Brooching the Subject

 

QUESTION: While antiquing on a recent weekend, I came across a shop with a display case full of antique brooches. And while I’ve seen old brooches before, I never saw this many together. That got me to wonder how the brooch came to be. What can you tell me about the origin and history of the brooch?

ANSWER: Brooches have a long history dating back to the Bronze Age, originally serving as  fasteners for clothing before evolving into decorative jewelry. Over the centuries, they have been made from various materials and have reflected changing fashions and social status. Brooches became especially popular during Victorian times.

Brooches have  usually been made of silver or gold, decorated with enamel or with gemstones and may have been solely ornamental or serve as a clothes fastener. As fashions in brooches changed quickly, they became historical indicators.  

Before the Middle Ages, brooches were called fibula. With a lack of buttons, they were necessary as clothes fasteners, but also acted as markers of social status for both men and women. During the Iron Age in Europe, metalworking technology advanced dramatically, including casting, metal bar-twisting and wire making. As early as 400 BCE,  Celtic craftsmen in Europe created fibulae decorated in red enamel and coral inlay.

Brooches first appeared in Britain in 600 BCE, lasting until 150 BCE. The most common brooch forms during this time were the bow, the plate, and the penannular brooch. Most of these were cast in one piece, with most from copper alloy or iron. The brooches of this era show Roman jewelry techniques, including repoussé, filigree, granulation, enameling, openwork and inlay. Color was the primary feature of brooches of this period. The precious stone most often used was the almandine, a burgundy variety of garnet, found in Europe and India. Designers would cover the entire surface of an object with the tiny geometric shapes of precious stones or enamel which artisans then polished flat until they were flush with the cloisonné settings, giving the appearance of a tiny stained glass window.

Artisans used many variations in their brooch designs---geometric decoration, intricate patterns, abstract designs from nature, bird motifs and running scrolls. Intertwined beasts were often a signature feature of these intricately decorated brooches. Bow shaped, S-shaped, radiate-headed and decorated disc brooches were the most common styles from the 5th through the 7th centuries. 

Circular brooches first appeared in England in the middle of the 5th century. And by the end of the 6th century, the circular form had become the preferred brooch shape.

Celtic brooches represent a tradition of elaborately decorated penannular and pseudo-penannular types developed in early medieval Ireland and Scotland. However, certain characteristics of Celtic jewelry, such as inlaid millefiori glass and curvilinear styles, have more in common with ancient brooches than contemporary Anglo-Saxon jewelry. 

Scandinavian brooches, generally made of silver and copper alloy, embraced the Germanic animal style of decoration in the Middle Ages. This decorative style originated in Denmark in the late 5th century as a response to late Roman metalwork. 

Viking craftsmen decorated their brooches in one or more of the Viking styles---Oseberg, Borre, Jellinge, Mammen, Ringerike and Urnes. Viking brooches came in seven different forms---circular, bird-shaped, oval, equal-armed, trefoil, lozenge-shaped, and domed disc. Designs featured a variety of decoration, including interlaced gripping beasts, single animal motifs, ribbon-shaped animals, knot and ring-chain patterns, tendrils, and leaf, beast and bird motifs.

Both men and women wore brooches during the late medieval period from 1300 to 1500. Brooches were star-shaped, pentagonal, lobed, wheel, heart-shaped, and ring.  Smaller than other brooches, ring brooches often fastened clothing at the neck. Brooch decoration usually consisted of a simple inscription or gems applied to a gold or silver base. Inscriptions of love, friendship and faith were a typical of ring brooches of this time. Heart-shaped brooches were a popular gift between lovers or friends.

The Renaissance, lasting from 1300 to 1600, was a time of wealth and opulence in the Mediterranean region. Elaborate brooches covered in emeralds, diamonds, rubies, amethyst and topaz or pearls were in fashion, especially with the upper classes.  Brooches with religious motifs and enameled miniature portraits were also popular.

By the beginning of the 18th century ornate brooches made of gold and silver with complex designs were fashionable. By the mid- to late 1700s, simpler forms and designs were more common, with simpler themes of nature, bows, miniature portraits and animals.  

