How do you know if something is a true antique/vintage item or a reproduction? It’s not always as easy to tell. One of this week’s fresh to market vintage items is a pitcher and bowl set that was made in the 1960s with a pattern first used in the 1830s. With a piece like that where the age disparity is over 100 years, it’s relatively easy to tell just from looking at the piece. You’re not likely to mistake pottery from the 1960s for a 19th century antique, even if you’re new to collecting.
Some things that are commonly reproduced include depression glass, milk glass, porcelain and tin signs, cast iron banks and tin toys, but that’s hardly a comprehensive list. The more you visit antique and vintage shops and see pieces, the more you learn, the sharper your spidey senses get. And trust us, we’ve all mistaken a reproduction for a true vintage piece. And that’s not always a bad thing, the pitcher and bowl may be repros, but they are vintage in their own right.
There was once a PBS show where three antique experts went flea marketing to find pieces that could be flipped at an antique auction for big bucks. And more than one of them was fooled with a modern piece, rusted out or aged to look crusty and old. In the 1960s and 1970s, when the antiques market was scorching hot and many dealers were less trustworthy, lots of faking happened. It’s not unusual to find an antique bed frame made from two or three different beds or a table that’s made of married pieces from multiple tables even now. That being said, there are plenty of true Victorian and turn of the century pieces on the market now that have been handed down for a couple of generations but are no longer needed.
There are excellent sites dedicated to unmasking fakes, including Real or Repro, which is fascinating to read. But before you go there, take a couple minutes to read about our fresh to market vintage picks.
Staffordshire Brown Floral Pitcher and Bowl Set
The lovely pattern on this Alfred Meakin bowl and pitcher was named Charlotte and was originally designed and engraved in 1830. Meakin names the designer, whose name in old font looks like J Gutt. Truly romantic in every way, the Charlotte pattern would have been first possibly seen in England by the Bronte sisters, Thomas Hardy or George Elliot. This would be lovely set in a cottage on a dresser. Or, why not create a large and lovely fresh flower arrangement as a gift for your best romanic reader friend. Though the pattern is from the 19th century, these are modern pieces that were made in Staffordshire, England in the 1960s era.
Alfred Meakin Cottage Style Pitcher and Bowl Set, $79.99
Mary Ellen, Aunt Hatties Attic
Raspberry Moon Glow Necklace
It’s summer berry season and while you can’t eat these berries, you can certainly wear them. This chunky beaded moon glow choker length necklace would make a nice accompaniment to a summer outfit. It’s unmarked although very likely made in Japan in the 1950s. The raspberry color is luscious and the big bold beads truly make a statement.
Raspberry Moon Glow Necklace, $35.95
Pam, Vintage Renude
Vintage “Arcadia Mixture” Tobacco Tin c. early 1900s
In keeping with the company marketing it as tobacco for women, the tin features quotes from “Lady Nicotine” written in 1893 by J.M. Barrie, a Scottish novelist much better known as the author of Peter Pan.
Vintage Tobacco Tin, $25
Linda, Selective Salvage
Twisted Sister A Twisted Christmas CD
Best known for their defiant, rebellious anthem We’re Not Going to Take It, Twisted Sister is not the first band you think of when it comes to making Christmas playlists. And that’s your mistake, because they have a CD of traditional Christmas songs interpreted with their heavy metal sensibility. No holiday party should be without it.
A Twisted Christmas CD, $18.
–Laurie, NextStage Vintage
Whether you like your metal heavy, your tobacco tins with authorial designs or your necklaces in juicy delicious colors, we’re here for you almost every week with things we’ve found on our vintage missions. Stay up to date with all our adventures by subscribing to our email newsletter. You get one email a week with links to all our posts. And, be assured we would sooner try to snitch Dee Snyder’s blue eye shadow than ever share your info.
