Nailsea Glass is English decorative glass produced near Bristol from the late 18th century, distinguished by its swirled or speckled coloured glass, often used for flasks, rolling pins and walking sticks in a distinctive folk-art style.
Nanking Cargo Porcelain refers to Chinese export porcelain recovered from the wreck of the Dutch ship Geldermalsen, sunk in 1752, sold at a landmark 1986 auction and now used as a benchmark reference for dating similar blue-and-white export wares.
A Napkin Ring is a small ring, typically silver, used to hold a rolled table napkin, becoming a common Victorian dining accessory often engraved with initials or given as a personalised gift.
Nathaniel Mills (1811-1873) was a leading Birmingham silversmith renowned for finely chased silver vinaigrettes, card cases and small boxes, whose work remains among the most sought after in the field of small collectable silver.
The Nave is the long central body of a church, extending from the entrance to the chancel, a term relevant to collectors of ecclesiastical antiques and architectural salvage sourced from redundant churches.
Needlepoint is a form of embroidery worked in wool or silk on a stiff, evenly woven canvas, used for upholstery, cushions and pictures, especially popular from the 17th century for chair seats and fire screens.
A Needlework Sampler is a piece of embroidery, traditionally worked by young girls learning stitching, displaying alphabets, verses and decorative motifs, with antique examples valued for their charm, dated inscriptions and social history.
Neo-Gothic, or Gothic Revival, describes the 19th-century revival of medieval Gothic architectural and decorative forms, embracing pointed arches, tracery and quatrefoil ornament across furniture, architecture and interiors.
Neoclassical Style is a decorative and architectural movement of the mid-to-late 18th century, drawing on ancient Greek and Roman forms following renewed archaeological interest, characterised by symmetry, restrained ornament and motifs such as urns, swags and columns.
Nephrite is one of the two mineral forms of jade, generally tougher and more subtly coloured than jadeite, historically the primary jade used in Chinese carving before jadeite became available from Burma in the 18th century.
A Nest of Tables is a set of two to four occasional tables of graduated size, designed to stack together and slide beneath one another for compact storage, a form especially popular from the late 18th century onward.
Nevers Faience is French tin-glazed earthenware produced in Nevers from the late 16th century, notable for its vivid blue grounds and Italian-influenced painted decoration, among the earliest and most important French faience centres.
New Hall Porcelain is English porcelain produced in Staffordshire from 1781 to 1835, known for its practical hybrid hard-paste body and simple, attractive painted decoration, catering to a growing middle-class market.
A Newel Finial is the decorative carved or turned ornament capping a staircase newel post, ranging from simple turned balls to elaborate carved urns or figures depending on period and status of the house.
A Newel Post is the principal upright post supporting the handrail at the top or bottom of a staircase, often decoratively carved or turned, and a notable feature of period architectural salvage.
Nickel is a hard, silvery-white metal used from the mid-19th century both as an alloy component and, when electroplated onto base metal, as an economical alternative to silver plate for tableware and lighting fixtures.
Niello is a black metallic alloy inlaid into engraved silver or gold to create fine contrasting decoration, an ancient technique revived in Russian, Persian and Italian silverware particularly during the 18th and 19th centuries.
A Nightstand, or bedside table, is a small table or cabinet placed beside a bed for holding a candle, lamp or personal items, becoming a standard bedroom furniture form from the 18th century as bedroom furnishing grew more elaborate.
A Nocturnal Dial is a historical instrument used to tell the time at night by aligning it with the North Star and the positions of the Plough constellation, a specialised navigational tool of the 16th to 18th centuries.
A Norman Arch is a rounded, semicircular arch characteristic of Norman (Romanesque) architecture in England following the 1066 conquest, typically decorated with chevron or zigzag carved moulding.
A Nursing Chair is a low, armless upholstered chair, designed with a seat height suited to breastfeeding, popular throughout the Victorian and Edwardian periods and often part of a bedroom or nursery suite.
A Nutmeg Grater is a small, often pocket-sized silver box fitted with a fine grating surface, used from the 17th to 19th centuries to freshly grate whole nutmeg, now collected as a fine example of miniature silver craftsmanship.
Nymphenburg Porcelain is fine German porcelain produced by the Nymphenburg factory near Munich since 1747, especially celebrated for its Commedia dell'Arte figures modelled by Franz Anton Bustelli.