Brooches made during the Neoclassical Period, between 1760 and 1830, featured  classical themes of ancient Greece and Rome. The main difference between Renaissance brooches and Neoclassical jones were that artisans created Renaissance brooches primarily for the upper class and Neoclassical ones for the general public. 

English pottery manufacturer Josiah Wedgwood produced cameo brooches in black basalt and jasper. Cameos and brooches with classical scenes were fashionable during this period.

Cameos, locket brooches, flowers, nature, animal and hearts were popular in the early Victorian era. When Victoria's husband, Prince Albert, died in 1861, brooch design changed to reflect the queen in mourning. Styles turned heavier and more somber, using materials like black enamel, jet, and black onyx.

It was fashionable during this period to incorporate hair and portraiture into a brooch. The practice began as an expression of mourning, then expanded to keepsakes of loved ones who were living. Artisans encased human hair encased within a brooch or braided and wove it into a band to which they attached clasps.

By the early 20th century, brooches appeared with diamonds, typically with platinum or white gold, and colored gemstones or pearls. Popular brooch forms included bows, ribbons, swags, and garlands, all in the delicate new style.

The Art Deco style found a place in modern brooch design. Common decoration included geometric shapes, abstract designs, designs from Cubism, Fauvism, and art motifs from Egypt and India. Artisans used black onyx, coral, quartz, lapis and carnelian along with diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and sapphires. 

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about "Return to Toyland" in the 2024 Holiday Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.

Weighing In

 

QUESTION: Ever since I was a little boy, I’ve had a fascination with scales. I love weighing things. Now that I’m older, that fascination has turned to a passion for collecting old scales. Currently, I have about 10 scales of varying ages that I acquired from various sources over the years. I’d really like to expand my collection, but I don’t know much about the history of scales and don’t really know where to start. Can you help me?

ANSWER: You have a very unique interest. Scales and other weighing devices are forms of scientific instruments. Scales have played an important role in economies around the world throughout history. 

The earliest known weighing scales date back to ancient Egypt and Rome. Some of the earliest examples of weight measurement consisted of a simple rod suspended by a string in the middle. The user attached a pan to each end. In one pan, he placed  the item, such as a sack of gold coins, to be weighed and in the other stones representing a known weight until he balanced the rod. By calculating the total of the known weights, the user could determine the weight of the object in the other pan.

The ancient Egyptians used balance scales for trade and commerce Scales were also important religious symbols. The primary role of the Egyptian goddess of justice, called Maat, was to assist Osiris in the weighing of the heart in the judgement of the dead. The Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead depicts a scene in which a scribe's heart is weighed against the feather of truth.

The original form of a balance consisted of a beam with a fulcrum at its center. For highest accuracy, the fulcrum would consist of a sharp V-shaped pivot seated in a shallower V-shaped bearing. Balance scales that required equal weights on each side of the fulcrum have been used by everyone from apothecaries and assayers to jewelers and postal workers. 

The Romans also used balance scales for trade and taxation purposes, as well as in the production of coins. 

During medieval and Renaissance times, more precise weighing scales appeared. Beam scales, for example, used a lever system to increase precision and accuracy. In the 16th century, the invention of the steelyard, a type of lever scale, allowed for even greater accuracy in weighing objects. Ddesigned to be mounted to a wall, the most ingenious ones could be folded against the wall and moved out of the way when not in use.

Coin-operated weighing machines also became popular during this time, allowing merchants to charge customers based on the weight of the goods they were purchasing. Weighing scales became essential for commerce during this period, with merchants using them to ensure fair trade and prevent fraud. 

In 1669 the Frenchman Gilles Personne de Roberval presented a new kind of balance scale to the French Academy of Sciences. His scale consisted of a pair of vertical columns separated by a pair of equal-length arms and pivoting in the center of each arm from a central vertical column, creating a parallelogram. A peg extended from the side of each vertical column. To the amazement of observers, no matter where Roberval hung two equal weight along the peg, the scale still balanced. In this sense, the scale was revolutionary: it evolved into the more-commonly encountered form consisting of two pans placed on vertical column located above the fulcrum and the parallelogram below them. The advantage of the Roberval design was that no matter where equal weights had been placed in the pans, the scale would still balance.

