Antique guides

Type and style context — not a valuation. Photograph marks and the base.

Identify an object from a photo

• Mason jar

  American glass fruit jar

  A heavy glass canning jar with a threaded neck made to take a lid and (classically) a zinc cap and milk-glass liner. “Mason” refers to the 1858 threaded-jar patent; Ball, Kerr, and others are makers, not the invention itself.

• Carnival glass

  Iridescent pressed glass, early 1900s

  Machine-pressed glass given a metallic iridescent spray, sold cheaply in the early 20th century and later associated with carnival prizes. Color names (marigold, amethyst) describe the base glass plus the iridescent treatment.

• Depression glass

  Machine-made colored tableware, 1920s–1930s

  Inexpensive machine-made table glass, often in pink, green, amber, or blue, given away or sold cheaply during the 1920s–1930s. Patterns were made in large sets (dishes, cups, bowls).