3 comments about Silver Jewelry Designs: Evaluating Quality Good * Better * Best.

1. As a coffee table book, 'Designs' is an excellent and pleasant pictorial example of silver jewelery from around the world. As a reference work for a collector 'Designs' at more times than is acceptable is a headache to read. Attempting to determine which of the illustrations fit the authors descriptions is time consuming and should be unnecessary.This problem is evident in the photos of multiple pieces and in the good, better, best sections. For reference purposes, order is lacking. For good, better, best selection, information is lacking.As a jewelery catalog, this book passes muster. As a reference work, I will return the book to its owner and will not purchase a copy for my own modest library.



2. I collect silver jewelry--mostly Mexican & bought this book as a reference.

   I think the photos are great, especially the colorful ones in the first part of the book on Arts & Crafts, Art Nouveau, & Art Deco jewelry, however, the "Values Reference" price guide in the back is very poor. There are no prices listed for many of the pieces shown in the book & the descriptions in the price guide often don't quite match up with the descriptions accompanying the photos, so it is hard to determine the correct price. Also, I think some of the prices quoted are way too high if you compare the prices in the book with, for example, prices on E-bay.

   If this book is ever republished, I think the "Values Reference" should be totally revamped & I think the photo captions should follow a more logical order--such as from top to bottom or clock-wise. In the present edition they often don't.

   Buy this book for the lovely photos, but if you need a price guide I don't recommend it.




3. As a jewelry designer, I found this book to be incredibly valuable. While the text is not particularly well written, the photography is outstanding. Great detail shots. Many of the pieces have pictures from the back as well as the front, which is very valuable if you are trying to determine how a piece was made. Signature marks are shown as well. It is a good chronological view of the history of jewelry using spectacular examples of work. I learned a great deal from this book and would recommend it to other designers. As a book for collectors, I thought the assessment information (good, better and best) was without meaningful context and also had no monetary reference. Designers - this is a 5 star book. Collectors - this is a 3 star book.

No comments about A World of Antique Phonographs.

4 comments about Warman's American Pottery & Porcelain (Warman's American Pottery and Porcelain).

1. Second edition of the popular volume updated for the year 2000. There are 224 pages with more than 200 black and white photos and a 16-page color section. This encyclopedia describes and prices almost 12,000 items produced by 150 American potteries. Introductory text covers Derivation of Prices, Role of Condition, State of the Market, America's Ceramics Industry, and handy abbreviations used throughout the work. There's also an appendix with auction houses, museums, glossary and a useful index, that facilitates finding items. Topics range from Advertising and Calendar Plates, Children's Ware, Dresden Pottery, to Warwick China, Wheatley Pottery, and Yellowware. Plenty of text is included for each category. A useful book that collectors will refer to often.



2. Good book, covers the makers styles and years produced as well as who purchased and made like items, Covers a vast number of years and well worth the purchase price.



3. I returned this book because I was looking for more photos to refer to. I thought, for a beginner, this book was too difficult to follow.



4. If you love to read on histories, then this book is perfect for you, but it's not good for anyone who needs a quick reference guide or who needs pictures. This book will give you one or two examples of an entire company, and the pictures are in black and white for the most part.
   
   However it will give you histories of companies and a mark or two. if your new to this, i don't recommend this book at all. Instead go with Warman's Field Guide instead.

1 comments about Victorian Treasures: An Album and Historical Guide for Collectors.

1. I first borrowed this book from the Library to look for prices for antiques and what I found was an amazing look into victorian life like I've never imagined. Very interesting.

No comments about How to Buy and Sell Art.

No comments about Pacific Pottery: Sunshine Tableware from the 1920s, '30s, and '40s...and more!.

1 comments about Ronson's Art Metal Works (Schiffer Military History).

1. This is one of a series of books by the same author covering "unique" manufactured items including cigarette lighters, ballpoint and fountain pens, and flashlights among others. It is also a collector's price guide. One should read the Introduction and History sections carefully because the rest of the book consists primarily of pictures and captions.
   My interest was piqued when the dust jacket blurb listed hood ornaments. L.V. Aronson started doing business as The Art Metal Works in the 1880's. They are said to have made the first hood ornaments manufactured for sale in the U.S. in about 1909. Since I am helping the San Diego (CA) Automotive Museum catalog its hood ornament collection, and we have one of these, I bought the book.
   Unfortunately only one hood ornament (of several they made) is covered. It is a 1915 Uncle Sam with "America First" emblazoned on it. While I think the author has confused "patriotism" with "isolationism" in his discussion of it, nonetheless it is an interesting piece. But even more interesting is the picture on page 100 of a 1909 Smiling Baby Buddha figurine which became the first U.S. hood ornament, "GOBBO". My source informs me they came in three sizes - large (trucks), medium (cars) and small (bicycles). He owns a complete set. The author informs us that it wasn't unusual for companies to "borrow" figures they (or others) made for one use and change it to another.
   About 1923, GOBBO's head became an incense burner (page 110) with "I am GOBBO - God of Good Luck" inscribed on the side with L.V. Aronson's mark on the bottom. This same inscription appears on the hood ornaments.
   When WWII ended, the various items the company was producing such as incesne burners, bookends, aquarium stands, figurines, etc., were discontinued and the company focused on making cigarette lighters and associated items which were the most profitable,

1 comments about McDonald's Pre-Happy Meal Toys: From the Fifties, Sixties and Seventies (Schiffer Book for Collectors).

1. What can I say, Joyce has done it again! Pre-Happy Meal toys were always a mystery, and people never had a real idea of what they were all about. But now, thanks to this book, the mystery has now been eliminated. There are pictures of just about anything and everything that you could imagine. There are even McDonald's Newspaper Articles and Advertisements from the 50's through the 70's. The details on these toys and giveaways are VERY thorough and VERY accurate. This book brings fun, and gives you more to look for to expand your McCollection!

No comments about Legacy of Lace by Kathleen Warnick (Identifying, Collecting, and Preserving American Lace).

No comments about Matchsafes: Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian (Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution).