Antiques and Vintage Film Vault and Knowledge Bank

Sabino - A North American and Puerto Rican forest tree (Magnolia Splendens) with hard heavy durable wood that is used for furniture and general construction. In the United States, Montezuma baldcypress is known only from the Rio Grande Valley in Cameron and Hidalgo counties of extreme southern Texas. It is also common and widespread in Mexico.

Sadler teapots - They were the most pretty pots and came in a large variety of shapes and patterns. James Sadler founded his pottery company in 1882 in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire England. The first teapots were called ‘Brown Betty's’. They were round teapots made using a red clay with a manganese brown glaze known as Rockingham glaze. To determine if your teapot is an authentic Brown Betty, turn it upside down. You should find the words ‘Made in England’ and see the unglazed red clay on the bottom. Early Sadler teapots in the ‘Brown Betty’ style were tall and shaped more like a coffee pot with possibly a marking found on the bottom. For a Sadler teapot made between 1899 and 1937, there will be an impressed mark that reads ‘ENGLAND JSSB’.

Sarcophagus - A container built to hold a coffin.

Satinwood - (Chloroxylon swietenia), also called Ceylon satinwood or East Indian satinwood, tree of the rue family (Rutaceae), native to Southeast Asia, India, and Sri Lanka (Ceylon). Satinwood is harvested for its hard yellowish brown wood, which has a satiny lustre and is used for fine cabinetwork and farming tools. Any of several very smooth, hard woods used in fine furniture, marquetry, veneers, etc.

Scandy design - Scandinavian design is a movement characterised by simplicity, minimalism and functionality that emerged in the early 20th century, and subsequently flourished in the 1950s throughout the five Nordic countries; Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Iceland. Scandinavian designers are known especially for household goods including furniture, textiles, ceramics, lamps, and glass, but Scandinavian design has been extended to industrial design such as of consumer electronics, mobile phones, and cars. The design style gained popularity in the 1950s and 1960s, and it continues to influence modern design today. The iconic designs of this era include furniture pieces such as the Egg Chair by Arne Jacobsen, the Paimio Chair by Alvar Aalto, and the Wishbone Chair by Hans Wegner, among others. 

Scheurich - Founded in West Germany in 1928 by the Scheurich cousins, but only in 1948 started in the production of  household ceramics. It mainly produces vases and flower pots but also ashtrays, candlesticks, mugs, clocks buffet, wall reliefs etc. Scheurich cornered the market at the end of the 1960s. Low prices combined with a populist design was its strategy to mass-produce and maintain sales. To keep the costs down and maximise the production, Scheurich designed their products in order to use the same decoration for different models. The design was renovated twice a year to match the changing customers tastes.

Schuco toys - A German brand and former manufacturing company founded in 1912 by Heinrich Müller and the businessman Heinrich Schreyer in Nuremberg. The company's specialty was making toy reproductions of cars, trains and trucks in tin, plastic and die-cast. Schuco produced its first toy cars in the middle of the 1930s, which featured revolutionary technology, quality, workmanship and functions.

Sconce - A type of light fixture that is fixed to a wall. The light is usually, but not always, directed upwards and outwards, rather than down. The sconce is a very old form of fixture, historically used with candles and oil lamps. Modern fittings are more often called wall lights or wall lamps for similar terms, especially if the light source is wholly covered by glass.

Scrapware - Decoupage decoration using cuttings or selected scrap images. Commonly associated with Victoriana and used to decorate screens and other plain surfaces.

Scratch built - To build a scale model of something from scratch. That is, from raw materials like wood, clay or paper.

Scrimshaw - Derived from the practice of sailors on whaling ships creating common tools, where the by-products of whales were readily available. The term originally referred to the making of these tools, only later referring to works of art created by whalers in their spare time.

Scumble - Scumbling is the brushing on of an opaque, lighter layer of paint. This technique is used to visually soften or lighten areas. Scumbling, like glazing, must be done over a dry paint layer, and you typically apply the paint unthinned, using a dry-brush technique. It's really the opposite of a glaze but the two are often confused as they are both ways of optically modifying an underlying paint film.

