Antiques Christmas quiz featuring TheSaleroom.com
19 December 2023 Think you know your kitchenalia from your railwayana? Can you pick out a pin cushion or button hook? Try your hand at our antiques quiz featuring lots from TheSaleroom.com.
Do you know what year Charles Dickens’ The Old Curiosity Shop was published? It’s one of the first major appearances of an antiques-type business in literature and may have inspired this scratch built antiques shop diorama. Estimated at £200-300, it goes under the hammer at The Auction Centre in Cheshire in the Antiques & Collectables Auction of January 4. Oh – and the book was published in 1841.
Q. What is this?
This 19th century mahogany pole firescreen with a tapestry panel is part of the Winter Decorative Interiors Sale on December 30 held at Victor Mee in Belturbet and has an estimate of €60-80.
A. A firescreen. Originally firescreens were large, created to go in front of the hearth, but in the 18th century the pole screen developed which was placed between a person and the fire, often positioned to shield a single person's face.
Q. How old is the earliest know terracotta sculpture (hint: not pictured).
This Italian terracotta sun face wall plaque estimated at £30-50 goes under the hammer at Clarke’s Auctions at Semley in its three-day sale running December 28-30.
A. c.25,000 years. Terracotta, made by baking clay, is a relatively straightforward process and its use as an art material appears relatively early in history. The Venus of Dolni Vestonice is a Czech prehistoric sculpture and measures less than 5 inches high.
Q. Antiques are generally considered to be older than _______ years old.
a. 75
b. 100
c. 250
Could it be an antique? This Victorian table stereoviewer, c.1860, is included in Flints’ January 9 sale of Fine Photographs & Optical Toys where it has an estimate of £200-400.
A. B
Q. However, traditionally, objects were only considered to be collector-worthy antiques if they were made _______.
This Regency papier-mâché wine coaster is estimated at £30-50 at Clarke’s Auctions of December 28-30.
a. before 1830, before the dawn of the Age of Industry.
b. before 1400 when the 'Age of Exploration' meant that fewer objects were produced in cultural isolation.
c. before the c.5th century AD with the end of Classical antiquity.
a. A
Q. Who went on the Grand Tour?
These Grand Tour studs are set with micro mosaics depicting classical buildings. They are offered with two other sets of studs with an estimate of £200-300 on December 30-31 at Claydon Auctioneers in Buckinghamshire.
A. No, we don't mean Jeremey Clarkson and friends. Historically the Grand Tour was a trip taken by young, upper class European (usually British) young men of the 16th to 19th centuries. It centered around Italy as the centre of Classical culture. A souvenier industry sprang up around it, selling both antiquities and items to recall Classical splendour.
Q. What is this?
This large Victorian majolica cheese dome is estimated at £30-50 Hannam’s sale Fine Antiques & Oriental Works of Art Auction on January 2-5.
A. A cheese dome. Today these are usually glass, but in the past they came in different materials, such as this example.
