Ruby Stain Novelties

One of the charms of ruby staining and other decorations is the seemingly endless ways it was used. What I call novelties is one large area of use. We know that the Victorians liked them. But for me the term has come to mean a much wider spectrum of uses and forms.

I thought about trying a definition of “novelties” but decided that it was going to be a page long or too limiting. Thus, this is one person’s definition of the term based upon the holdings of The Ruby Stain Museum. It is a work in progress. Please send along your contributions. Generally these are pieces that can not be identified by manufacturer or pattern. In some cases simply too many different manufacturers made essentially the same pattern, see what I choose to call Nailhead, for example. Since identification is difficult and the forms are many I have chosen to give dimensions on all of the pieces.

As always while copyrighted you are welcome to download a copy for your personal, non-commercial use. It may take awhile but we will continue to add to the list of items until we have documented the full collection. It presently occupies about 200 feet of shelving in the new “basement” working, display and storage area that was completed the Friday two days before Katrina hit.