Seba - Seba was an English company located in Lower Gornal in the West Midlands in the 1980s. Their silver plated products were cast by a subsidiary of Seba called Willenhall Pressure Die Casting, based in Wolverhampton. The Silver and gold plating was carried out by a company called Midas Metal Finishes from Coventry.

Secretary desk or escritoire -  Made of a base of wide drawers topped by a desk with a hinged desktop surface, which is in turn topped by a bookcase usually closed with a pair of doors, often made of glass. The whole is usually a single, tall and heavy piece of furniture.

Secession - The rejection of legacy art and design while it is being reimagined in a new style. In art history, secession refers to a historic break between a group of avant-garde artists and conservative European standard-bearers of academic and official art in the late 19th and early 20th century. The name was first suggested by Georg Hirth (1841–1916), the editor and publisher of the influential German art magazine Jugend (Youth), which also went on to lend its name to the Jugendstil. His word choice emphasised the tumultuous rejection of legacy art while it was being reimagined. Of the various secessions, the Vienna Secession (1897) remains the most influential. Led by Gustav Klimt, who favoured the ornate Art Nouveau style over the prevailing styles of the time. By convention, the term is usually restricted to one of several secessions — mainly in Germany, but also in Austria and France — coinciding with the end of the Second Industrial Revolution, World War I and early Weimar Germany.

Semi precious - There are only four precious stones: diamond, sapphire, ruby and emerald. All other naturally occurring stones are therefore called semi-precious stones. Semiprecious stones are stones such as turquoises and amethysts that are used in jewellery but are less valuable than precious stones. Semi-precious gemstones are still valuable and can often be found to be more expensive than a precious gemstone. It is for this reason many jewellery valuers believe these terms have become commercialised. Although, having these widely accepted definitions in place, can help to indicate high-quality stones.

Sevres - The finest porcelain manufactory in Europe from the mid-eighteenth century. Known for its unrivalled techniques and complex methods of production, the factory produced rich and extravagant wares sought after by the wealthiest of patrons. It is characterised by elaborate decoration on backgrounds of intense colour, made at Sèvres in the suburbs of Paris. Sèvres porcelain, French hard-paste, or true porcelain, as well as soft-paste porcelain (a porcellaneous material rather than true porcelain) made at the royal factory (now the national porcelain factory) of Sèvres, near Versailles, from 1756 until the present; the industry was located earlier at Vincennes.

Sgraffito - A technique either of wall décor, produced by applying layers of plaster tinted in contrasting colours to a moistened surface, or in pottery, by applying to an unfired ceramic body two successive layers of contrasting slip or glaze, and then in either case scratching so as to reveal parts of the underlying layer. The Italian past participle ‘sgraffiato’ is also used, especially of pottery.

Shadow box - Simply put, a shadow box is a better version of a picture frame. It adds that extra depth (which drops a shadow, thus the name) to the display item. The shadow box has a glass front case where items can be kept. They’re a great way to make the decorative or collectible items in your home look more attractive. It works to display family heirlooms, medals, jewellery and other memorabilia. A group of shadow boxes can be put together to make a gallery wall. By creating a physical barrier around your object, shadow box frames are perfect for protecting those items and art pieces that matter most from dust, moisture and other potential damage.

Shagreen, shaggreen, chagreen and shagrin - Variations for the word in use in England, though by the Regency, shagreen was the most common. The French called it chagrin, as did some in England who thought the French version just a touch more elegant. The one thing all types of shagreen had in common was a somewhat rough, pitted or granular surface texture. However, the materials which supported that surface texture were quite different in origin, ranging from ass or camel hide, to fish skin, to silk.

Shaker furniture - Can be identified by its round wooden knobs, tapered legs and subtle curves. These features give shaker furniture its traditional, gentle look. While maple wood also seemed to be the wood of choice for most shaker pieces, many modern versions include pine, maple, cherry or other American woods. It is well-made furniture of minimalist design.

