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Glossary of antique and collectable terms

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Term	Definition
Bracket Foot	A short foot attched to the underframe of a chest of drawers, bureau, tallboy etc. The foot may be made in two pieces joined at the outside corner. The open side may be shaped, the corner side straight or curved in Cabriole leg with Ogee form. The term is also used to describe the short one-piece curving foot seen on later pawfoot 1700's furniture such as Hepplewhite chest of drawers and bureaux
Brass	Brass is a metal alloy containing at least 50% copper and zinc.
Brazilian Chain	A Brazilian chain, also called a snake chain, is a metal chain made up of a series of small, linked cups.
Brilliant Cut	Brilliant cut stones have 56 facets, 32 facets are above the girdle, 24 are below. Most modern-day diamonds are brilliant cut since it maximizes the amount of reflected light from the stone (its natural fire). The brilliant cut was introduced in the 1600's
Briolette Cut	A briolette (or drop cut) is a pear-shaped cut gemstone with triangular facets on top. This type of stone makes a nice pendant.
Britannia Metal	Britannia metal is an alloy of tin and antimony and objects made of this metal have been looked upon with derision until very recent years. An unprejudiced second look revealed that not all was rotten in the state of Britannia metal. A product of the Industrial Revolution, early Britannia metal has great charm. Most of it was made in Sheffield and the makers stamped their names intaglio into the base of the objects they made. The silver shapes of the day were carefully followed. Makers to look out for are J. Dixon & Son P. Ashberry Broadhead & Atkins James Vickers James Wolvenholme Do not confuse pieces marked E.P.B.M. (Electro-plated Britannia Metal) with the pieces under discussion here. After 1850 the standard of design falls away disastrously. In the words of the 1800's politician John Bright, Silence is golden, speech is silver, but to say one thing and mean another is Britannia metal.
Britannia Standard	Higher standard of British silver used between 1697 and 1720, containing 95.8% pure silver.
Bronze	Bronze is a metal alloy containing at least 60% copper, plus tin and other metals.
Brooch	A brooch, also called a pin, is an ornamental clasp with a pin attached to affix the brooch to a garment, cloak, shawl, hat, hood, turban or sleeve. A brooch can also be used as a fastener or as a decorative piece of jewellery. The brooch evolved originally from the fibula of safety-pin form namely a metal brooch resembling a safety pin. This term is sometimes loosely applied to any form of ancient brooch. The body of the brooch can take many forms such as a disc, ring, heart, flower, insect, bow-knot, or indeed any fantasy shape. Brooches have been made in many sizes and have been decorated with enamelling, engraving, gemstones etc. Sometimes brooches are embellished with a suspended pearl, tassel, small pendant or other similar items. A modern brooch usually has at the back a pin and a catch, sometimes a form of safety-catch, to prevent the brooch from being lost. Formally, both men and women wore brooches but they are now only worn by women
Brushed Finish	A brushed finish on a metal's surface is made by rubbing a stiff metal brush across the surface of jewellery, slightly reducing the metal's reflectivity.
Bruting	Bruting is the first step in cutting a diamond. Bruting involves shaping the girdle, which gives the stone its basic shape.
Bubbles	Bubbles are spherical or tear-shaped bubbles of gas captured in glass stones. Bubbles can also be found in resins like plastics and amber, and much less-frequently in minerals like quartz, emerald, and topaz. Looking for bubbles is one way to determine if a gem is glass or a gemstone.
Bugle Beads	A bugle bead is a long, thin, tube-shaped glass bead.
Bulla	A bulla is an ancient Roman pendant that consists of a rounded container holding an amulet (a good luck charm). The bulla is worn on a strap around the neck.
Burnishing	Method of polishing by rubbing the surface with a hard, smooth tool, such as agate, to create lustre
Button Hooks & Shoe Horns	Button hooks date back to the 1600’s, but few have survived before their potential as souvenirs and novelties was recognised by the Victorians. A variety of materials were used to decorate the handles, including gold, silver, tortoiseshell, semi-precious stones and enamel. Shoe horns probably take their name from the material from which they were first made, namely horn. Once again the handles were made from a variety of materials with the blade mainly made from steel. Sometimes the shoe horn and the button hook were combined into one with the horn as the handle of the hook. Also to be found are complete sets with shoe horn, button hook, glove stretchers and glove hooks.
Cabochon	A cabochon is a stone that has a rounded, domed surface with no facets. A cabochon garnet is also called a carbuncle.
Cabochon Decoration	A carved ornament used on furniture of the mid 1700's, especially on the knees of cabriols chair legs. The name comes from that given to rounded, uncut gemstones. The furniture ornamenr resembles one of these, usually oval-shaped and surrounded by scrolled, leafy carving
Cabriole	The name given to chair or table legs in the style of the first half of the 1700's (Queen Anne, Earlt Georgian, Chippendale). The legs curve at the knee and inwards towards the foot, tapering towards the bottom. The foot may be a club, a claw and ball, a paw or scroll, and there may be a carved ornament on the knee such as the scallop shell or the lion motif
Caddy Spoon	Spoon for taking a measure of tea from a caddy.