Antique Terms (M)
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The antique marks glossary - antique terms m covering everything from macintyre to musket.
From macintyre to musket, below you will find antique related words or antique terms m beginning with the letter 'm' and definitions or histories.
The list is not exhaustive but we will add to it as time goes by. The descriptions detailed are only intended to be relevant to how the word or term relates to antiques and although the same word may have other meanings in other contexts, we have not and do not intend to detail those meanings here. In some instances we have included pictures to enhance the meaning of the word or term and we have also indexed each word in order that you may link to the explanation when the word or term appears in other pages on the site.
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| miquelet
lock An early form of the flintlock mechanism, also known as a Mediterranean or Spanish flintlock, in use from the first half of the 17thC to the 19thC. |
| mirror
painting Painted decoration applied to glass, especially mirrors and snuff bottles. The technique is also known as reverse painting because the foreground details are painted first and the background details last. |
| mitre-cutting A cut-glass technique using a V-edged wheel to make a sharp groove. |
| mixed
cut A combination of two different cutting styles on a gemstone. See jewel cutting. |
| mixed
franking A combination of two or more postage stamps from different countries appearing on the same envelope. Before international traffic of mail was regulated in 1874, an envelope might acquire an extra stamp for each country it passed through to cover the next leg of postage. |
| mocha
ware Pottery decorated with moss or fern-like designs. It is named after mocha stone, a form of quartz with branch-like markings. A drop of pigment, said to be composed of tobacco juice, stale urine and turpentine, grew chemically on a slip-coated body while it was still slightly moist achieving the feathered effect. Mocha ware was produced for especially in the form of mugs and jugs, from the 1780s and throughout the 19thC. |
| modeller In the ceramics industry, the sculptor or workman responsible for the creation of a 'master' figure, group or any three-dimensional form. The master model is then cast so that moulds can be made and the original figure copied repeatedly for commercial production. |
| Modern
movement Loosely used term for work by early 20thC designers and architects, which attempted to create a new approach to design suitable for a technological world. Modernism was embraced by international designers experimenting with new materials and techniques, including Walter gropius, Marcel breuer, le corbusier and Ludwig mies van der rome.. |
| mohair Material originally made from pure spun goats' hair, and later from a mix of spun wool, cotton and silk, used for upholstery and hangings in the 17th and 18th centuries. Mohair was also used to make dolls' wigs in the 19thC. |
| moire Finely ribbed furnishing fabric, usually silk or silk mixture, that has a lustrous finish with a watered or wavy figure. The word is a French adaptation of mohair, from which the fabric was first made. Moreen or morine is the now obsolete English version of moiré, which referred to a strong woollen material sometimes mixed with cotton and used for bed and window curtains in the 18thC. |
| monopodium A decorative support used on tables and chairs, consisting of the head and one leg of an animal, usually a lion. The monopodium was first seen in Roman furniture, and was revived by late 18thC neoclassical designers such as Thomas hope. |
| monteith Large silver or sometimes ceramic bowl with a notched or scalloped rim which appeared in late 17thC Britain and Europe. It was initially used to cool wine glasses, which were suspended over ice or in iced water from notches around the rim. Later examples often have a detachable rim, allowing the bowl also to be used for serving punch. |
| moons Translucent spots, sometimes also known as stars, in some French and British soft-paste porcelain caused by bubbles in the paste, seen when a piece is held up to the light. |
| moonstone Colourless gemstone with a blue sheen from the feldspar family, found mainly in Sri Lanka. Moonstones were very sought after in the late 19thC and were popular with arts and crafts jewellers. |
| Moorcroft,
William Moorcroft worked for James macintyre & Co from 1898. Backed by the liberty family, he established his own factory at Cobridge, Staffordshire in 1913. Moorcroft's early pieces were art nouveau style in a palette of blues, greens and yellows. From the early 20thC he experimented with different finishes, including lustre, vivid flambé glazes and from the 1930s, matt glazes combined with simple forms and dramatic colouring. |
| Moore,
Bernard (1850-1935) Staffordshire artist-potter whose successful experimentation with Chinese flamb and sang-de-boeuf glazes became a characteristic of his work. He produced simply shaped decorative ware such as vases in porcelain and earthenware forms, much of it decorated by ceramics artists such as Hilda Beardmore. |