Shapland and Petter - Shapland & Petter was based in North Devon in a town called Barnstaple and specialised in Arts & Crafts designs but also made more traditional antique furniture. Shapland and Petter was first established by Henry Shapland in ca.1854. He was a cabinet maker by trade but after a visit to America in 1848, he was inspired by an invention of a moulding machine which would speed up the production of furniture making. They are most well known for their furniture built in the Arts and Crafts designs. Although their designs were very sought after, their methods were frowned upon by traditionalists as they used machines in the construction process and this was not the idea of the arts and crafts movement (furniture was supposed to be had built and hand finished, not machine made). There was still a lot of hand crafted skill in there pieces from hand woodcarving, inlay work and the unusual designs like decorative copper work. They did also use distinctive features in there furniture like heart shaped piercing, geometric shapes, marquetry, metal inlay and on more traditional designs ceramic and enamel cabochons. You can tell a Shapland & Petter, firstly by the design and quality construction, but also some pieces would have a plaque or the metal ware stamped (either on the locks or handles) S & P usually under is the letter B.

Sheesham wood - Sheesham wood is also known as Dalbergia Sisso, a deciduous tree, called Sheesham in the Indian subcontinent. It is grown across the length and breadth of the sub-Himalayan region, extending from Assam in the east to River Indus. These forests go all the way across Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Assam. Here, it is known by various names, like Sheesham, Shishan, Shisham, Sissoo or Sisu. Sheesham wood ranges from being golden brown to a dark brown or chestnut colour with darker streaks that give this wood a rich and lustrous appearance. The wood is sturdy and tough with a straight grain, though it could also be found to be interlocked. Its texture ranges from medium to coarse with a natural lustre. It has an innate resistance to decay and is popular for woodcarving and for engraving goods in India. This wood neither warps nor splits, so it is highly used for making cabinets and other furniture. Highly durable wood and offers great resistance to dry-wood termites. Due to its toughness cutting and sawing could be a big challenge, but it is great for turning. It shines under polishing and has a smooth finish. The grain is so well defined that each piece of Sheesham furniture often has its own unique colour. This wood accepts hand waxing which gives it a smooth surface. This wood has applications in marine and aircraft plywood, as charcoal for cooking and heating food, making musical instruments, ornamental turnery, sporting goods and for carving and engraving. It is also used for making doors and windows, while its root wood is often used for making tobacco pipes. Sheesham wood accepts a good polish and gives a smooth finish and lustre.

Shellac - A resin secreted by the female lac bug on trees in the forests of India and Thailand. It is processed and sold as dry flakes and dissolved in alcohol to make liquid shellac, which is used as a brush-on colorant, and wood finish. Shellac functions as a tough natural primer, sanding sealant, tannin-blocker, odour-blocker, stain, and high-gloss varnish. Shellac was once used in electrical applications as it possesses good insulation qualities and it seals out moisture. Phonograph and 78 rpm gramophone records were made of it until they were replaced by vinyl long-playing records from the 1950s onwards. From the time it replaced oil and wax finishes in the 19th century, shellac was one of the dominant wood finishes in the western world until it was largely replaced by nitrocellulose lacquer in the 1920s and 1930s.

Sheraton - Thomas Sheraton (1751 – 1806). A furniture designer, one of the "big three" English furniture makers of the 18th century, along with Thomas Chippendale and George Hepplewhite. Sheraton gave his name to a style of furniture characterized by a feminine refinement of late Georgian styles and became the most powerful source of inspiration behind the furniture of the late 18th century. Sheraton is a late 18th-century neoclassical English furniture style, in vogue c1785 - 1820, that was coined by 19th century collectors and dealers to credit furniture designer Thomas Sheraton, born in Stockton-on-Tees, England in 1751 and whose books, "The Cabinet Dictionary" (1803) of engraved designs and the "Cabinet Maker's & Upholsterer's Drawing Book" (1791) of furniture patterns exemplify this style. The Sheraton style was inspired by the Louis XVI style and features round tapered legs, fluting and most notably contrasting veneer inlays. Sheraton style furniture takes lightweight rectilinear forms, using satinwood, mahogany and tulipwood, sycamore and rosewood for inlaid decorations, though painted finishes and brass fittings are also to be found. Swags, husks, flutings, festoons, and rams' heads are amongst the common motifs applied to pieces of this style.

Showmans art - Also known as fairground art. Any type of artwork or signage produced for and displayed at fairs, circuses or carnivals etc.

