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mahogany

Straight grained hard wood with silky texture, ranging in color from salmon-pink through bright red and when newly cut, changes to a golden or deep brown red.

maiolica (majolica)

Italian tin-glazed eartheware produced from the 14thC.

Source: Antiques Price Guide 2004, Judith Miller ISBN -7894-9550-3

Victorian Majolica was originated by Mintons Ltd, who exhibited it at the Great Exhibition of 1851 under the name Palissy ware. The debt to the eccentric 16th century potter Bernard Palissy is obvious from its naturalistic plant and animal motifs molded in relief and splashed with bold color and clear glazes.

Mintons had for some time been making tin-glazed pottery (which is opaque, white and shiny and painted in color) somewhat in the style of Renaissance Italian maiolica, which they called majolica ware, anglicizing the Italian maiolica.

The Illustrated London News reported with approval of Minton's work at the Paris Exposition Universelle (1855) :

The collection of Palissy and Majolica ware, however, is that which appears to have created the greatest sensation among Parisian connoisseurs. The reader will remember that the main difference in these wares is that whereas the Palissy ware is coloured by a transparent glaze, Majolica ware contains the colour (opaque) in the material. The care and taste with which these manufactures have been brought by the Messrs. Minton to their present state of perfection, have been amply rewarded. Within a few days of the opening of the Exhibition all the specimens exhibited had been sold.[1]

Despite this reminder, the public came to call Minton's Palissy Ware majolica ware; Palissy ware dropped out of use and majolica stuck. In the 1880s, the curators of the South Kensington Museum (now the V&A) tried to clear up the confusion by reviving the Italian pronunciation maiolica for Italian tin-glaze.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victorian_majolica

majolica

A 19th century type of earthenware featuring colored lead glazes.


Major Auction Liquidation Market Level

Major Auction Liquidation Market Level - This represents the most frequently realized price level at major auction, including the buyer and seller premium.

ASA Int'l Personal Property Committee

malachite

An opaque green mineral with very pronounced and often concentric banding. It's surface is hard enough to be polished and malachite has been used for beads, cabochons, decorative items and pietre dure.

mantel

The projecting shelf surmounting a fireplace.

mantel clock

A small bracket or table clock design to sit on a mantel or shelf.


Source: Antiques Price Guide 2004, Judith Miller ISBN -7894-9550-3

maple

Light reddish-brown wood with uniform texture. Grain is usually straight except when different veneers are used.

marble

Continental Gilt-Bronze and Marble Cabinet Figure of Hamlet, fourth quarter 19th century, in the Gothic taste, the prince depicted resting on a gnarled tree stump and clutching Yorick's skull, the standard of Nembro Rosato marble, the base weighted, h. 7-1/2", dia. 3-1/2".

St. Charles Gallery- New Orleans
05/09
ESTIMATE 100 - 200

Marbles

Posted By BARBARA SUTTON-SMITH
It always amuses me to see the look of surprise and disbelief on people's faces when I say I have a collection of marbles. "Marbles," they say, sounding shocked and looking at me as though I have lost mine.

I always hasten to assure them that they are mostly the larger, handmade two-to three-inch antique glass ones, and not the later machine made types with which they are probably more familiar -- and which generations of children have played with on streets, back alleys and school playgrounds.

These can be found at flea markets in jars for a few dollars. It's amazing how many memories they can trigger.

Marbles have a long history. References to games using round spheres (later known as marbles) by both adults and children from many cultures go back several thousand years.

Berry Pink, an owner and founder of Marble King, a most prolific marble collector in the 1930s, had spheres of jade, emerald, silver and gold among his 3,800 marble collection. This included one from King Tut's tomb and one from an Aztec palace. All were several thousand years old.

The earliest marbles were pebbles, stones, granite, quarried marble and semi-precious agatme, all ground round, and clay balls dried and baked and coloured with dyes.

Legend has it that the rounded balls of marble lent their name to all rounded spheres used in a variety of games through the ages. Dennis Webb in his Greenberg's Guide to Marblesmakes mention of an English game, Fox and Geese, from circa 1450, requiring 18 marbles and a playing board, and that a century later, Flemish artist Peter Breughel, the elder, painted a picture depicting boys playing marbles around 1560.

