Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Why Antique Limoges Porcelain is one of the most Collectible Ceramics



The history behind it, and the current manufacturing process certainly play a role, adding to the mystique and individuality of the pieces.


Limoges, a French city southwest of Paris, predates Roman times. Its physical placement, directly on the river Vienne, makes Limoges an easy, accessible stop; one that would even be called necessary in those early years when journeys were more arduous than enjoyable.

Unlike many American towns which found themselves dependent on one industry to fuel the economy, an industry that dried up for one reason or another, the artisans of Limoges didn’t simply curl up and die because the trends had changed. Luckily they caught a break.

Just as the call for limoges enamel pieces dwindled, kaolin, an essential clay in the making of porcelain, was found just 18 miles southwest of Limoges at St. Yreix. With that, a new era began for the town.


Limoges built its first porcelain factory a mere six years after the initial find of the kaolin.
The kaolin is combined with pulverized feldspar and quartz. Then a fine process of milling, pulverizing, heating, molding and firing begins. Europeans consider this product porcelain only if it retains a translucent quality.

Every piece can not meet the rigorous standards. Many crack or break during the process and must be discarded. What sets antique limoges porcelain apart from other ceramic forms may be considered a technicality, but a necessary one to the creators of this art form.

Pottery will absorb water. Conversely, even if porcelain has been chipped or cracked it will not retain water. Nonetheless, chipped or cracks items have to go. They won’t meet the Limoges quality standards.

The shape is there, but an artisan then has to decorate the individual object, add tiny hinges if needed, to any one of the figurines, pill boxes or other porcelain product you’ll find bearing the Limoges porcelain marks.

Once the artist completes his or her work using the special paints used on porcelain, the product goes through another firing process. This long production process is what makes Limoges porcelain collectible. By the end of the process, like snowflakes, no two products will turn out the same. So when a collector speaks of having a one-of-a-kind item, this will be the truth.

Shortly after the first Limoges factory was established, Louis XVI bought it. For a time, production was still limited due to restrictions on the production of porcelain products. The French Revolution brought an end to these restrictions and Limoges flourished in the wake.


Once again, its physical placement played a huge role: a mixture of its proximity to the essential ingredients, as well as its general accessibility by land or water. Moreover, the city was lucky enough to have a grand forest in Limousin, which could supply the extensive amounts of wood needed to fire the kilns used in the production of antique Limoges porcelain. On all counts, Limoges proved the ideal spot. Workers flocked to the town, and by 1819, four porcelain factories graced the land.

By 1861, this would increase again to 27 factories, supporting some 3,166 workers. It was during the 1870s that Limoges finally perfected its porcelain process, and the items produced then are considered to be some of the finest antique Limoges porcelain ever made.

David Haviland who had come to Limoges from New York in 1842 in search of porcelain to import to the United States, got the ball rolling. He knew the beauty of the product and the marketability, as his own family had emigrated from Limoges.

By 1855, the demand for porcelain from Limoges in the United States called for Haviland to construct his own factory in the town. By the late 1850’s, sales in the United States accounted for around half of the antique limoges porcelain being manufactured in the city.

Given the extent to which Limoges now depended on the United States for its sales, it naturally suffered a major blow during the Civil War when exports to the United States were curtailed, then halted entirely.
It had to scramble to pick up export business to other countries, which eventually helped a little.

So, when you see a piece of limoges porcelain, the mark you see is not from a particular studio. It may come from one of many studios in the region that choose to use the standardized Limoges porcelain mark. And that’s natural given that the elements (including the traces of soil) needed to produce these delicate creations can be found only in Limoges, France.




The museum features some 11,000 pieces, though not all porcelain. It’s also quite believeable that the pieces have been presented to heads of state over the years; from the tsars of Russia to kings and queens of Europe.

So, it’s not very surprising that we covet it nowadays. If a piece of antique limoges porcelain is good enough for a king or queen, it must be something worth having, right?

The quality of the porcelain and the decoration is far below the quality of genuine Limoges porcelain produced at the Limoges factories in France. And some of this inferior porcelain bears pseudo Limoges porcelain marks and they are being offered as Limoges or Limoges China.

The most common marks are T&V Limoges France, Limoges China, ROC, and ROC LIMOGES CHINA. ROC is short for Republic of China.