Silver - A chemical element with the symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. Solid silver, also known as sterling silver, is highly valued as a precious metal. Silver is found in the Earth's crust in its pure form which is known as ‘native silver’ and is mostly found as a by-product of mining for other metals including copper, gold, lead and zinc. Silver is a soft metal which is used to make jewellery and other objects. Due to its softness, it is often mixed with a small amount of another metal to make it more durable and lasting, and in most cases, sterling silver is composed of 7.5% copper. For an item to qualify as solid silver, it must be 92.5% pure silver. Sterling silver will have a hallmark to identify it. A hallmark is a mark stamped on articles of gold, silver or platinum by the British Assay Offices certifying their standard of purity. The components of a hallmark are: the makers' mark, the standard mark, the assay office mark and the date for the year it was made. So, covering where & when the item was made, by whom and where was it assayed. The date letter has become optional in recent years.

Silver duty mark - The burden of the American War of Independence on the UK governments' purse, lead Goldsmiths Hall to add a fifth hallmark in 1784 to confirm that a tax had been paid on each piece of silver made. This was called the duty mark and a representation of the monarch's head was chosen as its symbol. In that year and the following year, the head faced left and was debossed (indented) rather than embossed (raised up in relief). To the collector, the main importance of this mark is that it helps you find the date letter. Every year was given its own date letter usually progressing in the order of the alphabet, as in London, but not always, as in Birmingham. This duty was no longer payable after 1890.

Silver plated - Refers to jewellery created by covering a base metal, such as copper or brass, in a very thin layer of sterling silver. The coating can be anywhere from 1 micron to 10 microns thick. As the silver is a coating it can be thin and is susceptible to fade over time, with both wear and tear and occasionally over-polishing. Silver plate items will not have a 925 stamp or a hallmark.

Skeleton clock or watch - A type of clock or watch where the inner workings are exposed. Clocks and watches can be skeletonised by reducing the mechanism until only the most essential parts are left. All non-essential metal is whittled down until gaps are left in the dial.

Sleeper - Antiques trade slang. An item that has been undervalued or mislabelled. It is every antique dealer's dream to find such an object, as the returns can be lucrative.

Slipware - Pottery identified by its primary decorating process where slip is placed onto the leather-hard (semi-hardened) clay body surface before firing by dipping, painting or splashing. Slip is an aqueous suspension of a clay body, which is a mixture of clays and other minerals such as quartz, feldspar and mica. The slip is placed onto a wet or leather-hard clay body surface by a variety of techniques including dipping, painting, piping or splashing. Slipware is the pottery on which slip has been applied either for glazing or decoration. Slip is liquified clay or clay slurry, with no fixed ratio of water and clay, which is used either for joining pottery pieces together by slip casting with mould, glazing or decorating the pottery by painting or dipping the pottery with slip.

Smalls - Antiques trade slang. Vintage or antique ornaments and items that are small in size are often referred to as smalls.

Smith’s clocks - Founded in 1851, Smiths were once the largest clock manufacturer in Europe. From their head office in Cricklewood, North London, they produced clocks for the home, workplace, aircraft and the motor industry. The latter half of the 1970s saw the decline of clock and watch manufacture by all European and British companies, as they were unable to compete with lower cost products offered by makers in the Far East. Smiths ceased to produce clocks for the domestic market in 1979.

Soapstone - Also known as steatite or soaprock) is a talc-schist, which is a type of metamorphic rock. It is composed largely of the magnesium rich mineral talc. It is produced by dynamothermal metamorphism and metasomatism, which occur in the zones where tectonic plates are subducted, changing rocks by heat and pressure, with influx of fluids, but without melting. It has been a medium for carving for thousands of years.

Socle - A plain low block or plinth serving as a support for a column, urn, statue, etc. or as the foundation of a wall. In English, the term tends to be most used for the bases for rather small sculptures, with plinth or pedestal preferred for larger examples.

Sommerso glass - (Italian for "submerged") is the Murano glassmaking technique of creating two or more layers of contrasting glass without the colours mixing together. It is formed by dipping coloured glass into molten glass of a different colour, before blowing the glass into the required form.

