Decorative-arts collecting runs on reference books: ornament sourcebooks for style and date, mark guides for makers, and specialist handbooks for each material. Older references stay useful because the objects they describe have not changed, even when prices have.
Where to start
The Grammar of Ornament — Owen Jones, 1856. The great Victorian sourcebook of world ornament.
The Encyclopedia of Ornament (in stock) — Albert Racinet, 1869. Racinet's L'Ornement polychrome, in modern English editions.
Miller's Antiques Encyclopedia — Judith Miller, 1998. A one-volume illustrated reference across materials.
Books on Antiques & Decorative Arts in stock (11)
Herend: The Art of Hungarian Porcelain by Győző Sikota — $15.18 Herend: The Art of Hungarian Porcelain is an illustrated study of the Herend porcelain manufactory in Hungary by Győző Sikota, with a preface by Dezső Keresztury.
The Encyclopedia of Ornament by Albert Racinet — $17.25 The Encyclopedia of Ornament by Albert Racinet, in The Studio Library of Decorative Art series (Jensen, 1997).
English Silver by Judith Banister — $8.53 English Silver is a book on English silver by Judith Banister, published by Hawthorn Books, Inc. of New York in 1966 as the first American edition.
Art Objects: Their Care and Preservation by Frieda Kay Fall — $8.57 Art Objects: Their Care and Preservation, Volume One, is a conservation handbook by Frieda Kay Fall, published in 1967 and subtitled "A Reference for Museums and Collectors." It addresses the care and preservation of…
Asian Artists in Crystal by Steuben Glass — $9.95 Asian Artists in Crystal is a catalogue published by Steuben Glass in 1956 documenting a project in which Asian artists designed pieces to be executed in Steuben crystal.
Conran Design Guides: Kitchenware by Jeremy Myerson — $13.85 Kitchenware, a Conran Design Guide by Jeremy Myerson and Sylvia Katz (Conran Octopus, 1990, 80 pages), on kitchen utensils and household appliances as design objects and collectibles.
Faberge, 1846-1920 by Snowman, A.Kenneth — $13.04 Fabergé, 1846-1920, a study of the Russian goldsmith and jeweller Carl Fabergé (1846-1920) and the work of his firm by A. Kenneth Snowman, the London dealer and historian long associated with Fabergé scholarship.
AMERICAN DECORATIVE WALL PAINTING by Nina Fletcher Little — $15.80 American Decorative Wall Painting by Nina Fletcher Little, a 1986 paperback edition of her study of the painted walls and overmantels of American houses.
A Treasury of Norwegian Folk Art In America by Donald E. Gilberts, James F. Richards Jr — $15.34 A Treasury of Norwegian Folk Art in America, by Donald E. Gilbertson with James F. Richards Jr., is a trade paperback on Norwegian-American folk art: rosemaling, woodcarving, and related crafts brought to the United…