An Ice Bucket is a lidded vessel, typically silver, silver plate or glass, used from the 19th century onward to keep bottled wine or champagne chilled at the table. Antique examples are often campaign-style with carrying handles or fitted with tongs.
Ice Glass, also called craquelle glass, has a deliberately crackled surface texture achieved by plunging hot glass into cold water before reheating and shaping, giving it a frosted, ice-like appearance popular in 19th-century decorative glassware.
Imari Porcelain is Japanese export porcelain, named after the port of Imari, decorated in a distinctive palette of underglaze blue with overglaze iron-red and gilt. Produced from the late 17th century, it was widely imitated by European factories including Worcester and Derby.
Import Marks are stamps applied to goods entering a country, such as "Made in England" or country-of-origin marks required by 19th and 20th-century trade legislation. They help collectors date and authenticate ceramics, silver and other antiques.
An Inkstand is a desk accessory, often silver, brass or pottery, combining inkwells, a pen tray and sometimes a taper stick or pounce pot on a shared tray or base. Georgian and Victorian examples are especially prized by collectors of desk antiques.
An Inkwell is a small vessel for holding ink, made in materials ranging from glass and pottery to silver and bronze. Antique inkwells were often fitted with hinged lids to prevent evaporation and frequently formed part of a larger inkstand.
Inlaid Furniture is decorated with pieces of contrasting wood, metal, ivory, mother-of-pearl or other materials set into the surface to form patterns or pictorial scenes. The technique flourished in cabinet-making across the 17th to 19th centuries.
Inlay is a decorative technique in which material is set into a recess cut into a wooden or metal surface, flush with the surrounding surface, to create pattern or ornament. It differs from marquetry, in which the whole veneer surface is built from applied pieces.
An Inro is a small, multi-compartment Japanese case, traditionally lacquered, worn suspended from a kimono sash and secured with a carved toggle known as a netsuke. Antique inro are collected for their fine lacquer and inlay work.
An Insurance Valuation is a formal, professionally prepared document stating the replacement value of an antique for insurance purposes, distinct from an auction or probate valuation, which typically reflect lower market or sale values.
Intaglio describes a design cut or engraved into a hard surface, most commonly a gemstone or seal, so the image lies below the surface plane, the reverse of a cameo. Antique intaglio seals and rings were used both decoratively and for sealing documents.
Intarsia is an Italian Renaissance form of wood inlay in which shaped pieces of veneer are fitted together like a mosaic to create pictorial or geometric designs, often depicting architectural perspectives, still lifes or landscapes on cabinet doors and panels.
The Ionic Order is one of the classical orders of architecture, identified by the scroll-like volutes of its column capitals. It appears frequently in Georgian and Neoclassical furniture and architectural detailing, including pediments, columns and fire surrounds.
Iridescent Glass has a rainbow-like surface sheen created by treating glass with metallic oxide fumes while still hot. The technique was popularised by Tiffany's Favrile glass and by makers of Carnival Glass in the early 20th century.
Irish Georgian Furniture refers to furniture made in Ireland during the Georgian period, typically in mahogany, distinguished from English pieces by bolder, more robust carving, particularly on cabriole legs and gadrooned edges.
Ironstone China is a dense, durable earthenware developed in early 19th-century England as a hard-wearing alternative to porcelain. Patented by Charles James Mason in 1813, it was widely used for dinner services and remains popular with collectors for its weight and strength.
Islamic Ceramics encompass pottery traditions from the Middle East and North Africa, celebrated for lustreware, cobalt-blue underglaze painting and geometric or calligraphic decoration. These techniques strongly influenced European maiolica and Iznik-inspired wares.
Italianate Style is a 19th-century architectural and furnishing style inspired by Renaissance Italian villas, characterised by symmetry, arched windows, ornate cornices and classical detailing. It was especially popular in Victorian country houses.
Ivorine is an early synthetic imitation of ivory, made from cellulose compounds, used from the late 19th century for piano keys, cutlery handles and small decorative items as a cheaper, legally unrestricted alternative to genuine ivory.
Ivory is the dense dentine material from the tusks of elephants and other animals, historically carved into figures, netsuke, fans, piano keys and furniture inlay. Trade in antique ivory is now heavily restricted by law, and provenance and age documentation are essential for sale.
Ivory Carving is the art of shaping ivory into figures, reliefs and decorative objects, practised across many cultures from medieval Europe to Qing dynasty China and Edo period Japan. Fine antique carvings are valued for their intricacy and age-related patina.
Iznik Pottery is Ottoman Turkish ceramic ware produced from the 15th to 17th centuries in the town of Iznik, prized for its vivid underglaze cobalt, turquoise and sealing-wax red floral designs on a white ground. It strongly influenced later European decorative ceramics.
