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Use your browser's print controls to print a copy of this research guide. Miriam & Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs Identifying ObjectsResearch on objects belonging to one of the five categories listed on the
left involves the consultation of specific handbooks and guides. The following
decorative arts reference books are listed as sources that may help in identifying
the origins of various objects. These books are also useful guides to visual
images, history, terminology, and bibliography for further research. Call
numbers for reference works located in the Art & Architecture Collection
are shown in parentheses after the bibliographic citation. In addition,
some relevant subject headings are offered at the end of each section. They
can be used to check the Library's online and book catalogues for other
holdings. Furniture: GeneralAronson, Joseph. The Encyclopedia of Furniture. 3rd ed. New York: Crown Publ., 1965. ( MOF Front) 2500 alphabetically arranged short entries on world furniture, from antiquity to the early modernist period. Longer essays on major countries, types of furniture and styles. Many black-and- white illustrations. "Glossary of Designers and Craftsmen" in back of volume. Boger, Louise Ade. The Complete Guide to Furniture Styles. New York: Charles Scribner's, 1959. (MOF Front) Broad survey history organized by historical period with subdivisions for geographic coverage and specific styles: e.g. Louis XIV, Empire, French Provincial, Chippendale, American Colonial, and Federal. Text followed by black and white plates of over 500 objects, bibliography on pp. 423-429. Lockwood, Luke Vincent. The Furniture Collectors' Glossary. New York: Da Capo Press, 1967. (MOF Front) Alphabetical list of terms for forms, functions, decoration, major figures and styles. Line drawing illustrations. World Furniture: An Illustrated History. Edited by Helena Hayward. New York: McGraw Hill, 1965. (MOF+ Front) Profusely illustrated, much of it in color, this historical survey is arranged by time period, then subdivided by country or geographical region. Provides quick visual overview of national styles and their development, broadly treating works in terms of their historical evolution. Furniture: EnglishEdwards, Ralph. The Shorter Dictionary of English Furniture: From the Middle Ages to the Late Georgian Period. London: Country Life, Ltd, 1964. (MOF+ Front) A revised version of one part of an earlier work, The Dictionary of English Furniture. Covers late 15th century up to 1820. Many black and white illustrations. Essays of varying length on types of furniture, specific objects and styles. Section on cabinet-makers, craftsmen, decorative artists at end of the volume. Pictorial Dictionary of British 19th Century Furniture Design. Woodbridge: Antique Collectors' Club, 1977. (MOF 78-2463 Open) Begins with key dates in 19th century British furniture history; contemporary sources quoted in the Dictionary; essays on designers and design books; pictorial dictionary by type of furniture, primarily illustrated with line drawings and engravings. Furniture: AmericanKay, Myrna. Fake, Fraud or Genuine? Identifying Authentic American Furniture. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1987. (MOF 88-2283 Open) Sourcebook of identification techniques, problems in construction, inspection processes and various clues to spotting fraudulently identified pieces. Covers 17th -19th century furniture. Chapter on "Technology as Evidence". Many photographs, often of test cases and their details. Bjerkoe, Ethel Hall. The Cabinetmakers of America. Garden City: Doubleday, 1957. (MOF Front) Introductory essay on "Cabinetmaking as it developed in America". Brief biographical sketches of cabinetmakers. Bibliography, pp. 249-252. Butler, Joseph T. Field Guide to American Antique Furniture. New York: Facts on File, 1985. (MOF 85-2331 Front) Using a "Systematic visual approach," traces the history of American furniture from 17th through early 20th century. 1700 illustrations -- line drawings arranged in chronological sequence by type of furniture, e.g. daybeds, sofas, chests, desks. Forms divided by style, then geographic origin. Iverson, Marion Day. The American Chair 1630-1890. New York: Hastings House, 1957. (MOF Front) Illustrated essays on chairs by historic period, with sections on styles, e.g. Windsor, Queen Anne, Hepplewhite, Turned Chairs. Appendix on museums and historic houses with significant holdings. Sack, Albert. The New Fine Points of Furniture: Early American. New York: Crown Publishers, 1993. (MOF 94-1201 Front) Uses illustrated examples to show the reader good, superior and finest quality furniture pieces. Explains details about construction and ornamental features. Semowich, Charles J. American Furniture Craftsmen Working
