Welcome
Rarity4u are a premier and trusted on-line resource to find, collect, buy and sell antiques, collectibles and other old, rare and beautiful items. Our carefully selected items range from the Georgian, Victorian, Art Nouveau and Art Deco periods through to Contemporary and includes furniture, jewellery, toys, Asian antiques and so much more. Professional restorers, museums, galleries, and collectors worldwide use our range of wax, metal polish and cleaning products.
If you are looking for a dealer, appraiser, flea market, show, auction or information, then look no further. By using our extensive links and search facilities you should be able to find that for which you search.
We enjoy finding nice things with character, age or pleasant design, and our expanding customer base indicates our efforts are appreciated, so journey through distance and time from the comfort of your own home, and bring back the treasures from another land and from another era.
Enjoy!
Zibbet Store
The crafty owl always brings home the goods, or so it is said.
Whilst there is no guarantee that you will always find the item for which you search, there is a large range of items available at Zibbet from which to choose.
Rarity4u have recently opened a shop at Zibbet and we will gradually list items in our store.
Why did we choose Zibbet?
Bid 46 Auction Site
It has been said that there is no such thing as a free lunch, so how can there be a fee free auction site. The short answer is the sponsor U2 Canvas pays all the bills.What is the catch – put simply there is not one, so it is win, win, win all round.
Pewter
Pewter has long been a favourite with collectors, but early pewter is now rare. Pewter is an alloy consisting of tin with the addition of lead or copper, sometimes both. Antimony and bismuth have also been added to the formula from time to time. Various qualities of pewter were produced but the recognition of these is only acquired through knowledge and experience.The beginner should first bear in mind that the darker the pewter the more lead it is likely to contain, the more silver grey the greater the tin content. The Pewterers` Company required of their members by statute that their manufactures should be marked with what are known as touch marks denoting the maker. Some fine pewter of the late 1600’s and early 1700’s actually carries fraudulent silver hallmarks, so beware!
Willow Pattern
The Willow pattern is the most recognisable of blue and white patterns. The scene, which depicts a Chinese love story in dark blue on a white background, was originally designed by Thomas Minton for printing on ceramics circa 1780 in reaction to the scarcity of Chinese porcelain imports and levies on silver, made payable from the Napoleonic wars. Soon the design was used by a large number of Staffordshire factories throughout the 1800’s and 1900’s.
Why Antiques Are Green
Many if not most items made today are designed for limited use, and are replaced by newer or more fashionable items. Because of a shortened life cycle it is not necessary to design for longevity. This may be good for jobs and profit, but not so good for the environment. Whilst we need jobs, we also need a healthy clean environment in which to live. Re-cycling is the current buzz word and going or being green is the latest fashionable trend, so why are antiques green?
By definition an antique is a piece that is 100 years or more in age. The designs were functional but not necessarily attractive, although many antiques fulfil both of these criteria.