There are several factors that can contribute to the value of a piece of Limoges porcelain ... the factory where it was produced; the limoges porcelain mark; how old it is; the condition; how complete a set is; the quality of the decoration and the artist's signature.

You’ll have an easy time finding genuine pieces, as a simple Internet search yields dozens of shops carrying all styles and ages of Limoges porcelain. In fact, the tough part may be in choosing and displaying them, rather than finding them.

Oddly enough, I’ve also seen pieces at jewelry and gem shows for very reasonable prices, and I've paid less than $50-60 for some limoges trinket boxes. The pieces I’ve seen online sell for around $140+, not including auctions which may be better deals.

I’ve also found Limoges trinket boxes in consignment shops, but I rarely see just one of them. The shop owner who spots these and sees the potential generally stocks quite a few. And if they don’t have it in, they can get it, so ask for a catalogue.

At the very least, use online venues to give you an idea of the many things on the market. At one website alone, I found 24 versions of the Eiffel Tower in the Limoges pillbox format. If you can envision it, Limoges has cast it in porcelain.

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Sunday, August 26, 2012

Is Noritake China A Worthwhile Addition to Your Porcelain Collection?

Noritake china production began around 1876 when the Morimura Brothers formed a company of that name in Tokyo and opened an export office in New York. They initially produced a full range of china marked with the Nippon mark and also sold china in-the-white, ie; blanks for decorating by outside agencies and decorators, thus the quality of the earlier finished product can vary.



In 1904 the Morimura Brothers formed 'Nippon Toki Kaisha Ltd' and setup a production facility at Noritake near Nagoya on the Japanese island of Honshu. They registered their first Noritake back stamp around 1908 and registered their first Noritake mark in the USA around 1911.

There is high demand for good quality pieces, even with some wear to the handles, which is quite common, and they can fetch good prices. Japanese porcelain has almost always been good quality and has almost always been collected, but Noritake is probably the lesser cousin to the more desireable Kakiemon, Satsuma, Kutani and Imari wares. However we find it appeals to oriental porcelain collectors and that there is a good market for it.

The American architect Frank Lloyd Wright probably thought so too, when he designed tableware for Noritake in the 1920's. The tableware was produced for the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo.

There are three commonly seen Noritake marks, namely the Noritake Maruki (often called Komaru) Mark, the M (for Morimura) Wreath Mark and the RC (for Royal Crockery) mark.


Between 1890 and 1921 the company marked their export china with 'Nippon' in western characters. These Nippon marks can date pieces to the 1890 to 1921 period, before the McKinley Tariff act demanded 'Japan' was used. After the first World War all Noritake production was marked 'Japan' or 'Made in Japan' to comply with the McKinley Tariff Act, and Nippon was only very rarely used after 1921. The use of Nippon can sometimes cause confusion as some pieces bear marks that state simply 'Oriental China, Nippon' around a rising sun. These Nippon marked pieces are highly desireable but collectors should be wary of faked Nippon marks on later pieces, particularly from the 1960's.


After WWII, from 1948 to 1952, Noritake China was marked in slightly differing ways, the most common marks used included 'Occupied Japan' or 'Made in Occupied Japan'.


Also Immediately after WWII, and due to an inability to maintain quality standards, the company stopped using Noritake on their marks and used 'Rose China' alongside a rose with 'Made in Japan' or 'Made in Occupied Japan' below. From about 1963 the company marked their china with 'Noritake Company Ltd'.
There are marks that include pattern or series names including Impromptu, Oneida, Grandceram, New Lineage, Noritake Tea Collection, among others. The most current mark includes 'Noritake Bone China' above a grecian style urn, within a wreath and with ® and Japan below.

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Monday, August 20, 2012

Rene Lalique Glass: Collecting Antique Glass

Lalique had experimented with glass in his jewellery making and at 50 years of age he embarked on a new career as a glassmaker. A career that would gain him the worldwide recognition that continues today. He began creating classic glass perfume bottles for Coty and eventually he was asked to do the same for Worth, Forvil, D'Orsay, Guerlain, Rogeret et Gallet. In all, Lalique created more than 250 different perfume bottles.



Although most sell for modest prices, in 1990, a Lalique perfume bottled fetched $80,000 at auction. A few years ago, a L'ldylle flacon sold for $58,350 at the Philips Geneva flacon auctionA Japanese bidder paid $8,625 for a Lalique Bochon Fleurs de Pommiers design at a William Doyle Galleries auction in New York.

