instruments in stock.

If it were possible to travel with Dr. Who into the 17^th century City of London, let’s say to 1650, you would hear the ringing of pewterers’ hammers from many workshops, and the scene would be the same in most larger cities. Although already known to the Romans BC, pewter had become widely used and highly prized by that the early 1600s. While a workman would save up to replace his horn or wooden bowl with a more durable and more washable pewter plate, the nobility, churches and monasteries owned and used a wealth of pewter pieces, from tableware to candle-sticks and chalices.

Pewter is an alloy of tin and quality and price were strictly regulated by a Royal Charter, which decreed that all pewterers had to mark their pieces with a distinct ‘touch-mark’, so they could be identified and fined if their pieces were not up to the required standard or if their prices were too high.

These touch-marks were registered with the ‘Worshipful Company of Pewterers’ and make it possible to date individual pieces, although some records were lost in the great fire of London in 1666, which destroyed so many historic items and records. The best pieces were made between 1660 and 1714, often in similar designs than items of silver. After that time porcelain had been reinvented in Meissen in Germany, and within a few decades it became the tableware of choice.

The area where pewter survived longest was in the public houses, i.e. the pubs and hotels. For this reason at the present day lidded and unlidded tankards are the pewter pieces most frequently found in antique shops.

A revival of pewter was during the Arts& Crafts period (1880-1900), when rather unique and interesting decorative pieces were produced for and marketed by Liberty of London.

Much pewter was destroyed when it was melted down to be used again, so some of the best examples did not survive. Many of items carry multiple inititals of the families or family-members who used them on the front – these are not to be confused with makers’ touch-marks.

Although the above relates to English Pewter, naturally pewter was not only produced in England, but also in Germany, Holland and in Scandinavia, and these pieces, too, are extremely collectable and a special field by itself.

If you are interested in old English, German and Dutch pewter, please visit Alys Antiques. We have a large display for you to look at .

There are many different opinions as to how old a piece need to be in order to be considered an antique, and discussions on this topic can become heated at times. What is expressed below is, therefore, by definition, my personal opinion.

Fortunately there are some good guidelines: In 1930 a US tariff act was issued which stated that works of art, pieces of furniture and ornamental items more than one hundred years old could be referred to as antique. So, for a long time, many dealers set the date at 1830. This coincided also with the time after which machine production became more wide-spread. If we take the 100-year-time-frame as the most important question, these days, pieces made roughly before 1900 are considered antique . Another good guideline is the British Antique Dealer’s Association (BADA) seal of approval, a round gold- coloured sticker, which was applied from the early 1960s onward to certify that a piece was MORE than one hundred years old. It could be far more than one hundred years old, of course, but not less. These English stickers were occasionally faked, and are certainly no guarantee on their own. However, it is always reassuring, to see a BADA stamp on a well made piece of antique furniture.

The best way of dating is a good knowledge of materials and methods of manufacture used in a particular time. I have written before on the different types of wood used in different centuries. It is also quite easy to look for staples and modern screws and such like. It is a bit harder to see the difference between the types of cutting wood, but there are good books which will explain the difference between split planks of oak, quarter-cut oak and machine sawn oak for example, and it is easy to understand that machine manufacture could not happen at a time before the machines existed. What follows is that a sideboard consisting out of machine cut wood cannot be made in 1800.

With ornamental items there are some easy guidelines: From 1890 onwards anything made of china, glass, leather and metal imported into the USA had to carry a country of origin. Therefore, a piece of china, bearing the stamp ‘England’, was likely to be made AFTER 1891. From 1914 onwards, pieces were often marked with ‘made in….’. Therefore, something bearing the inscription ‘Made in Germany’, could not be made before 1914. This is quite useful for identifying porcelain, for example. Some china-manufacturers, like Doulton, Worcester and Wedgwood have their own dating codes which are easily looked up. Some pieces even bear a (diamond shaped) Date Registration Mark, which was introduced in 1842 and can be easily looked up.

So, although dating can be confusing, there are some guidelines one can follow.

