Date an object
Answer what you are sure of and leave the rest. Every question is optional, and the list narrows as you go.
Style is copied; construction is not. A convincing Victorian look can be forty years old, but a circular saw mark cannot predate circular saws. Answer on how the thing was made rather than what it looks like.
1.What is it made of?
optionalThe broadest split, and the one that decides which evidence is worth looking for.
2.What construction evidence can you see?
optionalLook at the parts nobody finished — the back of a case, the underside of a top, the base of a bottle. Pick everything that applies.
3.Are there any marks?
optionalMarks are the fastest dating evidence when they exist. A registry diamond, a hallmark or a patent number can date an object to the year.
16 matches
Answer any question to begin
- Bakelite and Early Plastics1920–1945
- Cast Iron Cookware1890–1945
- Costume Jewellery1920–1970
- Dovetailed DrawersVaries
- Early Photographs1830–1920
- Furniture FinishesVaries
- Oil Lamps1830–1890
- Old BottlesVaries
- Pocket Watches1830–1920
- Postcards1890–1945
- Pressed Glass1830–1890
- Quilts and Coverlets1830–1945
- Saw Marks on TimberVaries
- Silver HallmarksVaries
- Transferware1830–1890
- Wooden Boxes and Small CasesVaries