At the height of glass production, his factories employed up to 600 people and created millions of pieces of glassware. But despite his mechanised approach to production, the imagination and beauty of his work is unparalled. He personalized much of his work with frosting, polishing, and glazing to give it that handcrafted and individual feel.

Rather than create a few pieces that could only be enjoyed by the wealthy lalique mass produced his work in the hope that everyone could enjoy it. And in line with his love of the human and animal form, lalique created 29 car mascots in the shapes of fish, horse heads, frogs, dragonflys, shooting stars and St. Christopher Carrying the Christ Child. Female nudes were also a favorite design.

Lalique designed all the mascots to be illuminated from within and a 6 or 12 volt bulb was connected to the cars wiring to provide illumination. Filters were also used to change the color of the light to red, blue, green, amber, or mauve. Lalique mascots ornamented the hoods of the most stylish cars of the day ­ Bentley, Hispano Suiza, Isotta Fraschini, and Bugatti. Today, lalique hood ornaments are highly sought after by collectors.

His true talent shines in the amber, plum, blue, opalescent, gray, green, black, and yellow hues he obtained by meticulously adding measured amounts of pigment to darkened glass. Striking animal figures, mythical beasts, and geometric shapes poured from his fertile mind.

The art deco style in laliques jewellery followed through to his work in glass and, distinct geometric designs, smooth flowing lines, and vibrant colors are all characteristic patterns and qualities of lalique glass.


For the new Lalique glass collector, the two most important considerations are authenticity and condition.

Chips, repairs, ground down edges and drill holes will all reduce value. Poor condition can reduce the value in extreme cases by up to 90%. But there is a very big problem with modern Czech glass bearing Lalique signatures.eBay sellers list Czech glass in large volumes as Lalique. You can also see less valuable French glass of the 1920s with a Lalique signature.

Lalique used mass production techniques to make his work available and affordable to people in most income brackets. Literally millions of pieces have been created since the early 1900s, and Lalique factories continue to produce fine glass and crystal today.

In the 1940s World War II forced the closure of his factory. After his death, laliques son Marc re-started the company and in 1948, he changed production from demi-crystal to full lead crystal. Lalique's granddaughter Marie-Claude, later led the company and implemented her own style with clear crystal accented with colored motifs.

Lalique marked his work, even the mass-produced pieces "R. Lalique". However, the signature can be found in molded, script, print, and curved designs. In addition the leading L in the earlier cursive Lalique signatures has a curleyque on top, making the letter resemble an S.

Unfortunately Rene Lalique really used too many signatures in too many different ways to allow for a definitive guide as to what was manufactured before or after 1945. The pieces created by Marc Lalique are signed "Lalique France "The pieces created by Marie-Claude are signed "Lalique h France"
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Thursday, August 16, 2012

Caring for Antique Ceramics and Glass


For antique ceramics or glass, accidental breakage is probably the biggest risk factor when it comes to handling and cleaning. To be able to avoid this, you need to be careful.

Your hands should be dry and clean before handling the glass or ceramics. Don't wear cotton gloves while handling ceramics or glass, as cotton gloves have less traction and the antique glass or ceramics could slip from your hands. Also, grip or pick it up where it is safest and always support it at the base.

If antique ceramics or glass is displayed in a cabinet, then make sure that the cabinet is stable or else your valuable antique piece could fall off from.

Never immerse low fired earthenware such as delftware, faience or maiolica in water as they may have an unglazed foot rims or old cracks or chips which expose the porous surface beneath the glaze. It is much safer to wipe them with cotton wool moistened with some mild soapy water.

You may be able to shift tide marks from glass such as wine stains in a decanter with a solution of denture cleaner and warm water or with acetic acid or vinegar. Just leave your chosen mixture in the glass for 24hrs then rinse, drain and dry thoroughly.


Methylated spirits or pure alcohol can be tried for stains caused by alcohol based perfumes, but change the alcohol every hour or so until the stain has gone.

Ammonia or ordinary household bleach which contains chlorine will remove stains on most glass, as long as there is no gilding or other fragile decoration. NOTE: This is not suitable for ceramics as it may aggravate the stain or cause permanent discolouration.

For more stubborn stains wipe with a cloth moistened in warm water with a few drops of methylated spirits and some household detergent, then rinse with clean water using a well rung out chamois leather. Protect the frame with a piece of thin card.