In the 18th century, spring scales appeared. To produce these scales, a manufacturer would use the resistance of a spring to calculate weights, which could be read automatically on the scale’s face. The ease of use of spring scales over balance scales was what led most post offices to outfit their clerks with spring postal scales.

The Industrial Revolution brought about the development of mechanical weighing scales. Spring scales, invented in the 18th century, used a spring to measure weight. Industries such as agriculture and manufacturing commonly used them. Platform scales, invented in the 19th century, used a lever and counterbalance system, enabling manufacturers and merchants to weigh heavy loads such as industrial machinery. 

The traditional scale consists of two plates or bowls suspended at equal distances from a fulcrum. One plate holds an object of unknown mass, while objects of known mass, called weights, could be added to the other plate until the plates leveled off, indicating the masses are equal. The perfect scale rests at neutral. 

A spring scale, on the other hand, made use of a spring of known stiffness to determine mass. Suspending a certain mass will extend the spring by a certain amount depending on the spring's stiffness. The heavier the object, the more the spring stretches.

One of the most common types of spring scales was the kitchen scale—also known as a family or dial scale. Designed for horizontal surfaces, these vintage kitchen scales used the weight of goods in a pan at the top of the scale to force the spring down. Such scales, sold by Sears Roebuck and Montgomery Ward, became common in early-20th-century households. Many had flat weighing surfaces but some had shallow pans on top. Companies such as Salters, Chatillon, and Fairbanks made both.

One specialized type of spring scale was the egg scale, which grocers used to compute the weight of one egg or a dozen eggs. It also made it possible to classify eggs as to size—small, medium, large, or extra large. Jiffy-Way scales, made in Owatonna, Minnesota, beginning in 1940, became popular with collectors for their attractive red painted-metal housings. Another Minnesota company, Specialty Manufacturing Company made the Acme egg scale.

The weights used to balance scales varied from round, coin-like objects, each weighing a different incremental amount, to fancier ones shaped like bells. During the 19th and early 20th century, most scales were made of brass and/or cast metal. 

One of the most common antique scales is the postal scale. While those used in post offices were more elaborate, the basic design of inexpensive postal scales, sold in office supply stores, hasn’t changed since the late 19th century. 

In the 19th century, some merchants used portable suspension balance scales to weigh coins. Often the value of the gold in a coin exceeded the coin’s stamped denomination. These antique scales, designed to fit into wooden or metal cases, could be hung from the nearest hook. They included brass pans and cast iron or lead weights.

Another type of balance scale had a weighing pan on one side and an arm on the other. Known as an unequal arm balance scale, this variety had the counterweight built into the device. 

Counter scales used in dry-goods stores featured Japanned cast iron and bronze trim. Made by companies such as Howe and Fairbanks, the footed tin pans of these scales were often oblong, some encircled at one end so bulk items could be easily poured into a bag. Seamless pans were typically stamped from brass and given style names like Snuff, the smallest, and Birmingham, the largest. Manufacturers designed some counter scales for measuring spices while others weighed slices of cake.

Scales come in all sizes and varieties and prices, making them an excellent item with which to begin or expand a collection. 

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about "The  Vernacular Style" in the 2024 Winter Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.

Captivating Cameos

QUESTION: A few years ago, I went on a trip to Italy. While traveling along the Amalfi Coast south of Rome on my way to visit the ruins of Pompeii, I discovered shop after shop filled with beautiful cameos. I bought several and would love to buy more. What can you tell me about the origins of cameos, and how can I tell if cameos are genuine? 

ANSWER: Cameos have been collectible since the Renaissance in the 15th century when wealthy women collected them as status symbols. Today, elderly Italian master carvers are retiring, causing an escalation in the prices for finely carved cameos. Plus, new laser-cut cameos from China have been flooding the market. It’s now a buyer-beware market where only an expert is able to discern a really good cameo.