In time, marbles were made in wood, steel, lead and several categories of ceramics, characterized by glazes and designs, but it is the 19th-to early 20thcentury handmade glass marbles that largely interest today's collectors of antique marbles. I became one of those collectors in 1972. As is often the case in collecting, quite by accident.

The aunt of a friend had a considerable collection of beautiful old antique paperweights that she had gathered over many years. I had always admired them for their beauty and craftsmanship. One day, she suggested I start a collection. "That was not possible," I said, as by then their costs were way beyond my means. Hardly missing a beat, she came back with "collect marbles." You can imagine my reaction. However, she quickly explained their merits by explaining how handmade glass marbles were produced at many of the same glassworks who had made the paperweights. She called them "little works of art" with their ingenious interior and external decoration.

Not all marbles, I discovered, were for playing games. Some were considered decorative toys, particularly larger types with the more intricate and colourful interiors, and those with people or animals encased within, known as sulphides. Others had other uses, such as for ballots in voting. These were usually black and white, hence the term "blackballed." Eventually, I was hooked. At the time, in 1972, the price was affordable and early marbles of all kinds were available, although not in great abundance, but neither were collectors. I found the range of decoration, sizes and glossary of fanciful names fascinating.

Although the ancient Venetian glass-makers were the first to make handmade glass marbles, it was the 19thcentury German glass industry that brought marble making to the forefront. The glass houses in the town of Lausche began producing marbles after the invention of the marble scissors in 1846.

marquetry

A decorative veneer with the design made up from colored woods and other materials.

Source: Antiques Price Guide 2004, Judith Miller ISBN -7894-9550-3

marquetry

Shaped pieces of wood or other material used as a veneer on furniture to create decorative patterns.

Mason Ballot Box

Mason Ballot box used to vote in a new brother in the lodge. The brothers each vote by putting in a white or black stone. They get pulled out whenever a person petitions for the degrees. Also, they are used for other items when a secret ballot is called for by the Worshipful Master. The ballot box is generally placed on the Altar in the Lodge room. The Secretary calls the name of each brother present; when his name is called, the brother will go to the ballot box and drop in either a white or black ball. After everyone has voted, the contents are emptied, and votes are tallied by the Secretary and two witnesses. The box in which the ballots or little balls or cubes used in voting for a candidate are deposited. It should be divided into two compartments, one of which is to contain both black and white balls, from which each member selects one, and the other, which is shielded by a partition provided with an aperture, to receive the ball that is to be deposited. Ballot balls are missing from this box, they may be found at http://www.masonicexchange.com/22/2/419/Product.aspx for .15 each white or black
Source: Appraisal File July 2008

medallion

A circular or oval frame having within it an ornamental motif

Meeks

Meeks, J. & J. W. - The family-owned J. & J. W. Meeks company, based in New York with outlets in New Orleans and along the Atlantic coast, was a major competitor to John Henry Belter. Because they employed similar styles, much of Meeks' outstanding work had long been mistakenly identified as Belter. Today, experts are correcting the confusion and the Meeks' name is now synonymous with the superior quality of the Rococo Revival

Meissen

Manufacturers of true porcelain whose wares remain unrivaled in terms of innovation and beauty. Meissen is the name of the small town in which alchemist Johann Friedrich Bottger was imprisoned by the King of Saxony where he remained for several years until 1710 when he finally discovered a formula for true (hard-paste) porcelain.

Meridienne

Sofa with one arm higher than the other

Michael Thonet

Michael Thonet (July 2, 1796, Boppard, Germany - March 3, 1871, Vienna, Austria-Hungary) was a German furniture maker and industrialist best known as the inventor of bentwood furniture and as a pioneer of furniture design.

Thonet patented a process of bending under heat several layers of wood veneer glued together and laminated -- and used the new material to create curved back-rails and legs on chairs, contoured headboards for beds and scrolled arms for sofas.

By 1900, the curvilinear furniture made possible by Thonet's techniques were widely produced by furniture manufacturers in the U.S., where the process was exploited.

millefiori

A type of glassware in which multi-colored glass pieces are put in rosette or floral designs and embedded in clear glass. The word literally means "a thousand flowers" in Italian.

