What is the most common item in this category?

Planters and jardinières, followed closely by log bins, coal buckets and scuttles. Together they make up roughly a fifth of listings. The typical example is Victorian, often embossed, and frequently fitted with lion-mask ring handles.

Are log bins and planters the same thing?

Often, yes. A fireside vessel made for fuel gets listed as a planter once someone puts a pot in it, and dealers use both words for the same shape. The titles reflect that overlap rather than resolving it, so the two groups run into each other.

How old is most of the stock?

19th century and Victorian dominate, with Victorian alone the single most common word in the category by a wide margin. Georgian and 18th-century pieces are a real but smaller presence. A few items reach back further, including a 16th-century Nuremberg alms dish and Islamic engraved wares, and the latest dated entry is a set of Imperial measures from 1950.

Why do copper and bronze appear under brass?

The heading covers the copper-alloy family as it comes to market. Copper turns up in almost a fifth of titles and bronze in a smaller share. Copper kettles and pans sit alongside brass ones in the kitchen strand, and Chinese and Indian bronzes account for several of the heaviest pieces recorded.

Which pieces sit at the top of the range?

Japanese and Chinese cloisonné, including signed chargers up to 50cm across, plus inlaid Cairo Ware and engraved Islamic brass. Within the English material, early metalware does best: 17th and early 18th-century spoons, salamanders, warming pans and alms dishes are placed above the general run of Victorian planters.

Do brass antiques carry maker's marks?

Brass isn't assayed, so there are no hallmarks, assay marks or date letters of the kind found on silver. The titles in this category don't record maker names as a general pattern either. Where a name does appear, it stands alone rather than pointing to any one firm behind the bulk of the stock.

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Antique Brass

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Brass household and decorative metalware, made for the hearth, kitchen, door and windowsill, and now bought as much for the look of it as for the job it once did.