Where grime has built up on stained or leaded windows brush it off gently with a soft bristled brush and as long as the surface is stable, clean with cotton wool moistened with the same methylated spirit and detergent solution used for mirrors.


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Sunday, August 12, 2012

Antique Berlin Porcelain and Johann Ernst Gotzkowsky



The Antique Berlin porcelain factory was founded in 1761 by Johann Ernst Gotzkowsky, who picked up the pieces of the factory belonging to Wilhelm Casper Wegely, after it went bust in 1757.

When Wegely, a wool-manufacturer, obtained a licence to set up a factory with the help of many Meissen and Hochst workers, who probably supplied the necessary kaolin and a model for a kiln able to produce porcelain.


Quality, however, was of a poor standard and Wegely had to close the factory due to financial problems.
During its existence, Heinrich Reichard was the master modeller and Isaak Jacob Clauce the painter. Porcelain wares produced by the Wegely factory were marked with the initial W and a combination of numbers.

In 1761 the merchant Johann Ernst Gotzkowsky, bought the arcanum from the Wegely modeller Reichard. He also secured the collaboration of the Wegely painter Clauce and bought the remaining stock of the Wegely factory.

In order to improve the quality of the porcelain, Gotzkowsky hired experienced craftsmen from the Meissen factory. These included the modeller Friedrich Elias Meyer and the painters Karl Wilhelm Bohme, Johann Balthasar Borrmann and Karl Jakob Christian Klipfel.

After only two years in operation the new factory was employing around 150 people and as the demand for porcelain goods was limited to the very rich, Gotzkowsky was overwhelmed by financial difficulties.

Johann Ernst Gotzkowsky was forced to sell the factory to Frederick the Great in 1763.


After acquiring the Berlin Porcelain factory, Frederick the Great took great steps to promote it and to maintain the quality of the porcelain and the wares.

The Meyer brothers, originally recruited by Gotzkowsky, modelled outstanding figures and Berlin porcelain flower-painting (called Deutsche Blümen) set the standard for other factories to follow.

Just like many other porcelain factories, the Berlin Porcelain factory has had its ups and downs over the years, but it has always managed to survive the difficult periods.

Today the Berlin Porcelain factory is still one of the leading porcelain manufacturers in Germany and it still sells high quality products all over europe and to the rest of the world.


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Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Caring for Antique Furniture | Tips on the Care and Repair of Antique Furniture.

A surface patina, even if it is marked and damaged, contributes to the character, authenticity and value of a piece of antique furniture and you should aim to preserve it.


If restoration is necessary, the original finish should be matched as closely as possible. French polishing or the tough synthetic varnishes of the 20th century should never be used to replace wax or shellac.

Oil or beeswax polishes are the most common finishes on 16th and 17th century furniture and on oak and country furniture up until the 19th century. These are more resistant to minor bruises and spills than varnish or lacquer.

Resin and shellac varnishes were used on fine furniture from the end of the 17th century and like lacquered and japanned finishes are spirit-based. They can be marked by solvents such as alcohol, as well as by heat, damp and abrasives.


French polishing, introduced in the early 1820s, involves a method of applying shellac that achieves a high-gloss finish with less effort; but it is less durable and prone to chip. Newly applied French polish is particularly vulnerable as it can take up to six months to harden completely.

Graining and ebonising, are where a surface is stained to resemble an exotic wood and you can wear this effect away with too much rubbing.

Veneered furniture is particularly vulnerable to dry or damp conditions, or if water or polish seeps beneath the surface skin and causes the veneer to buckle, lift or split.

Inlaid finishes such as marquetry and boulle are even more sensitive as the materials used can react to heat and humidity at different rates, resulting in uneven stress over the whole surface.

Waxing antique furniture

All sealed wooden surfaces can be waxed to bring out the colour and grain of the wood and to provide protection against staining, but over waxing will actually cause dullness.

Furniture that has been waxed and polished for years should only need buffing with a chamois leather or duster, and then waxing once every few months.

Solvents used in furniture polishes, especially the spray polishes, can leave a whitish bloom on some surfaces or gradually dissolve lacquered finishes. They should not be used on any lacquered surface and only sparingly on wax.

A microcrystalline wax is the best medium for giving a light, protective and burnishable coating to most surfaces, including ebonised wood, lacquer and French polish.

