Miller's Garden Antiques

Description

This guide is divided into the major categories of items available, such as sculpture, urns, furniture, and gates; and tools and accessories from hedge clippers to weather vanes. The book is divided further into different materials and there are factboxes on manufacturers, fakes, and upkeep.

Reviews

Antique garden statuary is a growing market closely following the insurgence of popular gardening. Instantly adding a personal touch, a statue, urn or finial carefully placed will transform a garden from the ordinary to something a little more special. But modern ornaments tend to be too "new", needing a covering of liquid manure or yoghurt to attain that patina so specific to antique ornaments. Antique ornaments already have that indefinable elegance, bearing decades or even centuries of weathering by the natural elements, making them a much coveted item in showrooms, antique shops and architectural salvagers. But how do you tell if you're being overcharged, found a bargain at a car boot sale? This is where this excellent, lavishly illustrated guide steps in. Part of the renowned Millers' series, it guides the prospective purchaser through the style, type and price of garden ornamentation from summerhouses and gates, lawnmowers and hoes, urns and finials, gargoyles and statuettes. Offering extra information in feature boxes where appropriate together with lists on further reading and where to buy and see (for the UK and USA) and a directory of manufacturers, this is an invaluable asset for purveyors and acquirers of fine antiques for the garden. - Lucy Watson

Table of contents

Materials; gates & entrance ways - cast & wrought iron, wooden gates; finials & urns - marble, stone, composition stone, terracotta & stoneware, bronze, lead, cast iron; fountains & water ornaments - marble, stone & composition stone, terracotta & stoneware, American water ornament, lead & bronze, cast iron; sundials; garden furniture - marble, stone & stoneware, wrought iron, cast iron, American seats, pub tables, wooden furniture; sculpture - marble, stone, composition stone, terracotta & stoneware, bronze, lead & zinc, cast iron; classical figures; architectural ornament - marble, stone, lead; structures - oriental structures, rotundas & gazebos, obelisks & chimney pots, summer houses, weather vanes, bridges; implements & accessories - tools, watering cans & watering equipment, terracotta & glass, mowers, rollers & barrows; care & security; directory of makers; classical iconography; further reading; where to buy & see.