Prior to 1920: An Annotated Bibliography. Westport: Allows access to useful biographical information in more obscure sources. Alphabetical lists by craftsmen's names of works about individuals; works about groups of craftsmen; general works; trade catalogs; craftsman-biographical index referring to numbered citations in first section; author-title index; subject index. Subject Headings: FURNITURE; FURNITURE--ATTRIBUTION Glass and Stained Glass
Gothic Lamp for a Hall Newman, Harold. An Illustrated Dictionary of Glass. London: Thames and Hudson, 1977. (MPW 78-983 Front) Contains 2442 entries for terms about "wares, materials, processes, forms and decorative styles, and entries on principal glass-makers, decorators, and designers, from antiquity to the present." Introductory essay on the history of glassmaking. Vose, Ruth Hurst. Glass: The Connoisseur Illustrated Guide. London: The Connoisseur, 1975. (MPW 76-2226 Open)Organized into sections on techniques, blowing and molding, colored and clear glass, decorative practices and later techniques, with many illustrative line drawings and selected color photographs. Pullin, Anne Geffken. Glass Signatures, Trademarks and Trade
Names from the Seventeenth to the Twentieth Technical entry on "How to Look at Glass" is invaluable. Indexes major signatures, trademarks and trade names. Has glossary of selected foreign terms and a section on benchmark dates. Hartmann, Carolus. Glasmarken Lexikon 1600-1945. Stuttgart: Arnoldsche, 1997. (MPW 98-5815 Front) Covers Europe and North America with over 11,000 hallmarks, signatures and firm marks. Includes known artists and short entries describing practices. McKearin, Helen and George. Two Hundred Years of American Blown
Glass. Garden City: Doubleday & Co., Large survey history of American glass production, with background on glassmaking in various periods, table and other fine wares, blown and mold glass, nineteenth century bottles and window glasshouses. With many color and black and white photographs, and selected bibliography, pp. 361-366. Florence, Gene. The Collector's Encyclopedia of Depression Glass.
9th ed. Paducah: Collector Books, 1990. Highly illustrated guide to all physical, historical and technical aspects of this extremely popular glassware. Contains many identifying measurements and information on glass craftspeople and firms. Guide to Trade Catalogs from the Corning Museum of Glass. New York: Clearwater, 1987. (MPW 90-5246) These trade catalogs serve as important guides to identifying the production of various types of U.S. and foreign glassware: bottles and druggists' glass; cut glass; flat glass; laboratory ware; lighting glassware and lamps; and tableware. Indexes for companies, geographical locations, chronology and subjects. Who's Who in Contemporary Glass Art: A Comprehensive World Guide
to Glass Artists; Craftsmen; Designers. Arranged by alphabetical biographical entries. Includes Native Country index and a Residence index. Brady, Darlene and William Serban. Stained Glass: A Guide to
Information Sources. Detroit: Gale, 1980. (MRY Bibliographical entries on general reference sources; dissertations and theses; periodicals; library collections; archives and museums; events and resources. Several useful indexes for authors, titles and subjects. Subject Headings GLASS; GLASS, COLORED
detail from a plate in Fay, J. B. Collection of
Engravings of Arabesque and Vases GeneralInternational Hallmarks on Silver. Paris: Tardy, 1985. (MNP 87-4312 Front.) Technical information in introduction. Material gathered on European common certification process for silver. Hallmarks reproduced in sections by country. Index to places mentioned. Analytical index of hallmarks listed in this book. Covers selected countries in Europe, Africa and Asia. Rosenberg, Marc. Der Goldschmiede Merkzeichen. Frankfurt am Main: H. Keller, 1890. 4 vol. (MNP Front) Lists 20,000 gold and silver makers in Europe, chiefly German. Listed by city or province. Register/index of monograms reproduced. Perry, Evan. Collecting Antique Metalware. Garden City: Doubleday & Co, 1974. (MNK 76-967 Open) Guidebook to forms and functions of various metalware, fake and reproductions, care and conservation. Newman, Harold. An Illustrated Dictionary of Silverware. London: Thames and Hudson, 1987. (MNO 88-456 Open) Contains 2,373 entries on British and North American silver. Techniques,
styles, leading designers and makers from ca. 1500 to the present; emphasis