Spandrel - A roughly triangular space, usually found in pairs, between the top of an arch and a rectangular frame; between the tops of two adjacent arches or one of the four spaces between a circle within a square. They are frequently filled with decorative elements. In architectural ornamentation, the horizontal decorative elements that are hung over interior and exterior openings between the posts are called spandrels. They can be made of sawn out wood, ball-and-dowels, and spindles. Wooden ornamental spandrels are known as gingerbread spandrels. If they are in an arch form, they are called gingerbread arch spandrels. The spandrels over doorways in perpendicular work are generally richly decorated. At Magdalen College, Oxford, is one which is perforated. The spandrel of doors is sometimes ornamented in the Decorated period, but seldom forms part of the composition of the doorway itself, being generally over the label.

Spelter - A zinc lead alloy that ages to resemble bronze, but is softer and has a lower melting point, in which zinc is the main constituent. The name can also refer to a copper–zinc alloy used for brazing, soldering, pure zinc or commercial crude smelted zinc.

Spider leg furniture - Furniture with very thin legs, almost spindly in design. They are prone to damage due to their fragile nature which make antiques with spider legs in good condition more valuable.

Squab - A loose flat cushion on the seat of a chair.

Spun metal - Also known as metal spinning, spin forming or spinning or metal turning most commonly, is a metalworking process by which a disc or tube of metal is rotated at high speed and formed into an axially symmetric part. Spinning can be performed by hand or by a CNC lathe. Metal spinning does not involve removal of material, as in conventional wood or metal turning, but forming (moulding) of sheet metal over an existing shape. Metal spinning ranges from an artisan's specialty to the most advantageous way to form round metal parts for commercial applications. Artisans use the process to produce architectural detail, specialty lighting, decorative household goods and urns. Commercial applications include rocket nose cones, cookware, gas cylinders, brass instrument bells, and public waste receptacles. Virtually any ductile metal may be formed from aluminium or stainless steel, to high-strength, high-temperature alloys. The diameter and depth of formed parts are limited only by the size of the equipment available. 

Staddle stone - Originally used as stone supporting bases for granaries, hayricks, game larders, etc. The staddle stones lifted the granaries above the ground thereby protecting the stored grain from vermin and water seepage. Old staddle stones were made of two stones, a 2-3 ft high base, pyramidal or cylindrical and a rounded cap on top. Usually made of granite or sandstone, they were carved from whatever stone was readily available. Because of their age, many antique staddle stones are covered with lichen which adds to their value.

Stanhope - An optical device that enables the viewing of microphotographs without using a microscope. They were invented by René Dagron in 1857. Dagron bypassed the need for an expensive microscope to view the microscopic photographs by attaching the microphotograph at the end of a modified Stanhope lens. He called the devices bijoux photo-microscopiques or microscopic photo-jewelry. In 1862, Dagron displayed the devices at the Exhibition in London, where he got an "Honourable Mention" and presented them to Queen Victoria. In 1864 Dagron became famous when he produced a stanhope optical viewer which enabled the viewing of a microphotograph 1 square millimetre (0.0016 sq in), (equivalent in size to the head of a pin), that included the portraits of 450 people.

Statuary - Of or relating to the sculptural art of statues.

Steiff - A German-based plush toy company. It was founded in 1880 by Margarete Steiff, a seamstress. The toys began as elephants, and were originally a design Steiff found in a magazine and sold as pincushions to her customers. However, children began playing with them, and in the years following she went on to design many other animal-themed toys for children, such as dogs, cats and pigs. She designed and made most of the prototypes herself. Steiff's nephew Richard joined in 1897 and gave the company an enormous boost by creating stuffed animals from drawings made at the zoo. A 3000 piece order was placed in 1903 by a buyer in America after the "Teddy" bear craze began showing a cartoon with President Roosevelt and a young cub. By 1907, Steiff manufactured 974,000 bears, and has been increasing its output ever since. The most common materials used in Steiff toys are alpaca, felt, mohair, and woven plush. Eyes are generally made of wood or glass, and the stuffing is commonly wood shavings or polyester fibres. A large amount of the work is done by hand, from design sketches to airbrushed paint. The final touch on any Steiff toy is the trademark "button in ear" (assuming the animal has one; in any case they will find a spot for it). The iconic "button in ear" tag was devised by Margarete's nephew Franz in 1904, to keep counterfeits from being passed off as authentic Steiff toys. It is made of metal. The tag originally had the symbol of an elephant, which was later replaced by the name "Steiff". The button is still used to distinguish Steiff toys from fakes. Some special toys have both the elephant and the name.

