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The world of antiques and collecting can be a mysterious and mystifying place. Dealers' jargon, strange terminology and weird names don't help. This online guide, kindly supplied by Reader's Digest (taken from their publication TREASURES in your HOME), lists everything you ever need to know... from the Finnish architect and furniture designer Alvar Aalto (1898-1976) to Zwischengoldglas – literally 'gold between glass' – a method of decorating 18th century beakers and goblets.
Yataghan
A sword which has a blade with a double curve and large curled grips on the hilt. It was popular in the Balkans and in the Near East during the 19thC.
yew
Although a softwood, the timber of this native British species is very dense and strong. The wood is golden-brown in tone, close-grained and polishes to a fine finish; and as the trunks tend to twist, the wood is often beautifully figured. Yew has been a popular medium for the framework of country-made furniture since the 16thC, and from the 17th for turned drawer knobs and spindles; in the following century the sticks, bows and legs of the best quality windsor chairs were of yew. Yew, particularly the whorled and knotted burr wood, has also been used as a veneer, and was favoured by 20thC artist-craftsmen such as Ernest gimson and Sir Gordon russell.
yingqing
With ding ware, one of the earliest Chinese porcelain wares, dating from the song dynasty (960-1279). Yingqing (misty-blue) refers to the translucent blue glaze, formerly known as qingbai. The wares - mainly bowls - survive today having been dug up from burial grounds, but have also been reproduced in Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Yixing
Chinese potteries specialising in red stoneware. Products, particularly teapots, were exported to Europe in the 17thC, and inspired similar ware produced at Meissen, and by the elers brothers in England from the late 17thC.
York flagon
See acorn flagon.
Zebrawood A decorative, reddish-brown wood barred with dark stripes, also known as tiger wood. It is a hard, heavy, Brazilian timber, most commonly seen in banding and inlaid decoration. In the late 18thC and throughout the 19thC, zebrawood was sometimes used as a veneer for complete surfaces of bureaux, desks and tables.
Zinc
Bluish-white metallic element. It is used to form various alloys such as brass, bronze and nickel silver. Zinc was not produced commercially in Britain until the 18thC. See spelter.
Zircon
Gemstone which ranges in colour through yellow, red and orange to green. Colourless, golden-brown and sky-blue versions are produced by heat treatment. Most of the mineral suitable for gemstones comes from the Far East and Sri Lanka. Yellow and brown shades of zircon were often termed hyacinth, and transparent or colourless types are sometimes known as jargons or jargoons. Colourless zircons are sometimes used as substitutes for diamonds, but are not as hard or brilliant.
zoetrope
Optical toy popular in Victorian times. It consists of a revolving cylinder which is open at the top and has a series of pictures arranged along the inner surface. The pictures are viewed through slits around the edge of the cylinder and appear to be moving when the box is rotated rapidly. The zoetrope was developed in the 1830s and is also known as a zootrope or wheel of life.
Zucchi, Antonio Pietro
(1726-91) Italian painter and designer of furniture and household fittings. He travelled with architect Robert adam in Italy and, on coming to England in 1766, did a great deal of work with him on house interiors. Zucchi was the second husband of painter Angelica kauffmann.
Zwischengoldglas
Glass vessel decorated with engraving and gold or silver leaf, and then sheathed with another layer of glass to enclose the design. The name literally means 'gold between glass'. This technique dates from c.300 bc, but most surviving examples were made in Bohemia between 1730 and 1755. It is seen mainly on beakers or goblets decorated with hunting, heraldic or religious images.
