Antique & collectible terms​
Common terms like bone china, flow blue, folk art, lithophane and ​​moriage.

​Bone china is a type of porcelain that is composed of a minimum of 30% bone ash, (feldspar) and (clay). Developed by English potter Josiah Spode, bone china is known for its high levels of whiteness, very high mechanical strength and chip resistance.

​Carnival glass is molded or pressed glass, always with a pattern and always with a shiny, metallic, 'iridescent' surface shimmer. The keys to its appeal are that it looks superficially like the very much more expensive blown iridescent glass by Tiffany. 

Demitasse is French for "half cup" or a small cup used to serve Arabic coffee or espresso. It typically has about 2–3 oz capacity, half the size of a full coffee cup. Another type of demitasse has a glass cup set into a metal frame.

​​Depression Glass is clear, colored or translucent glassware that was distributed free, or at low cost, in the United States around the time of the Great Depression. Depression glass can be found in many colors and styles.

​Flow blue is a style of porcelain that originated in the 1820s among the Staffordshire potters of England. The name is derived from the blue glaze that blurred or "flowed" during the firing process. Most flow blue ware is a kind of transferware. The decorative patterns were applied with a paper stencil to glazed blanks, or standard pottery shapes. The stencils then burned away in the kiln.

​​​Folk Art encompasses art produced from an indigenous culture, peasants or other laboring trades people. Antique folk art is distinguished from traditional art in that while it is collected today based mostly on its artistic merit; it was never produced as a category to be art. Examples include: weathervanes, old store signs, carved figures, carousel horses, and hand made fire buckets.

​Jasperware or jasper ware, is a type of stoneware first developed by Josiah Wedgwood. It is noted for its matte finish and is produced in a number of different colors, of which the best known is a pale blue that has become known as "Wedgwood Blue". The term "jasper" (in Jasperware) is derived from an opaque crypto-crystalline variety of quartz.

​​Lithophane is molded artwork in thin very translucent porcelain that can only be seen clearly when back lit with a light source from the outside. No pigment is used to make the image, rather the thickness of the item renders the variation in tone.

​​Moriage is a special type of raised decoration used on some Japanese pottery. Sometimes pieces of clay were shaped by hand and applied to the item; sometimes the clay was squeezed from a tube in the way we apply cake frosting.

​Occupied Japan was printed on pottery, porcelain, toys, and other goods made during the American occupation of Japan after World War II, from 1945 to 1952. Collectors now search for these pieces. The items were made for export.

​Repoussé is a metalworking technique in which a malleable metal is ornamented or shaped by hammering from the reverse side. It is also known as embossing. Chasing is the opposite technique to repoussé, and the two are used in conjunction to create a finished piece. The term chasing is derived from the noun "chase", which refers to a groove, channel or indentation.

​Swastikas date back to ancient civilizations, they remain widely used in Eastern religions like Buddhism. Swastikas were also used by the Navajo & Hopi tribes until WWII as a sign of good luck. The swastika symbol has since been outlawed in Germany. Look for items that have non German and/or pre-WWII swastikas on them.

Trench Art is commonly defined as any decorative item made by soldiers, prisoners of war or civilians, where the manufacture is directly linked to armed conflict or its consequences. ​​Trench art aeroplane made from a Japanese shell casings.

​Uranium Glass or Vaseline glass is a glass once made into tableware and household items, which has had uranium oxide added to it prior to melting to obtain the unique green color. The proportion usually varies from trace levels to about 25% by weight uranium in some 19th-century pieces. Uranium glass turns neon green when exposed to ultraviolet light.

​​U.S. Zone is similar to items marked Occupied Japan. Items were marked “U.S. Zone” Germany after the Allied powers defeated Germany in World War II then divided the country for administrative purposes during 1945–49. The American zone consisted of Bavaria and Hesse in Southern Germany, and some areas to the north.