how to tell bronze from spelter

#2. mickpearson. Antiques often have a ","noIndex":0,"noFollow":0},"content":"You're going to spend some money on furniture and accessories, so you may as well buy something that can hold its value after you use it. My new otter in cold-cast bronze ; the finished item. Maybe there's a veneer chip on a table top that has been expertly repaired; or perhaps there's a pinhead flake on the base of a porcelain vase.\r\n\r\n

Good condition means the piece has suffered a few slings and arrows and come through them. Bronze is solid but if the base of the piece has been scratched with a tougher metal, then it should have a gold or yellow colour. Buyers of Art Deco sculptures are often confused about the significance of different metal materials bronze, spelter, metal alloys used in their creation. However, with increasing interest and desire to purchase original Art Deco pieces, collectors are looking to period objects made from a variety of materials. This website uses cookies to offer the best possible experience. Expected (estimated) weight of a 29" statue if bronze or spelter. Grey indicates spelter and red or brown points to resin. Lift the item in your hand. Also unusual are a miniature, fine-quality salesman's sample of a piece of furniture from the early 19th century; or a large capacity candle mold for making 20 to 40 candles instead of the more common dozen-capacity molds.
Reproducibility. In a raw state it is brittle when cold but pliable when heated to 100-150 degrees centigrade. The preferred method of high value sculpture repair is using metal pins and adhesives. Spelter, used in the 19th century to imitate bronze. Corrosion appears as a white powdery coating. Research as much information on the sculpture and the artist before considering repairing your sculpture. (eds), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Spelter&oldid=1121088332, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 10 November 2022, at 12:38. Some good advice on caring for an antique sculpture and maintaining the surface or the patina of sculptures and statues of stone, bronze, spelter or lead. Welding or Adhesive? 2 See if the metal is reddish-brown, which could mean it's bronze. It is made up of antimony, lead and sometimes tin. Her articles and essays have appeared in Redbook, Family Circle, Woman's Day, Reader's Digest, Family Life, and Ms.
","hasArticle":false,"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/10799"}},{"authorId":10800,"name":"Ron Zoglin","slug":"ron-zoglin","description":" Ron Zoglin has been in the antique business for more than 25 years and owns Brookside Antiques in Kansas City, MO. Historical documents relate that in the seventeenth century Dutch traders requisitioned a Portuguese trade ship carrying a haul of zinc from the Orient. Perhaps a porcelain figurine's finger has broken and been repaired by an expert.

\r\nDamage affects the value of different categories in different ways. Was th By entering this site you declare By contrast, spelter and resin are both comparatively light, but they are sometimes attached to heavy wood or stone bases to give them extra weight. Here's where your specialization comes in: You need to know the types of pieces Tiffany made the texture of the glass, the colors, and the styles and make sure that all the elements make sense before you can believe the signature.\r\n\r\n

The type of material: Is that bronze statue the real thing? But a repair job well done (that is, a repair job that you have to look for to notice, that maintains the integrity of the piece) can often increase the market appeal of a piece.
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Ron Zoglin has been in the antique business for more than 25 years and owns Brookside Antiques in Kansas City, MO. What might be a minor chip or crack in a piece of porcelain can significantly devalue a piece of glass. If it flakes or scratches off easily, it's probably a painted on patina-substitute. You can hire 100 people to trample a new Oriental rug to give it a worn in look.

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Artist or company: An object with a Tiffany signature is worth more than an object without one. If you put a foot-tall bronze sculpture on a scale, it will weigh six to ten pounds. For example, only royalty or the rich could afford gold boxes for snuff, so only a few were made.
Few of the original pieces remain. Spelter, a combination of metals, can look like bronze. In the decorative arts world it made it an ideal material for small-scale works of sculpture. Heres a quick guide for how to identify each material - and therefore determine if something is made of spelter or bronze. Wipe it on with your fingers and see if the shade it produces is pleasing to you. A coppery color would indicate brass. Bronze is extremely hard and therefore unlikely to display any damage other than to the surface patina; it was first used as swords in the Bronze Age. It should feel warmer, Scratching the patina also shows the surface of the metal underneath. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. Then figure out what the total cost of the trip would be.? Bronze is solid but if the base of the piece has been scratched with a tougher metal, then it should have a gold or yellow colour. Care and Maintenance Finally, bronze is heavier than spelter. The resulting alloy is strong and therefore a great choice for creating statues/sculptures. Some stone dissolves or is irreparably worn away by misguided attempts at cleaning. Here are some clues and tips to help you analyze whether an antique is authentic: Here's the rule as far as value goes: The less that was done to the original item to alter it, the more it's worth. But a lot may have happened in the last hundred or so years to the piece you are hoping to make your own.\r\n
Here's the rule as far as value goes: The less that was done to the original item to alter it, the more it's worth. Ceramic & Sculpture Repair Lessons Art Deco figurines of women, often dancing, were made of bronze or spelter (white metal) for the main part, ivory for the hands and faces. Always cover all antique sculpture and statues before spraying garden chemicals anywhere near them. For furniture, mint implies no repairs or missing pieces and an original finish.

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Excellent condition means that the piece has minor flaws. A teacher walks into the Classroom and says If only Yesterday was Tomorrow Today would have been a Saturday Which Day did the Teacher make this Statement? One simple test is to apply a magnet to the artwork and see if it sticks there. And what is today's value ? RADAR is an acronym that stands for Rarity, Aesthetics, Desirability, Authenticity, and Really great condition. Also, knowing the flaws of a piece can be a negotiating tool. have a golden color. A graduate of Oberlin College, Fraser Sherman began writing in 1981. (click pictures). Books on your areas of interest also will show the better pieces.\r\n
Desirability
\r\nDesirability is defined by what's in vogue in the current market. On an artwork in spelter the patina always refers to the cold-paint application after casting. Is it made by the artist or company that is indicated? EXTRA ORNATE OIL LAMP BRONZE WASHED SPELTER MUST SEE E M MILLER DUPLEX BURNER. In its natural, unfinished form, the color of bronze is a dull gold/brown. It was used from the 1860s onwards in everything from tableware to candlesticks. 0, forum If you visit the link below to our Estimate request form, we'll reply to you within 48 hours with detaild cost estimate and packing / shipping instructions. Bronze is very heavy and when tapped with something hard it makes a ringing sound. Oct 16, 2012. An old piece of bronze will have a patina. Most people wouldnt know the difference. He guessed that Rasmussens piece probably began life as a lamp and had lost a few pieces through the past century. Sculptures that are made of bronze are heavy in weight and will So without seeing a clear difference, its not easy to tell if an ornament is made out of spelter or bronze. For example, you can use old wood and create a new piece of furniture. and Lang, J. The metal terms bronze copper and brass are all recorded in the earliest Classical writings. Spelter, on the other hand, is weak and brittle. Apply the wax with a soft bristled brush and burnish gently with a soft cloth. He has been published in The Observer and Cosmopolitan. Rix holds a Master of Arts degree in English from Magdalen College, Oxford. The quality of spelter is in its casting. Sherman is also the author of three film reference books, with a fourth currently under way. Jean-Nol Cabanettes However, pieces of spelter, dating from the early twentieth century to the present day are now much sought after. Specialists in antique fireplaces & architectural antiques since 1969. Some examples of rarities in terms of size or shape include silver spoons or other utensils with a specialized purpose, such as silver stuffing spoons used for stuffing a turkey or goose or marrow spoons used for coaxing the marrow out of bones.
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Desirability