Antique Collection

The cupboard originated in the middle ages and was an open shelved structure used to display pewter, silver and other untensils. Styles changed and in the 17th century the lower section was enclosed. In Georgian and Victorian times there was a wide variation in designs.

Porcelain is made from fine white clay (kaolin) and other raw materials such as ground feldspar (also known as china stone or petuntse), which can be fired to a higher temperature than earthenware or stoneware. This means that the minute particles of clay fuse together to form a hard,

SALTS, CASTERS AND CRUETS
In the past, salt was valuable and kept in elaborate containers. Beautiful medieval salts rarely appear on the market, but early 18th-century trencher salts are still quite common. These are small oval, circular or oblong salt cellars with a dished centre. However, most are now in poor condition as they were generally [...]

Since they became an integral part of interior decoration in the 18th century, these items have been made in a diverse range of materials and styles.
Both mirrors and screens were origin- ally designed for a practical function, beyond mere vanity or decoration: wall mirrors to reflect the dim light of candles at night, and screens [...]

The variety and decorative nature of vases and bowls, combined with their practical uses, make them doubly appealing objects to collect.
It is over 200 years since the first glass vases and bowls were made, but most older items are so rare and expensive that they are virtually all museum pieces. Collectable pieces date from the [...]

Bedpans, drug jars, eye baths and shaving bowls are just a few of the mundane household ceramics that have survived the centuries.
Relatively few everyday ceramic items for personal use — ranging from pap-boats for feeding the sick to discreetly shaped chamber pots for women to use in church or when travelling — have survived to [...]

Cabinets have been prized possessions since the 17th century, and are among the most visually arresting and impressive forms of furniture.
The earliest cabinets made in Britain, in the mid-17th century, were used to store precious belongings and papers.
By the end of the 17th century, however, they had become objects of distinction and elegance in their [...]

From Wedgwood hedgehogs to towering jardinieres, collectable plant pots abound, but ceramic statues and furniture for outside use are much harder to find and often much newer than they look.
Pots and other containers for growing and displaying plants existed as early as Song (Sung) dynasty China (AD 960‑1279). In Europe, potters were making such containers [...]

The technique of tin-glazing earthenware came to Europe with the Moorish invasions of Spain in the 8th to 12th centuries, and 15th-century Hispano-Moresque armorial lustre ware chargers are considered among the finest examples of the potter’s art. Tin glaze soon spread to Italy where it was called `maiolica’. From the late 15th century, potters in [...]

Classical Revival
Because vases were so prominently displayed in rooms, it was vital for manufacturers to keep abreast of the latest developments in architecture and style. In Britain from the 1760s that meant following the Neoclassical style of Robert Adam and his contemporaries.
It was the potter Josiah Wedgwood who was to transform and dominate the market [...]