The antique marks glossary - antique terms o covering everything from oak to oystering.

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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.

oak (wood - medieval furniture - arts & crafts)

Pale, hard and heavy timber that darkens to a rich brown with age and polishing.

 

It was the main furniture-making wood during medieval times up until about c1660, a period sometimes referred to as the Age of Oak.

 

Oak furniture tends to be solid, heavy and simple in design.

 

From the 1660s, the timber was mainly used for provincial furniture and for carcass work and drawer linings, but was again popular in the arts and crafts movement of the late 19thC .

obelisk (monument - four sided - pointed shaft)

A tall, four-sided shaft, usually monolithic and tapering, rising to a pyramidal point .

 

obi (costume - japanese - sash)

ide sash or waistband used to hold a kimono in place, part of Japanese national dress. See inro.

objects of vertu (term - english - precious objects)

English term, roughly translated as 'precious objects', for small luxury articles in gold, silver or porcelain and often decorated with precious and semiprecious stones, enamel and lacquer. Objects of vertu, such as seals, snuffboxes, bonbonnières and étuis, were popular in the 17th to 19th centuries .

obsidian (gemstone - glass - volcanic)

Natural glass produced by volcanic action. It is usually black or black-banded, and can be cut and polished and used as a gemstone.

obverse (coins - head side - mint information)

The side of a coin or medal upon which the principal minting authority is recorded, usually the head side.

 

The opposite side of the coin, the tai', is known as the reverse .

occasional table (furniture - small portable table)

Small, portable table which can be moved about easily to suit the occasion .

octant (scientific - instrument - navigation - sextant)

Navigational instrument which measures the angle of the sun above the horizon. It was invented by John Hadley in 1731, but was superseded by the more accurate sextant in the late 18thC .

ogee (decorative motif - moulding - double curve)

Double curve shape used to describe an onion-shaped arch of 'S'-shaped moulding and reproduced in many decorative forms.

ogee clock (clocks & watches - shelf clock)

Clock design that originated in the United States in the 1830s, distinguished by a case where the front outer edges are curved into an S-shape (ogee).

 

The shape is formed by the union of a convex and a concave line.

 

A mass-produced variant of the shelf clock, the ogee clock stands about 30 inches (75 cm) high and is usually weight-driven.

oil gilding (decoration - gilding)

Oil gilding disperses reflected light and appears lighter than water gilding from certain angles. It is done with a varnish or an oil-based gold size that will dry gradually and develop a tacky surface. The gold leaf is simply pressed onto the gold size and it adhears to the tacky surface.

The method is used to achieve the matt centre seen in traditional lettering and is used to emulate acid etching.

Usually transfer leaf is used this way. It is easier to handle with less wastage and a bright lustre is not critical. When oil gilding on a surface, the size is usually left tacky as long as possible without actually drying to achieve the best burnish. On glass it not critical as the intention is to achieve a matt finish.

The varnish is sometimes left to dry and then water gilded over with plain gold leaf. This gives more of a satin appearance than direct oil gilding, both of which are useful finishes. It should not be left to fully cure

oil painting (pictures - pigment ground in oil)

A picture painted with coloured pigments ground in an oil such as linseed and applied onto a prepared surface such as canvas or wood. The finished painting is usually coated with varnish which tends to disco lour with age.

 

ojime (japanese - bead - netsuke)

A slip bead securing the cord on a Japanese netsuke. See inro .

okimono (japanese - figural ornament - ivory - bone)

Japanese sculptured figures usually made of ivory but also of bone or wood. They were made as ornaments for the home during the Meiji (1816-1912) andTaisho (1912-26) periods, and exported to Europe and the USA .

old french (style - victorian - louis XV rococo)

Early Victorian revival of Louis XV Rococo style .

olive (wood - veneer - yellow/green)

Yellow-green, fine-grained timber with a wavy, mottled grain. It was introduced to Britain from Spain and Italy in the second half of the 17thC and used mainly for its decorative quality, particularly in ornamental veneers .

ombrierte blumen (ceramic - decoration - deutsche blumen)

See deutsche blumen.

omega workshops (style - art & design - roger fry)

London workshops founded in 1913 by Roger Fry (1866-1934) to encourage young artists and improve standards of decorative design - aiming to relate modern art to daily life and bring out the creative pleasure of the artist.

 

Designs were simple and decorated in bright colours, the most successful products being textiles and pottery.

 

Simple panelled furniture, often flimsy, was bought ready-made from manufacturers and painted in the distinctive style.

 

Roger Fry belonged to the Bloomsbury Group of writers and artists, members of which, including painters Duncan Grant (1885-1978) and Vanessa Bell (1879-1961), were also involved in the project.

 

Although the workshops closed in 1919, they heralded a new approach to British 20thC design .

omega (clocks & watches - 1885-1920)

Official .

onion pattern (ceramic - decoration - meissen)

Porcelain decoration first used on 18thC meissen tableware and popular with many other potteries.

 

The name of the pattern resulted from a misunderstanding. The stylised pomegranate – one of the characteristic motifs was interpreted as an onion. Every part of the pattern, every fruit and every plant has its own special meaning,

 

The chrysanthemum represents the melancholy of autumn. The pomegranate is regarded as a symbol of love and fertility. Peaches stand for immortality, while the bouquet of Michaelmas daisies and bamboo portray growth and time.

opalescent glass
A specific type of iridescent glass developed by the British glass-maker Frederick carder for the steuben glassworks in the USA.

Its appearance, similar to that of a natural opal, was created by cooling the glass object with compressed air and then reheating it. The glass was produced in pink, blue, yellow and green.

Also - American art glass which has a raised design in opalescent white glass against a coloured background.

The technique was developed in the late 19thC, and produced in Britain on art glass and pressed glass.

ottoman carpets
Oriental carpets woven in workshops anywhere in the Ottoman Empire from the mid-16th to the late 17th century, as opposed to indigenous Turkish weavings of the same period.

see antique carpets and tapestry

overlay glass
Overlay or cased glass refers to more than one layer of contrasting glass, usually of different colors and with or without a clear layer.

The layers can be put together by several different methods, and frequently are referred to as lining, plating, or flashing. Usually the terms "plating" and "flashing" are applied to glass that has a very thin outside layer. The Romans knew how to make cased glass. The famous Portland Vase in the British Museum in London is the product of their skill in design and glassworking technique. A shell or cup was formed and set in a container while a gather of a contrasting color was quickly and gently blown into it. The two were fused and the article finished according to the decorative effect desired.

A quicker method of casing is usually called flashing, that is, a gather of one glass is covered with a gather of a contrasting color, and then finished. Using this method a thinner layer of one of the glasses cand be used, saving costly material such as gold-ruby glass.

During the 1860s cased glass cut in patterns was popular for vases, lamps, scent bottles, and other items. The outside layer of opaque white was cut through to form a pattern on the colored layer beneath. This is generally called Overlay. The designs were simple all-over patterns. The cutting of the pattern required a steady hand and accurate eye. This glass is a favourite of collectors.

Cameo glass is a cased ware in which the outer layer forms the design. The Portland vase is an outstanding example. The undercoat is the background. A great deal of skill is required to make cameo glass using the old process of hand grinding on a rotating wheel. The use of hydrofluoric acid in the latter part of the nineteenth century eliminated or reduced the handcrafted skill to a minimum.

oystering
A decorative form of veneering using slices of wood cut in vertical cross-section from the branches of small trees, such as laburnum and walnut, to create a pattern of repetitive whorls on furniture.

The technique originated in Holland.

It was popular in Britain for drawer fronts, and for cabinet and bureau doors from the late 17th to early 18th centuries