on 17th - 19th centuries, alphabetical arrangement, well illustrated. SilverWyler, Seymour B. The Book of Old Silver. New York: Crown Publishers, 1937, (1971). (MNO 73-1134 Front) Essays on historical aspects of old silver, e.g. laws, frauds, collection and care, types of silver items, Sheffield plate. American and European countries' hallmarks. Index to marks. Okie, Howard Pitcher. Old Silver and Old Sheffield Plate. New York: Doubleday, 1928. (MNP Front) Covers silversmiths in Great Britain and Ireland, reproducing about 13,000 hallmarks in facsimile. American tables of date letters and other marks. Hallmarks and date letters for Paris Guild of Silversmiths. Continental European hallmarks are listed. A history of Old Sheffield plate is provided, with a description of the method of its production, and key names and hallmarks. Fallon, John P. Marks of London Goldsmiths and Silversmiths 1837 - 1914. London: Barrie & Jenkins: 1992. (MNP 93-1795 Front) An invaluable resource for identifying hallmarks from this time period. Provides hallmark drawings and history of the firms involved. Jackson's Silver & Gold Marks of England, Scotland and Ireland. Edited by Ian Pickford. Woodbridge: Antique Collectors' Club, 1905, (1989). (MNP 89-26552) Revised and enlarged edition of Sir Charles Jackson's classic work English Goldsmiths and Their Marks. Describes London plate, marks and names, lists provincial goldsmiths by region, has sections on Wales, Scotland & Ireland. Reproduces marks by date with photographs of details. Rainwater, Dorothy T. and H. Ivan. American Silverplate. Nashville: Thomas Nelson; Hanover: Everybodys Press, 1968. (MNO 74-18760) Essays on historical background, manufacturing, productions processes, styles and types of silver by function, many drawings and photographs. Ensko, Stephen & Dorothy. American Silversmiths and Their Marks. Boston: David R. Godine, 1988. (MNP 90-11585 Front) The authors have devised a final, revised edition of the classic 1915 work by Robert Ensko and three subsequent books by Stephen. Gives names and marks of early American silversmiths from 1650-1850; list of silver objects with found marks, unidentified marks; locations of silversmiths' shops with maps provided; facsimile pages from four previous Ensko books; illustrations of various silver forms, e.g. cups, bowls, tankards, tea sets, flatware. Kovel, Ralph & Terry. Kovel's American Silver Marks. New York: Crown Publishers, 1989. (MNP 89-26865 Front) Covers two periods 1640 -1850, and 1850-1980. Alphabetical listing including initials with names/firms listed when known, including dates and hall marks reproduced when identified. Useful bibliography, pp. 418-421. Rainwater, Dorthy T. American Silver Manufacturers. Hanover: Everybodys Press, 1966. (MNO 1966 Front) Compiled to identify silversmiths who were manufacturers. Covers 1842 - 1920. Useful because no official guild halls with records were established for the U.S. Makes references to 1896-1915 Jewelers' Circular publications. Trade-marks of the jewelry and kindred trades. Alphabetical name listing, with cross-references, short description of individual or firm and hallmark reproduced when available. Glossary, pp. 207 - 213, bibliography, pp. 215-223. Brett, Vanessa. Phaidon Guide to Pewter. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1982. (MNL 86-92 Open) Guidebook with essays on history and production processes. Lists types of pewter by country - Western Europe and U.S. Chapters on 19th century style: art nouveau to contemporary. Glossary register of pewter marks, pp. 230-245. Subject Headings:
Pottery and Porcelain
Plate 5, Couch from Savage, George & Harold Newman. An Illustrated Dictionary of Ceramics. London: Thames and Hudson, 1985. (*R-Art 88-3197 Front) Alphabetical listing of 3054 terms on wares, materials, processes, styles, patterns and shapes from antiquity to the present day. Many black and white illustrations. Boger, Louise A. The Dictionary of World Pottery and Porcelain. New York: Scribner's, 1971. (MPC Front) Alphabetical listing of terms, makers, firms, processes, forms and styles. Large section of photographs of works by time period and geographic region with descriptive entries. Bibliography, pp. 525-533. Fournier, Robert. Illustrated Dictionary of Pottery Decoration. New York: Prentice-Hall, 1986. (MPC 87-336 Open) Extensive survey of techniques used to ornament or enhance clay forms, their history and development. Shows wide scope of styles through numerous black and white illustrations, arranged in alphabetical order. Handbook of Pottery and Porcelain Marks. Comp. by J.P. Cushion. London: Faber & Faber, 1996. ( MPK 98-7533 Front) Covers a multitude of countries in Europe, from Austria to Switzerland. Also includes China and Japan. Covers Estonia, Poland, and Russia. Also the Scandinavian countries. Extensive index in the back. Danckert, Ludwig. Handbuch des Europaischen Porzellans. Munich: Prestel Verlag, 1954. (MPK Front) Alphabetical entries with many marks reproduced when known. Catalog of marks in back. Section listing artists of Sevres porcelain and their marks. Haggar, Reginald G. Concise Encyclopedia of Continental Pottery and Porcelain. London: Andre Deutsch, 1960. (MPG Front) Alphabetical list of terms and makers, with marks and profuse illustrations, many in color. Rontgen, Robert E. Marks on German, Bohemian and Austrian Porcelain, 1710 to the Present. Exton: Schiffer Publ. Co., 1981. (MPK 89-21208) Specific coverage - Part 1 is register of marks, Part 2 is manufacturers according to location, Part 3 marks that could be mistaken for those of other