| Moore,
James (c. 1670-1726) Royal cabinet-maker at the time of King George I and in partnership with John gumley from 1714. Moore supplied quality carved and gilt gesso furniture to many aristocratic houses. |
| Moorfield
carpets Hand-knotted carpets made by Thomas Moore in Moorfields, London, in the mid 18thC. Moore was the main competitor of Thomas Whitty, founder of the axminster Carpet Manufactory, and produced high-quality pieces in neoclassical style, many for the architect Robert Adam. |
| Moquette Sturdy carpeting and upholstery textile woven in a similar manner to velvet - on narrow looms, using coarse wool and linen. The production of moquette carpets, also known as brussels carpets, occurred from the 16th to the 18th centuries in Britain at kidderminster, wilton, Norwich and Bradford. |
| morion crested 16th- 17thC metal helmet with the brim upcurving at front and rear. |
| Morocco
leather Fine-grained, elastic, soft but firm leather used by bookbinders, upholsterers and furniture-makers. It was originally goatskin, produced by the Moors in Spain and Morocco; later, sheepskin was also used. Morocco leather became a popular bookbinding material in Europe from the 16thC, and by the 18thC was also used for the production of furniture. |
| Morris,
William (1834-1896) Artist-craftsman, designer, social reformer, writer and the main inspiration behind the arts and crafts movement. |
| morse
ivory Walrus tooth, which was carved into small decorative and religious pieces in northern Europe. It has a slightly different texture from elephant ivory, is harder to carve and liable to crack. See scrimshaw. |
| mortar Flat bottomed bowl used in Europe from the 11thC for pounding pharmaceuticals or foods. Mortars are usually made from a hard material such as marble, stone or bronze, and are used with a pounding utensil of the same material called a pestle. |
| mosaic
glass Coloured glass made since ancient times and popular in the late 19thC. Pieces of glass are fused together, the colours remaining separate, then stretched into a long cane which is sliced crosswise or diagonally. The slices are then arranged on a core of the desired shape, covered with an outer mould to hold everything in place and heated until their edges fuse together. Alternatively, mosaic glass is arranged in flat plaques for use as hung decoration, or reheated and blown or shaped into various objects, including millefiori and jewellery. |
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| Koloman
Moser (1868-1918) See vienna secession, wiener werkstatte |
| mother-of-pearl The smooth, iridescent lining of the shell of certain molluscs, including pearl, oyster, abalone, nautilus and river mussel. The iridescence fades on exposure to sunlight over time. Mother-of-pearl, also known as nacre, is used in jewellery and was popular for inlaid decoration and marquetry mainly in the 17thC, and in the 19thC on papier-mâché furniture. |
| Motschmann
doll One of the earliest types of doll with a degree of articulation in the limbs, made by German doll-maker Charles Motschmann in the 1850s. The upper arms and legs and torso are made of cloth, and the head, upper chest, pelvis and lower arms and legs are of non-flexible material such as composition. A press squeaker was often inserted into the cloth midriff. Although his name has become a generic term for such dolls, Motschmann was neither the first nor the only manufacturer to make them. moulded glass Glassware made by blowing or pressing molten glass into a mould; produced in antiquity, and commercially since the 1830s. |
| mouldings Any shaped ornament or projection cast in plaster or carved in wood or stone and applied to furniture, furnishings or to frame wall panels. Most mouldings are based on architectural features, especially those used c. 1720-1850, which were mainly taken from Classical Roman and Greek architecture. Non-architectural mouldings include the bead and quirk, bead and flush, and bead and butt, all of which were invented by joiners, often to disguise joints. |
| mounts Term for all metal parts found on furniture, whether part of the construction - applied to prevent wear - or performing some function, such as a hinge or keyhole. Mounts can also be purely ornamental as in the ormolu or bronze decoration on 18thC French and British furniture. The term also embraces silver or other metal parts applied to glass and ceramic objects, such as handles and spouts on jugs and decanters. |
| mourning
jewellery Articles of jewellery worn in memory of the deceased. Money was often allocated in the will of the deceased for spending on memorial jewellery. From the late 18thC onwards, brooches, pendants and particularly rings were typically set with gemstones and decorated with sentimental motifs, including weeping willows, broken columns or a lock of hair from the dead person. Mourning jewellery in jet, or glass imitations of jet, reached its height of popularity after the death of Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's consort, in 1861. Similar items of jewellery with motifs such as skulls, skeletons or coffins were intended as a reminder of mortality. These are known as memento mori, literally meaning 'remember you must die', and were common during the 16th and 17th centuries. |
