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hallmark A mark or stamp applied to a precious metal by a legally appointed official denoting quality of a piece after assaying, examining to determine the amount of precious metal contained in a piece.

Handles I was fortunate to get these image from a 92 year old widow that I was doing an appraisal on her personal property and she had this tucked away in her file cabinet. Mouseover and click on image to enlarge!

hard-paste porcelain Porcelain made from kaolin, petuntse and quartz. Source: Antiques Price Guide 2004, Judith Miller ISBN -7894-9550-3

hard-paste porcelain Hard-paste (or true) porcelain is compounded of china clay (kaolin) and powdered felspathic rock (china stone or petuntse). It is glazed with petuntse which fuses into a form of natural glass under intense heat.

hassock A tightly stuffed, upholstered cushion used as a footstool or seat

Hepplewhite An English designer in the18th century who frequently co-operated with the Adams Brothers. He wrote "The Cabinet Maker and Upholsterer's Guide."

Highboy A tallboy or highboy is a piece of furniture incorporating a double chest of drawers and a wardrobe on top. Whereas the chest of drawers in its familiar form contains three long and two short drawers, the tallboy has five, six, or seven long drawers, and two short ones. It is a very late 17th-century development of the smaller chest. The early examples are walnut, but by far the largest portion of the many that have survived are mahogany, this being the wood most frequently employed in the 18th century for the construction of furniture, especially the more massive pieces. Occasionally the walnut at the beginning of the vogue was inlaid, just as satinwood varieties were inlaid, depending for relief upon carved cornice-mouldings or gardrooning, and upon handsome brass handles and escutcheons. The tallboy was the wardrobe of the 18th century, but it eventually gave place to the modern type of wardrobe, which, with its sliding doors, was speedily found to be not only capacious as its predecessor but more convenient of access. The topmost drawers of the tallboy could only be reached by the use of bed steps, and the disappearance of high beds and the consequent disuse of steps exercised a certain influence in displacing a characteristic piece of furniture which was popular for at least a century. This is in contrast to a lower piece of furniture called a lowboy. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highboy

highboy Tall chest of drawers supported by cabriole legs and usually crowned with cornice moldings or a pediment. Popular in 18th-century America.

Highest and Best Use Highest and Best Use - The real estate concept that can be applied to personal property is the "Appropriate Market Place." ASA Int'l Personal Property Committee

Hoosier Cabinet Prior to the advent of built-in kitchen cabinets, freestanding units such as the Hoosier Cabinet were utilized to centralize essential kitchen items. These freestanding kitchen cabinets attained their namesake because almost all manufacturers of these cabinets were located in Indiana, the Hoosier State. Hoosier Cabinets had their origin in bakers' cabinets of the late 1800's. These baker cabinets consisted of a kitchen table with drawers and two bins for flour or meal. An upper section had shelves for storing dishes and other utensils, behind wood or glass doors. By the turn of the century several furniture factories in the Midwest began making kitchen cabinets based on the bakers' cabinet designs. The Hoosier cabinet was the first ever fully washable, fully outfitted workstation. Originally built from sturdy maple or pine, in later years the cabinets were enameled white or colors to match other kitchen furniture, Hoosiers had casters, large pullout aluminum or porcelain-enameled countertop, and removable shelves. The Hoosier cabinet included, variously, an upper section with bins for flour, sugar, and other dry staples. The flour bin could hold 50 pounds and had a built-in sifter in the base. A wooden or enamel pullout work surface doubled as a cutting board. Drawers for utensils, and shelves for dishes, glassware or mixing bowls, perhaps a coffee-bean grinder or bread bin, could be found behind the doors and cabinet front. Some had spice racks, and even came with ant traps! The Hoosier cabinets upper section commonly offered a standard assortment of charts delivering household measurements, cooking times, a clock-topped “wish-list,” a cookbook holder, a recipe file, and a coin-holder. Each manufacturer offered additional options, such as colored-glass or tambour doors, which could be included at the buyer’s expense. Hoosier cabinets have long been popular antiques. They fit into today's country-style kitchen. The cabinets, which have numerous drawers and cupboards, sold from about 1900 to the 1930's. Wasmuth-Endicott Co. of Andrews, Indiana, built Kitchen Maids. By 1919 the company was advertising an improved version, made with a porcelain top, as being easier to clean than older, wood models. Source: http://www.architecturals.net/newsletter/2008_07_27.html

hyalith Opaque black or sealing red glass produced in Bohemia from c1818. Source: Antiques Price Guide 2004, Judith Miller ISBN -7894-9550-3