manufacturers, index of names in back. Mankowitz, Wolf and Reginald Haggar. The Concise Encyclopedia of English Pottery & Porcelain. New York: Hawthorn, (1957). (MPGO Front) Alphabetical entries on makers, firms, manufacturers, processes. Many illustrations and marks given when known-very exhaustive coverage. Useful appendices on engravers, books, museums, and British potters on foreign soil. Godden, Geoffrey. Encyclopedia of British Pottery and Porcelain Marks. London: Herbert Jenkins, 1964. (MPGO Front) Alphabetical listings of potteries or firms, short biographical data, dates if known, cross-references and reproduced marks if known. Godden, Geoffrey. Encyclopedia of British Porcelain Manufacturers. London: Barrie and Jenkins, 1988. (MPGO 89-24665 Front) Guide to makers' marks and pattern numbers. Checklist of manufacturers 1740-1840, alphabetical list of British product lines. A list identifies initials. Bibliography, pp. 831-8. Good illustrations. DeBolt, C. Gerald. The Dictionary of American Pottery Marks: Whiteware and Porcelain. Rutland; Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle, 1988. (*R-ART 90-10561) Guide to identifying early American whiteware and its marks. Lists principal American marks alphabetically, with dates provided when known; also treats miscellaneous American marks, British Coats of Arms, hard to identify American, British and banner marks. Clark, Garth. American Ceramics 1876 to the Present. New York: Abbeville Press, 1987. (MPH + 88-4383 Open) Magnificently illustrated survey decade by decade, contains chronologies, selected exhibitions, biographies, bibliography on pp. 325 -341. Kovel, Ralph and Terry. Kovels' Dictionary of Marks: Pottery and Porcelain. New York: Crown, 1995. (MPK 96-1753 Front) Lists of marks. Vocabulary of marks, dating systems used by specific factories; Pottery & Porcelain "Family Trees"; Fakes & Forgeries. Covers U.S. and Western Europe, specifically U.K., Germany and France. Haslam, Malcolm. Marks and Monograms of the Modern Movement 1875-1930. New York: Scribners', 1977. (MAO 78-197 Front) Subtitle: "A Guide to the marks of Artists, Designers, Retailers and Manufacturers from the period of the Aesthetic Movement to Art Deco and Style Moderne." Grouped in sections for ceramics, glass, metalwork and jewelry, graphics, furniture and textiles. Covers U.K., U.S., France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Italy and Scandinavia. Davison, Gerald. The Handbook of Marks on Chinese Ceramics. London: Han- Shan Tang Books, 1994. (MPFF 95-5213 Front) Lists marks in various scripts, from imperial to multiple-character marks. Lists potters by name. Karmason, Marilyn G. and Joan Stacke. Majolica: A Complete History and Illustrated Survey. New York: Abrams, 1989. (MPC 90-887 Open) Survey work treating history and development of 19th century earthenware based on Italian Renaissance Majolica. Sections for British firms Minton and Wedgwood, American majolica, continental potteries, clays and glazed. Also includes section on collecting majolica in museums. Subject Heading
Rugs and Carpets
Flower Stands Allane, Lee. Oriental Rugs: A Buyer's Guide. London: Thames and Hudson, 1988. (MOP 89-18154) General introduction for the beginning or amateur enthusiast. Explains rug names and terms; how Oriental rugs are made; issues to consider when buying a rug. A section of color plates follows, with information on designs and "Rugs of the major Producing Countries", e.g. Persia, Anatolia, Afghan and others. Curatola, Giovanni. Oriental Carpets. London: Souvenir Press, 1981. (MOP 89-5946 Open) Heavily illustrated survey useful for identifying makes and types of carpets, their colors, patterns and symbology. Gans-Ruedin, E. The Connoisseur's Guide to Oriental Carpets. Rutland; Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle. 1971. (MOP 72-1383 Front) Thorough historical survey with sections on the characteristics of carpets, buying and care. Remainder of volume covers classification of carpets by country or region, with sections on various types, illustrations and specific examples. Neff, Ivan C. and Carol Maggs. Dictionary of Oriental Rugs: with a Monograph on Identification by Weave. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1977. (MOP 80-172) Technical guide concerned with explaining origins of types of Oriental rugs by their weave patterns. Rosenstiel, Helene Von. American Rugs and Carpets: From the Seventeenth Century to Modern Times. New York: William Morrow, 1978. (MOP 79-1635) Strong survey history of various types of American floor covering from painted floor, matting, linoleum and oilcloth, to loomed carpets. Pattern chronology, bibliography, pp. 184-187. Subject Headings
An earlier version of this guide was published as "Identifying Objects: Five Categories." Collection Building 15, 1 (1996): 38-42. Paula Baxter,Curator of Art & Architecture Collection of the Miriam & Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs. August 2001. |