Apply the wax over an area about 1ft (30cm) square at a time, burnishing with a soft clean cloth as it dries. Use a soft-bristled brush for carved surfaces, making sure you leave no surplus polish in the crevices.

Brass mounts, such as handles and other fittings don't have to be ultra-bright on antique furniture; light burnishing as you dust is adequate, or buff with a long-term silver cloth. Metal cleaners should not be used as they can harm the wood around the mounts.


The gold finish on ormolu is very delicate and should never be polished, even with a dry cloth, and especially not with cleaning fluid.

Fingerprints, which are acidic, can damage the gilding.

In time the brass or bronze base corrodes, giving the finish a spotty, then black appearance. The mounts can be lacquered but even this will fail in time.

Other than dusting ormolu gently and regularly with a soft brush there is little else to do; never have it regilded if you want to retain the value.

Water-based gilding remains water soluble and should only ever be dusted, whereas oil gilding may be cleaned by gently dabbing with slightly damped cotton wool.

Water gilding is applied over layers of gesso and is a yellow or dark red. It may be burnished to a high shine, although some pieces may have areas that are meant to be left matt.

Oil gilding is sometimes applied directly onto wood and has a matt finish.

Chips in a gilded surface can be filled with fine surface filler and disguised with yellow ochre, watercolour paint. Avoid using gold metallic paint for areas of any size, as it clashes with the true gilding.

A professional guilders aim will be to match the original techniques and materials, and to retain as much of the original surface and patina as possible.

Upholstered antique furniture must be vacuumed regularly to guard against a build up of dust and pests, if necessary use a fine mesh net stocking over the nozzle of the vacuum cleaner to prevent any loose pieces being irretrievably sucked off.


However, on some seat furniture, upholstery can be re-webbed or re-stuffed, or the fabric replaced with a sympathetic alternative, without detracting from the value of the piece.

If re-upholstering drop in seats always make sure you return the seats to the original chairs and make sure the new covering isn't so tight that it strains the leg joints.


Adult furniture beetles and pinhole beetles lay eggs in crevices in wood. The eggs hatch into larvae (woodworm) which eat into the wood and leave tunnels some 1mm in diameter. They eventually emerge as beetles and fly away between May and August.


Treatment
Check and treat any new purchase before taking it into your home, and check any wooden objects twice a year for infestation – especially bare and softwood surfaces such as the inside of drawers or backboards.

Upholstered or particularly delicate furniture should be professionally fumigated, but on other items, a good quality, clear, low-odour woodworm fluid can be applied by yourself at home.

Remove any detachable upholstered parts and only treat the unfinished surfaces of the wood. The solvent in the fluid will damage waxed, polished, varnished, lacquered or painted surfaces.

Carefully inject the insecticide, using a hypodermic syringe and needle to reach deep into the holes. If unsure or not confident this should be left to an expert or consevation specialist.

After treating, fill the holes with a soft inert wax and blend in with the surrounding wood.

Unlike many other antiques, which can be devalued by restoration, a piece of furniture that has been sympathetically and honestly restored into usable condition, using traditional methods and materials, can be worth more than a damaged item.

Make sure, if you do make minor repairs yourself, to only ever use water-soluble glue Almost all furniture made before the mid-20th century depends on well-jointed solid timber for strength, so weakness in joints, pivots, moving parts, or on load-bearing surfaces, or signs of rot or woodworm, must be fixed before the piece is used again.

Use a professional furniture restorer to reinforce or replace rotten or wormed timber with sound wood, saturate it with resin or fill it with a mixture of animal glue and sawdust. Cure sticking doors or drawers by easing with a touch of candle wax. If they are misshapen, they need to be trimmed by an expert. Chipped or lifted veneer should be professionally repaired as soon as possible, but exposed edges can be temporarily protected with masking tape and detached pieces kept in a plastic bag. If stripping is necessary and will not remove a valuable patina, it should be done by a professional furniture restorerer. Acid stripping swells and rots wood fibres. Dry, cracked leather on desk tops can be revitalised with a lanolin and beeswax preparation such as Connolly’s Hide Food. Make sure you spot test the dressing on an inconspicuous area; if it leaves no stain, then apply it sparingly with a soft cloth. Then allow the dressing to absorb (for around 24 hours) before gently buffing with a clean duster.

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