| moustache
cup Mid-19thC cup with a small guard added to the rim to prevent the user's moustache getting wet. Alternatively a moustache mount could be clipped onto the rim of a cup. |
| moustache
spoons poons with a moustache guard, made in silver and electroplate for left or right-handed use and patented in the USA in 1875. |
| Moustiers
potteries Group of leading faience factories in southern France, operational from the 17thC. The best work was produced c. 1710-40, using motifs based on the designs of leading Louis XlV-style draughtsman Jean berain in an underglaze blue on a white base. The designs made extensive use of grotesque and arabesque patterns. |
| movement The complete mechanism of a clock or watch, automaton or musical box, also known as the works. The movement can be weight, spring or electrically driven. See train. |
| Mucha,
Alphonse (1860-1939) Czech-born artist, illustrator and designer of textiles, furniture and jewellery, known particularly for his art nouveau posters of the French actress Sarah Bernhardt. He lived in Paris, where he collaborated on designs with French jeweller Georges fouquet, before moving to New York in 1904 where he worked with Louis Comfort tiffany. |
| Mudge,
Thomas (1715-94) Innovative clock and watchmaker, who was apprenticed to George graham. Mudge invented the lever escapement c. 1754 - the forerunner of the escapements found in modern mechanical watches and travelling clocks. From c. 1770 he worked mainly on marine chronometers. |
| muff
chain A long chain worn around the neck with fasteners at each end to be joined when threaded through a lady's fur muff. |
| muffineer 1 Round dish with domed cover used for serving hot muffins. 2 Small caster first used late 18thC for sprinkling muffins with cinnamon or salt. Examples are usually of silver, sometimes with a porcelain body, and have finer holes than a sugar caster. |
| mug Term used from the mid- 17thC for a drinking cup with a single handle and rim without a lip. Mugs are generally smaller than tankards and usually lidless. They are found in silver, pewter, glass or ceramics and were used for beer, wine or ale; small silver mugs were made for children. |
| mulberry A hard, heavy, golden to reddish-brown timber with dark streaks. Mulberry was used as a veneer and for small articles such as boxes, during the Queen Anne period at the beginning of the 18thC. |
| mule A coin that has been mistakenly struck on one side with a design intended for another coin, resulting in a 'hybrid' of two types that were never meant to be together. |
| mule
chest 17thC, mainly English, forerunner of the chest of drawers. It consists of a main, box-like storage area with a hinged lid, and with two drawers, side by side, beneath. |
| mull Late 18th and early 19th-century Scottish ornamental snuffbox, often with a decorated lid. Mulls were generally made of horn, ivory, shell or similar material with silver or pewter mounts, although some examples are made entirely of metal. A large type of mull was intended for passing around the dinner table. Some of these are made from a complete ram's head, and may have various utensils attached such as a spoon, a rake and a spike for mixing the snuff, and a hare's foot for wiping the upper lip. |
| Murray,
Keith (1893-1981) New Zealand-born architect and designer of silver, glass and ceramics. In the 1930s Murray designed simple tableware and decorative items, including engraved lead crystal for glass-makers stevens & williams, plain but elegant ceramics for wedgwood and silverware for Mappin & Webb. From 1938 he worked solely as an architect. |
| music
plates Late 17thC Dutch dessert plates decorated with the words and music of a song to be sung at the meal's end. They were made in delftware in the late 17thC, were reproduced at moustiers, nevers and rouen, and extensively copied during the 19thC. |
| musical
clock Clock incorporating or linked to a musical movement which plays periodically or on the operation of a cord or lever. The tune is played on bells or a toothed comb. See carillon. |
| musical
watches were made in the late 18th and 19th centuries mainly in Switzerland, but also in Britain. The tune is played via a pinned, rotating disc or cylinder on a nest of bells or on a toothed comb. |
| musket Long-barrelled shoulder gun with a smooth bore, loaded through the muzzle, used from the late 16th to late 19th centuries. |
| muzzle The forward, discharging end of the barrel of a firearm. |
| mystery
clock A clock, usually in a novelty or ornate form, in which there is no visible connection between the clock mechanism and the dial. A common type has a standing figure holding an apparently free-swinging pendulum. The clocks were fashionable in Britain and France in the 19thC and during the art deco period, especially those made by cartier, c.1920 |
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