A cameo is a form of carved bas-relief, which features portraits, landscapes, and mythological figures cut into a variety of materials, but most often into gemstones and shells. Artisans, both ancient and modern, have crafted cameos from two layers of one piece of material, the top of which protrudes from the background, creating a multi-dimensional artwork. Throughout history, these detailed reliefs have adorned pieces of jewelry, such as brooches, necklaces, bracelets, and rings. But the earliest cameo carvers took their inspiration from prehistoric petroglyphs, which documented important religious and symbolic imagery onto rock faces.

Cameos first appeared as far back as 15,000 BCE. where ancient Egyptian civilizations carved figures into rocks to record important events. Cameo artistry traveled between the ancient Mediterranean cultures through trade routes connecting Egypt, Greece, and Rome, and often depicted mythological themes while paying tribute to gods and goddesses. As the Roman Empire grew, cameo carvers began to incorporate political portraits into their pieces. Wealthy people could afford to buy the expensive gemstone cameos, while less wealthy ones bought glass cameos.

During the reign of Alexander the Great in the 3rd century B.C.E., Greek and Roman cameos incorporated religious figures and mythological images. Also during this time, specifically in the Hellenistic era, women wore cameos to display their willingness to engage in the act of lovemaking. By the 15th century, cameos produced in Italy began to differ from the ancient ones.

In the 18th century, wealthier women began wearing impressively carved gemstone cameos as a sign of wealth and prestige. Carvers soon realized they could use Plaster of Paris molds to recreate cameos from notable collections. Scottish gem engraver and modeler James Tassie began using molds of these famous cameos to recreate glass pastes that could pass as authentic, carved jewels.

Carvers realized just how easily they could replicate expensive jewels. They discovered the use of Cornelian shells, which were soft, durable, and easy to carve. Queen Victoria popularized shelled cameos, featuring natural and humanistic scenes carved onto deep-sea shells. Meanwhile, as interest in collecting cameos grew, French military leader Napoleon  He brought carvers from all over Europe into France to create cameo jewelry for both men and women. He even commissioned furniture to be designed with cameos carved out of precious gemstones like opal, sapphire, and garnet.

A new type of cameo made from lava rock also appeared during this time. Colored lava extracted from an archaeological dig at Pompeii proved useful for highly detailed carvings. Women often purchased lava cameos as mementos from their travels on their Grand Tours, which established the objects as a symbol of status and wealth.

Over the centuries, artisans have created cameos by carving figures in bas relief from precious gemstones such as onyx or agate, one of the most commonly used. The most common motif of antique cameo jewelry depicted a profile of a face or mythical creature. Whether ancient or modern, cameos typically have two colored layers—figures  carved in one layer raised on the background of the second layer. Today, workers in “cameo factories” carve cheap imitations in paste glass or in seashells. The best shells come from the coast of Africa. The shell, itself, has no value. It’s the quality of the carving that gives a shell cameo value.

The rareness of a cameo outweighs its age when determining its value. For example, though the Roman Empire predated the Renaissance era, experts consider Renaissance cameos more valuable as there were fewer produced back then.

It’s important to examine a cameo by holding it up to a light to ensure there are no major cracks. Those that have three or four layers of color and a metamorphic image, which includes several subjects, are particularly valuable. Further, colored stones like opal, lapis, and emerald are rare, so they’re even more expensive.

When purchasing a cameo, it’s necessary to use a magnifying glass to look on the inside of the rim of the setting for the gold value and for sharper cuts or fewer details. A signature makes it more valuable, but collectors seek some signatures more than others. Unfortunately, it takes an expert to find the signature of a laser-cut cameo. It’s easy for a novice collector to be fooled into buying them at greatly inflated prices.

Two sought-after designs are “The Three Graces,” a scene of three full figures in flowing garb. The other is “Rebecca at the Well,” a theme that usually includes a full figure of a woman, a cottage or a well, and often a bridge. Both are late 19th-century favorites.