Sterling silver - An alloy of silver containing 92.5% by weight of silver and 7.5% by weight of other metals, usually copper. The sterling silver standard has a minimum millesimal fineness of 925.

Stevengraphs -  Pictures woven from silk, originally created by Thomas Stevens in the 19th century. They were popular collectable items again during the revival of interest in Victoriana in the 1960s and 1970s.

Stock in trade - Merchandise, equipment and other necessary or essential supplies kept on hand in order to do business.

Stoneware - A rather broad term for pottery or other ceramics fired at a relatively high temperature. A modern technical definition is a vitreous or semi-vitreous ceramic made primarily from stoneware clay or non-refractory fire clay. Whether vitrified or not, it is nonporous (does not soak up liquids); it may or may not be glazed. Historically, across the world, it has been developed after earthenware and before porcelain, and has often been used for high-quality as well as utilitarian wares. As a rough guide, modern earthenwares are normally fired in a kiln at temperatures in the range of about 1,000°C (1,830 °F) to 1,200 °C (2,190 °F); stonewares at between about 1,100 °C (2,010 °F) to 1,300 °C (2,370 °F); and porcelains at between about 1,200 °C (2,190 °F) to 1,400 °C (2,550 °F). Historically, reaching high temperatures was a long-lasting challenge, and temperatures somewhat below these were used for a long time. Earthenware can be fired effectively as low as 600°C, achievable in primitive pit firing, but 800 °C (1,470 °F) to 1,100 °C (2,010 °F) was more typical. Stoneware also needs certain types of clays, more specific than those able to make earthenware, but can be made from a much wider range than porcelain. Stoneware is not recognised as a category in traditional East Asian terminology and much Asian stoneware, such as Chinese Ding ware for example, is counted as porcelain by local definitions. Terms such as "porcellaneous" or "near-porcelain" may be used in such cases. One definition of stoneware is from the Combined Nomenclature of the European Communities, a European industry standard. It states: Stoneware, which, though dense, impermeable and hard enough to resist scratching by a steel point, differs from porcelain because it is more opaque, and normally only partially vitrified. It may be vitreous or semi-vitreous. It is usually coloured grey or brownish because of impurities in the clay used for its manufacture, and is normally glazed.

Strawberry Hill House - Often called simply Strawberry Hill is a Gothic Revival villa that was built in Twickenham, London, by Horace Walpole (1717–1797) from 1749 onward. It is a typical example of the "Strawberry Hill Gothic" style of architecture and it prefigured the nineteenth-century Gothic Revival. Walpole rebuilt the existing house in stages starting in 1749, 1760, 1772 and 1776. These added Gothic features such as towers and battlements outside and elaborate decoration inside to create ‘gloomth’ to suit Walpole's collection of antiquarian objects, contrasting with the more cheerful or "riant" garden. The interior included a Robert Adam fireplace; parts of the exterior were designed by James Essex. The garden contained a large seat shaped like a Rococo sea shell, which was recreated in the 2012 restoration of the garden, one of the many examples of historic garden conservation in the UK.

Studio art - The creation of individual hand made items through painting, drawing, ceramics, sculpture, photography, printmaking, glass or design.

Studio glass - The modern use of glass as an artistic medium to produce sculptures or three-dimensional artworks. The glass objects created are intended to make a sculptural or decorative statement. Their prices may range from a few hundred to hundreds of thousands of pounds. For the largest installations, the prices are in the millions. During the early 20th-century (before the early 1960s), contemporary glass art was generally made by teams of factory workers, taking glass from furnaces containing a thousand or more pounds. This form of glass art, of which Tiffany and Steuben in the U.S., Gallé in France and Hoya Crystal in Japan, Royal Leerdam Crystal in the Netherlands and Orrefors and Kosta Boda in Sweden are perhaps the best known, grew out of the factory system in which all glass objects were hand or mold blown by teams. Modern glass studios use a great variety of techniques in creating glass artworks, including: Glassblowing, Flameworking, Glass casting, Coldworking, Glass fusing, Pâte de verre, Stained glass.