I, personally, like to see furniture to be made more than one hundred years ago to be deemed ‘antique’ – if possible much more than one hundred years ago, so it really predates machine-cut wood and is made by hand. China and ornamental items need to be at least 100 years old. Nice pieces of lesser age are considered ‘collectable’; after all, it is just a matter of time, until they have lasted their 100 year time-span. Quality is, however, the all-important question. Just because something is 150 years old, it is not necessarily a beautiful antique piece – at all times there were better and lesser items produced, and, needless to say, the better the quality, the more desirable, rare and expensive something is.

When I arranged our display of Cranberry glass pieces and lustres into the window-shelves , I could not but pay again tribute to Alys Briggs, who together with her husband Johnnie established Alys Antiques at our old Duke St. address on May 1st, 1968, almost 50 years ago. Alys’ father had been a well-known antique dealer in Inverness, Scotland, and Alys Antiques have, from their very beginning, specialized in furniture, ceramics, clocks, rugs and art at the top end of the antiques market. Alys Briggs quickly became known as the ‘Cranberry Queen of New Zealand’, buying, displaying and selling as much of the desirable Victorian ‘pink-red glass’ as she could obtain.
So what is ‘Cranberry Glass’ exactly? Should it better be called ‘Ruby Glass’? Of course glass has been made since long before Queen Victoria’s reign which started 1837 and lasted until 1901. There are surviving pieces of reddish glass from pre-Christian times, and the British Museum has a red fragment of a glass vessel dating from the 15th century BC (yes, that is 1500 years before Christ). However, initially copper, iron, tin and antimony were used to produce a somewhat milky red glass until German glass makers discovered that the addition of small amounts of gold, dissolved in nitric acid, produced a beautiful clear deep red Ruby glass in 1679. In the 1800s the production of red glass became prolific, spreading from Bohemia and Austria into Britain where it became a great hit. English glassmakers followed suit, and especially around Birmingham and Stourbridge began to make beautiful Ruby glass of the very highest quality in great quantities. Pieces produced were mainly table-wares, including drinking glasses, butter and pickle dishes, milk jugs and sugar bowls, salt cellars, baskets, biscuit barrels and decanters. Although all of these were beautifully decorated and embellished, often with clear glass frills or coloured handles, the one purely decorative article made was that essential ornament for the table or the parlor: the epergne (a sort of flower stand) which was made in many colours and to this day fetches the highest prices in pink. Mrs. Beeton’s famous ‘Book of Household Management’ shows Epergnes and red table glasses already in the 1888 edition. For the annual fair glass-blowers paraded items like walking-sticks. top-hats and glass-bells to show off their skills.
When the American glass-market followed the trend the name ‘Cranberry Glass’ was invented which we still use today to differentiate between earlier dark-red glass which often comes from Europe. Strictly speaking, it is of course correct to refer to English-made Victorian pink-red glass as ‘Ruby Glass’ and reserve the name ‘Cranberry Glass’ for American pieces.
Speaking of 19th century (made in the 1800s) American glass we need to mention ‘Mary Gregory Glass’, named after a glass-decorator who painted playing children in white enamel onto Cranberry, but also green, blue and clear glass-wares. However, most of these pieces were not painted by Mary Gregory nor her sister at the Sandwich Glassworks but mass-produced in Europe as well as in the USA, and the quality varies. Good pieces are very appealing and fetch high prices.
Now the all-important question: How to differentiate between a piece of pink glass made in the 1800s and one produced recently? Generally the glass will be thicker, the clear or coloured glass frills will be more even and also thicker, and above all, the pink colour will be more brassy because the espensive diluted gold (colloid of gold) has been replaced by selenium or copper. Often the composition of the piece will be unlike any made in Victorian times. Sometimes people believe that the ‘pontel-mark’, the point at the bottom of the piece, where the glassblower breaks it off, needs to be very visible and rough. As a matter of fact, all good-quality glass will show where the pontel-mark has been carefully ground off, rather than the very rough break off point. Mostly you will see a combination of the two: a bit of a rough spot in the middle of the ground-off patch.