Chats on Household Curios   By: Fred. W. (Frederick William) Burgess (1855-1945)

BOOKS FOR COLLECTORS

With Frontispieces and many Illustrations Large Crown 8vo, cloth.

CHATS ON ENGLISH CHINA. By Arthur Hayden.

CHATS ON OLD FURNITURE By Arthur Hayden.

CHATS ON OLD PRINTS. By Arthur Hayden.

CHATS ON COSTUME. By G. Woolliscroft Rhead.

CHATS ON OLD LACE AND NEEDLEWORK. By E. L. Lowes.

CHATS ON ORIENTAL CHINA. By J. F. Blacker.

CHATS ON OLD MINIATURES. By J. J. Foster, F.S.A.

CHATS ON ENGLISH EARTHENWARE. By Arthur Hayden.

CHATS ON AUTOGRAPHS. By A. M. Broadley.

CHATS ON PEWTER. By H. J. L. J. Massé, M.A.

CHATS ON POSTAGE STAMPS. By Fred. J. Melville.

CHATS ON OLD JEWELLERY AND TRINKETS. By MacIver Percival.

CHATS ON COTTAGE AND FARMHOUSE FURNITURE. By Arthur Hayden.

CHATS ON OLD COINS. By Fred. W. Burgess.

CHATS ON OLD COPPER AND BRASS. By Fred. W. Burgess.

CHATS ON HOUSEHOLD CURIOS. By Fred. W. Burgess.

In Preparation.

CHATS ON BARGAINS. By Charles E. Jerningham.

CHATS ON JAPANESE PRINTS. By Arthur Davison Ficke.

CHATS ON OLD CLOCKS AND WATCHES. By Arthur Hayden.

CHATS ON OLD SILVER. By Arthur Hayden.

LONDON: T. FISHER UNWIN. NEW YORK: F. A. STOKES COMPANY.

[Illustration: FIG. 1. OLD FIREPLACE, SHOWING SUSSEX BACK, ANDIRONS, AND TRIVET.

Frontispiece.]

CHATS ON HOUSEHOLD CURIOS

BY

FRED. W. BURGESS

AUTHOR OF "CHATS ON OLD COINS," "CHATS ON OLD COPPER AND BRASS," ETC.

WITH 94 ILLUSTRATIONS

LONDON

T. FISHER UNWIN ADELPHI TERRACE

First published in 1914

( All rights reserved )

PREFACE

There is a peculiar charm about the relics found in an old home a home from which many generations of fledglings have flown. As each milestone in family history is passed some once common object of use or ornament is dropped by the way. Such interesting mementoes of past generations accumulate, and in course of time the older ones become curios.

It is to create greater interest in these old world odds and ends some of trifling value to an outsider, others of great intrinsic worth that this book has been written. The love of possession is to some possessors the chief delight; to others knowledge of the original purposes and uses of the objects acquired affords still greater pleasure. My intention has been rather to assist the latter class of collectors than to facilitate the mere assemblage of additional stores of curiosities. It is truly astonishing how rapidly the common uses of even household furnishings and culinary utensils are forgotten when they are superseded by others of more modern type.

The modern art of to day and the revival of the much older furniture of the past have driven out the household gods of intermediate dates, and it is in that period intervening between the two extremes that most of the household curios reviewed in this work are found. Although many of the finest examples of household curios are now in museums, private collectors often possess exceptional specimens, and sometimes own the most representative groups of those things upon which they have specialized.

The examples in this book have been drawn from various sources. As in "Chats on Old Copper and Brass" (which may almost be regarded as a companion work), the illustrations are taken from photographs of typical museum curios and objects in private collections, or have been specially sketched by my daughter, who has had access to many interesting collections, to the owners of which I am indebted for the illustrations I am able to make use of.