Surrealism - A cultural movement which developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I and was largely influenced by Dada. The movement is best known for its visual artworks and writings and the juxtaposition of uncommon imagery. Artists painted unnerving, illogical scenes, sometimes with photographic precision, creating strange creatures from everyday objects, and developing painting techniques that allowed the unconscious to express itself. Its aim was, according to leader André Breton, to "resolve the previously contradictory conditions of dream and reality into an absolute reality, a super-reality", or surreality. Years active1920s to 1950s in France and Belgium. Major figures include Breton, Dalí, Ernst, Magritte. Influences were Dada, abstractism. It influenced Abstract expressionism and Post-modernism. Works of surrealism feature the element of surprise, unexpected juxtapositions and non sequitur; however, many surrealist artists and writers regard their work as an expression of the philosophical movement first and foremost, with the works themselves being an artefact. Leader Breton was explicit in his assertion that Surrealism was, above all, a revolutionary movement. At the time, the movement was associated with political causes such as communism and anarchism. The term "Surrealism" is said to have been coined by Guillaume Apollinaire as early as 1917. However, the Surrealist movement was not officially established until October 15, 1924, when the French poet and critic André Breton published the Surrealist Manifesto in Paris. The most important center of the movement was Paris, France. From the 1920s onward, the movement spread around the globe, impacting the visual arts, literature, film, and music of many countries and languages, as well as political thought and practice, philosophy, and social theory.

Surtout de table - A long tray featuring gilded or precious metals on which condiments and candlesticks were displayed during formal dinners. This dining table centerpiece would be made in sections and its length was determined by the number of leaves to be added to the table. It can take the form of a long tray with objects placed on top or an elaborate centerpiece object or a combination of the two. First appeared in the 17th century and was used to protect the polished wood of the formal dining table from spills from candlesticks and salt and vinegar condiments etc. During the 18th century they ceased being utilitarian and became decorative ornamental pieces, used in the centre of tables.

Sussex chair - Originally manufactured by William Morris & Co. frame with elbow arms and turned legs. Rush seat, turned back rest. This chair was named after a country chair found in Sussex, which inspired the design with the turned frame and rush seat. Similar types of chairs, with imitation bamboo frames and rush seats, were fashionable between 1790 and 1820.

Sussex trug - A Sussex trug is a wooden basket. It is made from a handle and rim of coppiced sweet chestnut wood which is hand-cleft then shaved using a drawknife. The body of the trug is made of five or seven thin boards of white willow, also hand-shaved with a drawknife. Trug baskets are mentioned in documentary sources from the 13th Century but were probably made earlier as agricultural baskets. The Thomas Smith Trug Company was formed in the 19th Century which brought the trug to wider public attention and developed what we know today as the Sussex Trug. They were essential to agriculture in the area, where they were used to measure liquid and grain, hence the agricultural measurement scale which was applied to them – 'bushel', 'half bushel' and the like.

Symbolism - A major movement in European culture between about 1880 and 1910. Major creative figures of that period – from the French poet Stéphane Mallarmé and the Austrian composer Gustav Mahler to the Norwegian painter Edvard Munch and the Belgian writer Maurice Maeterlinck – can be considered under the Symbolist rubric, in their endeavours to create new forms which were suggestive rather than descriptive.

Syroco - Syracuse Ornamental Company (Syroco). An American manufacturing company, founded in 1890 and based in Syracuse, New York, best known for molded wood-pulp interior decorations and gift and novelty items that resembled hand-carving. Later they integrated polymers into their molding process and then moved entirely into plastics production beginning in 1960. Syroco wood is a specialised wood pulp material that was created from a combination of ingredients (wood pulp, resin and flour, to name a few). Thanks to their specific composition, the Syroco company could press the material into compression molds, which would solidify into shapes that resembled carved wood. You can determine if a collectible is authentic Syroco by looking at the back or the bottom. You should see a stamp with ‘Made in USA, Syroco, Syracuse, NY.’ It may also include an item number, especially for collectibles made by the company in limited quantities.