Cameos made of gemstones are generally more valuable than those made of shell. But the medium isn’t as important as the quality of the carving.  Graceful, smooth-flowing lines with much detail are signs of a good one. The inferior ones seem to have sharper lines, fewer details, and a harsh look.

Scenic cameos, on the other hand, are generally pricier than bust cameos. A very popular motif around 1860 was what is known as ‘Rebecca at the Well.’ There are many variations on this theme, but they usually include a cottage, a bridge, and a girl.

Prices for cameos continue to rise, making them a good investment. One with a small bust or portrait might sell for $30 to $400 if well carved. Prices for larger scenes and unusual themes or with sought-after signatures may begin at $500 or $600 and go up from there.

Collectors often find smaller cameos at antique shows or shops for $100 to $150. But for those prices, experienced collectors don’t expect top quality. These cameos may be less expensive for several reasons. First, they usually have less detailed settings. Second, they’re usually smaller and unsigned. And third, they have been carved more recently and less artistically.

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about old-time winter objects in the 2022/2023 Winter Holiday Edition, with the theme "Winter Memories," online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.

It’s What’s on the Reverse Side

 

QUESTION: Years ago, I purchased a banjo clock with an intricate scene painted on the clock glass. At several recent antique shows, I’ve noticed several other reverse paintings from the early 19th century. What is the origin of reverse painting glass? And when was the technique at its peak?

ANSWER: Reverse painting is done on the backside of the glass and has been done since ancient times. Though there are only some crude artifacts, art historians believe the process dates back to Egypt in 4 C.E.

During the Middle Ages in the 13th century, the art technique appeared in Italy. Shortly thereafter, the French and English also learn of this art-form.  By the 16th century Renaissance, reverse painting reached its peak. To meet the growing demand, glass artists on the Island of Murano in the Venetian Lagoon widely produced small reverse glass paintings to decorate church alters and for other religious purposes. Gradually they began to paint larger landscapes, portraits, and more, making Venice a center of the technique.  

Beginning in the mid 18th century, painting on glass became preferred by the Church and the nobles throughout Central Europe. By the early to mid 19th century, watchmakers used reverse painting for dials on their watches.

Reverse glass painting had been practiced in Europe for several centuries. In France, Rococo decorative arts influenced it. In Italy and Switzerland, landscapes and small figures dominated reverse glass painting. Persian miniatures inspired it in India, Syria, and Iran, drawing attention to Islamic religious themes. German, Italian, and Spanish artists specialized in allegories, regional costumes, and hunting scenes while iconographic painting influenced the technique in Eastern Europe. 

In America, reverse painting enjoyed its greatest popularity during the Federalist Period of the early 19th century. Old-country artisans in the colonial cities used reverse paintings to decorate clocks, mirrors and other items of the time. This art fashion reigned from about 1815 to 1850. Then, with the exception of a brief time before World War I when it enjoyed a comeback, reverse glass painting became all but extinct.

Before an artist can reverse paint on glass, all details must be known. Done with oil paint ground with shellac, varnish, or linseed oil. Often the colored pigments were back by a white ground which reflected light back through the paint and gave the painting a warm and brilliant color. The smoothness of the glass increased the painting’s richness and vibrancy. 

Not only is the painting done on the reverse side of the glass, it must be done in reverse, beginning with the finer details and ending with the background.

Subject matter was mostly religious with paintings done by peasants but also included allegorical subjects, heroes of the day, and landscapes. Many of these paintings, primitive in technique, included Vermillion red, blue, yellow. Religious scenes could be found in peasant homes. These had backgrounds embellished with floral decorations and scrolls. Early paintings had lots of gold but later ones just had accents. These primitive paintings had crude homemade wooden frames. 

During the reign of William and Mary in the 17th century, the frames of mirrors had moldings of glass painted with roses, tulips, and leaves touched with gold. Back in the 14th century, East India Traders brought courting mirrors from China. This type of painting became popular in Europe during the 18th and 19th centuries.