Minor Auction Liquidation Market Level

Minor Auction Liquidation Market Level - This represents the most frequently realized price level at a minor regional auction, including the buyer and seller premium.

ASA Int'l Personal Property Committee

mohair plush

Used to make teddy bear fur and produced from angora fleece.

Source: Antiques Price Guide 2004, Judith Miller ISBN -7894-9550-3

mold blowing

A method of shaping glass objects by blowing molten glass in a mold.

Source: Antiques Price Guide 2004, Judith Miller ISBN -7894-9550-3

molding

Geometric decoration formed as strips from wood, metal or plaster.

Source: Antiques Price Guide 2004, Judith Miller ISBN -7894-9550-3

monochrome

Single color decoration.

Source: Antiques Price Guide 2004, Judith Miller ISBN -7894-9550-3

Morris Recliner

Built from approximately 1885 until 1920, this popular adjustable chair was seen in homes from sea to sea. (See photo at) Although originally introduced in a very Victorian style with carving and floral upholstery it made its biggest design statement in the Arts and Crafts style and is generally associated with this decorative movement. Originals were made of oak stained a mid to dark brown and were rather small in scale (compared to today’s chairs) to suit the smaller rooms in turn of the century homes.

Morris recliner - an adjustable armchair

Today, “Morris” recliners can be purchased at furniture and department stores. Let’s assume that you have this chair for fifteen years and due to one reason or another you decide that you would like to sell it. If the chair was an original antique you could sell it to a dealer or a private collector because it is now another 15 years older, and hopefully (although not always) more valuable.

If you bought a reproduction Morris chair you may find it difficult to sell. Here’s why: Furniture that is 15 years old is “second hand” regardless of its style. People who buy second hand goods expect to buy them at super – bargain rates (if they want your chair at all). The collector does not want it because it is not original or antique, and the decorator / homeowner does not want it because it represents an object that is no longer “in style”. The chair’s upholstery may have to be updated. The dealer does not want it because he / she knows it will be almost impossible to sell. So, options are far and few between. To add more insult, today’s chairs are large in scale compared to the smaller homes and condos that are in many baby boomers’ futures.

Source: http://www.fromtimespast.com/Fakesandreproductions.htm

mosaic

A decorative technique in which square or rectangular pieces of stone, glass, ceramic tile (also known as tessare) are set in mortar in and artistic motif. Tiny mosaics are referred to as micromosaics.

Mother-of-pearl

Mother-of-pearl, coral, and metals were often inlaid in the lacquer to create a decorative effect.

mount

An ornamental attachment typically of gilt-bronze on high-quality porcelain.


movement

The entire time-keeping mechanism of clock or watch.

Source: Antiques Price Guide 2004, Judith Miller ISBN -7894-9550-3

Mustache Cups

The mustache was a fashion necessity for gentlemen of the Victorian era and mustaches were cultivated in a variety of styles and sizes. Victorian males painstakingly preened their mustaches, often applying dyes for vanity sake and gobs of wax to maintain their efforts. These efforts were inadvertently undone when consuming hot beverages, which would melt the wax and loosen the dyes resulting in an embarrassing wax dripping, mustache drooping, color-streaking mess. Another issue was the accidental mustache discoloration that occurred as a consequence of tea and coffee staining.

In 1830, an Englishman named Harvey Adams developed the mustache cup to rectify the aforementioned mustache disasters. The mustache cup is a drinking device with a ledge along the inside rim and an opening to allow the passage of hot liquids to the mouth. This invention allowed the to mustache remain dry while resting on the guard and drinking hot beverages through the opening.

The mustache cup became universally accepted and virtually every pottery manufacturer in England and the United States developed their version of the device. Although many mustache cups were manufactured in America, early versions were marked with names that led consumers to believe they were produced in England owing to the popularity of English ceramics, making it difficult to find an authentic mustache cup with an American pottery mark.

The Victorian style mustache was no longer fashionable after World War one, effectively ending the era of the moustache cup. Present day interest in mustache cups is rapidly rising among collectors; as a result counterfeit mustache cups have tainted the market, requiring caution among enthusiasts. The aforementioned fakes should not be confused with marked pieces made as reproductions that are not intended to deceive.
Source: http://www.architecturals.net/newsletter/2007_07_22.html
 
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