What kind of scales come up most often?

Postal and letter scales lead. Fifty-nine titles say postal and twenty-eight say letter, typically a brass or brass-and-mahogany desk balance with its graduated weights. Behind them sit shop, dairy and butchers' scales, then apothecary and jewellers' balances, then the floor-standing jockey and personal weighing machines.

How old are most antique scales for sale?

The dealer-entered dates run from 1750 to 1960, though only 215 of 385 listings carry a clean year. The commonest entry is simply '19th Century'. Where decades are given they cluster in the 1880s and 1920s, with the 1890s and 1910s close behind. Anything before 1800 is exceptional.

Why do model ships appear under this heading?

The word 'scale' does double duty. Forty-eight titles use 'model' and twenty-six use 'large scale', so scale models of ships, locomotives and buildings sit in the same index as the balances. Items described as 'of large scale', including vases, tapestries and furniture, arrive the same way.

Are the weights usually still with the scale?

Weights get named in fifty-nine titles, with phrases like 'complete with weights' and 'full set of bell weights' doing the selling. When a set survives, dealers say so up front. It's a short title, and the weights still earn a mention.

Which makers turn up on antique scales?

Only one firm is carried by more than a couple of dealers: a Birmingham maker named in twenty-seven titles. Everything else is effectively anonymous or a single-dealer attribution. Names appear stamped on the beam or bed, on a printed plate, or in the listing as an attribution rather than a mark.

Do foreign scales appear in this category?

It's a thin seam. French shows up in eight titles, with single Dutch, Frisian, Portuguese, Italian and Scottish pieces scattered across the range. The bulk of what sells on Sellingantiques under this heading is British trade, post-office and domestic equipment.

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Antique Scales

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Weighing instruments from the working trade: brass and mahogany postal scales with their weights, shop and dairy beam scales, apothecary balances, and floor-standing oak jockey and doctors' scales.