No comments about Handbook of Fine Jewelry.

1 comments about Early Connecticut Silver, 1700-1840 (Garnet Books).

1. The work is basically a catalog of outstanding pieces of Connecticut hollowware and flatware plus a few pieces of different types with silver as part of them such as swords, pepperboxes (pepper shakers), and one pair of shoe buckles . The paperback edition is the same as the hardcover put out in 1970 with the addition of the Introduction by Eisenbarth. In this new section of about 25 pages, Eisenbarth gives background on the early American silver and profiles of the leading silversmiths.
   
   The pieces are shown in photographs one per page except for a few smaller items such as the pepperboxes which are two to a page. The factual information provided below each photo is just what collectors and researchers and the like are interested in. Such information is identification and date of the piece, the silversmith who made it, description, inscription, maker's mark, dimensions, and lastly in italics the current owner of the piece, in most cases a private collector or a museum. The descriptions provide the basics of the design which might not or can not be known by the photo alone; such as "round, tapered body, slightly everted lip, flat bottom" for one of the silver beakers, and "oval bowl, narrow handle stem flattening to pointed, downturned end" for the 1792 serving spoon facing it. Combined with the dimensions of height, etc., also noted, one gets an accurate and useful image of each item.
   
   Although the catalog includes only Connecticut silver of the period covered, it serves as a catalog and reference for all early American silver, i. e., of the Colonial period and the first decades of the American republic after the Revolutionary War. At this time, Connecticut along with Massachusetts and to some extent Philadelphia and a couple of other isolated spots were the centers for high-quality silver pieces. Moreover, there was not that much variation in the kinds of pieces or their styles. The photographs make an ideal visual reference. Collectors, antique dealers, historians, etc., will appreciate especially as well the 45 notes to Eisenbarth's Introduction, the biographical notes on the Connecticut silversmiths, and the five-page selected bibliography. The 15-page Index of Marks with close-up photographs of numerous silversmiths' marks capturing the details of them is yet another aspect making the book a top work for readers in its field of collecting and early Americana.

No comments about Gold of Africa: Jewellery and Ornaments from Ghana, Cote d Ivoire, Mali and Senegal.

No comments about American Silver at Winterthur (A Winterthur Book).

3 comments about Beads on Bags:1800's to 2000 (Schiffer Book for Collectors).

1. iT WILL GIVE YOU A GOOD IDEA ON WHAT YOU SHOULD BE PAYING OR SELLING A BEADED BAGS FOR. IF YOU HAVE ONE, YOU CAN FIND THE TYPE IT IS AND DETERMINE THE AGE, CONDITION AND THE VALUE. IT IS EASY TO READ, WITH LOTS OF PHOTOS. THERE ARE SO MANY DIFFERENT PURSES PICTURED, THE PHOTOS ARE ENOUGH TO ENTERTAIN ME FOR HOURS-WISHING I COULD FIND ALL OF THE ITEMS I SEE.



2. I am the founder of the Antique Purse Collectors Society and am so glad I found this book!



3. I continually sit and just look through this book, I love the pictures and the variety.

No comments about A Personal Touch: Late 19th and 20th Century Silver From The Seawolf Collection.

No comments about Old Pewter: Its Makers and Marks in England, Scotland and Ireland an Account of the Old Pewterer & His Craft.

No comments about Palmetto Silver: Riches of the South : A Celebration of South Carolina Silver.

No comments about Historische Bestecke: Formenwandel von der Altsteinzeit bis zur Moderne / Historic Cutlery: Changes in Form from the Early Stone Age to the Mid-20th Century.

1 comments about Costume Jewelry: The Great Pretenders (Schiffer Book for Collectors).

1. Given the endless variety of costume jewelry, choosing which pieces to include in a reference book must be an overwhelming task. While not an encyclopedic reference, for its 150+ pages "The Great Pretenders" provides a good, basic overview. There is an adequate sample of just about every type of popular costume jewelry. The pieces are well photographed and realistically valued. If you need a basic costume jewelry reference for buying and selling, this is a worthwhile book to own.