Why do so many listings say "signed"?

The word leads the term list, appearing in a quarter of titles, but it is mostly a maker's or artist's signature on an object rather than a feature of signage. Japanese okimono and netsuke account for a large part of it, along with WW1 binoculars, boxwood carvings and Art Deco bookends. They sit under this heading because of the keyword, not the function.

What period do most of them come from?

The dated field runs from 1800 to 1960. The 1920s is the single fullest decade, with the 1930s, 1910s and 1900s close behind, so interwar and Edwardian pieces dominate. Earlier material is scarce, with the 1880s managing a handful of listings. Post-war signs are thinner still. Many listings lean on soft labels instead of a year: "19th Century" stands in as the date for a large block, and "Victorian" and "Edwardian" are used loosely.

Are French signs common in this category?

More common than you might expect on a UK marketplace. French material runs to over fifty titles, with Paris named in about a third of those. Tabac and coiffeur boards turn up, as do toleware bicorn hat signs and glove-maker's trade signs. Danish, German, Dutch, Scandinavian and South African pieces appear once or twice each.

What kinds of figural signs turn up?

They are the archive's oddities, each appearing once or twice at most. Cigar-store figures, a Highland bagpiper tradesman's figure, a giant shoe, a papier-mâché mutton carcass and a 10-gallon hat have all passed through. Pestle-and-mortar pharmacy signs, giant pocket watches and an automated cobbler's display model belong to the same group. Three-dimensional work sits at the top of the range.

How often do glass signs appear?

Glass is the quiet minority, around twenty-eight titles. It covers reverse-cut shop window panels, etched bakery windows, advertising mirrors and double-sided milk-glass lightboxes. Vitriolite, an opaque pigmented structural glass, shows up in street signage. Reverse painting means the decoration is worked on the back of the panel and read through the glass.

Do signs sell as sets rather than singly?

Both. Pairs appear in a couple of dozen titles, and double-sided single signs about as often. Larger groups have come to market too: four toleware post office location signs, six servants' bell name plates, eight French vineyard wine signs, fourteen reverse-painted glass panels from a hairdressing establishment, and one lot of seventeen enamel signs together.

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Antique Signs

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A sign is an announcement made to be read from a distance: an enamelled steel plate, a painted board, a cast iron street name or a carved figure hung outside a trade.