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, secular subjects became popular, including portraits of women symbolical of spring, summer, fall, and winter, as well as portraits of kings and queens.

Reverse painting spread to America and was popular with the Pennsylvania German immigrants, who carried on the religious traditions. They also painted primitive portraits of famous Americans such as George Washington and Andrew Jackson. Copies of portraits of Washington by Gilbert Stuart were quite popular.

Still life was more popular than portraits in New England. Other subjects included naval battles, such as the Monitor and the Merrimac. Amateurs and itinerant artists painted these paintings, so they call into the folk art category.

One of the most common uses for reverse paintings was on clock pendulum doors. Popular subjects included a floral or fruit still life or a simple flag or eagle design. 

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about the "The World of Art Nouveau" in the 2022 Spring Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.

How Low Can You Go

QUESTION: I just purchased an antique coffee table and would like to know more about it. What can you tell me about my table? Is it a valuable antique?

ANSWER: I hate to burst your bubble, but your table isn’t an antique. In fact, coffee tables are a modern invention. No one knows exactly where they came from or who designed the first one.

The current definition a coffee table is a low, wide table placed in front of a couch or sofa to receive drinks, TV remotes, magazines, ashtrays, and miscellaneous other items, including feet. Yes, some people do prop their tired feet up once in a while. But a quick look back in time doesn't show many similar tables in our Western history. Old photos of late Victorian room settings show taller tables, often placed behind a sofa to receive cups and glasses when not in use. The only other table offering close to the service of a coffee table was the parlor table, often placed in the middle of the room with a gas lamp on it. Here, the lady of the house could serve coffee or tea to guests.



During the latter half of the 19th century, wealthy people became interested in the exotic furniture of Turkey. They would set up a special corner or an entire room using pillowed benches and ornately carved, low, round tables from which they drank strong Turkish coffee and tea.

Americans became especially fond of Japanese design after the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition in 1876. They particularly liked the idea of sitting on pillows on the floor and eating at low tables like the Japanese do. When the Aesthetic Movement took hold in the 1880s, furniture designers blended Eastlake and Renaissance Revival styles with Turkish and Asian ones.

While some sources note the production of low tables in various Revival styles during the last decade of the 1800s, no one has ever seen any.

The coffee table appeared in the 20th century, most likely in the 1920s and 1930s. As Americans began to purchase parlor sets, consisting of perhaps a couch, two chairs, and several small tables, the coffee table idea became more popular.

In 1903, F. Stuart Foote founded the Imperial Furniture Company in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He had learned the furniture business from his father, E. H. Foote, who had founded the Grand Rapids Chair Company in 1872. Foote claimed to have invented the coffee table himself while helping his wife prepare for a party. He simply lowered the legs on an existing table, and a new type of furniture came into being. Unfortunately, so far this hasn’t been proven.

Prohibition may have also played a role in the development of the coffee table. From 1920 to 1933, America was legally "dry." That led to a shortage of well blended, smooth tasting liquor. “Bathtub gin" and "white lightning" to the place of traditional spirits but both had quite a kick.  To soften that kick, people began mixing fruit juices and other beverages with the hootch which eventually led to the invention of the "cocktail."



During Prohibition, people often used this low table to serve coffee to their guests. But with the repeal of the law, they could once again legally serve cocktails, so it became known as a “cocktail table.” Sales for these low tables soared even during the Depression.

To make them seem older than they were and thus more elegant, many furniture manufacturers began producing their coffee/cocktail tables using stylized designs of the past. This was a direct result of the appearance of the Colonial Revival style of the early 20th century which encouraged furniture makers to create pieces in supposedly “colonial” styles. All of a sudden coffee tables appeared in the Queen Anne, Chippendale, Federal, and even Jacobean styles. Thus, many people today are fooled into thinking that their coffee tables are really antiques.

The only way to have a truly antique coffee table is to cut down an existing antique table as F. Stuart Foote did in 1903. And while your coffee table will be a true antique, it won’t be worth very much.

To read more articles on antiques, please visit my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the other 17,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac.











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