Over the years many terms for describing items on ebay have been and are still being abused…the terms below are what we would consider to be a general rule of thumb with terminology we personally use for our ebay auctions…these are our opinions and our items we sell are “guaranteed as described” within the parameters below.

The standards by which BKCranston dates their items are as follows:

The term CIRCA (Ca. / C.) is used when exact time frame is not certain.

Circa Dating:

100 years or less is +/- 25 years

300- 101 years is +/- 50 years

1000 – 301 years is +/- 100 years

1001 – 2000 years is +/- 300 years

2001-5000 years is +/- 500 years

(i.e. C.1925 = 1900-1950, C.1750 = 1700-1800, c.1400 = 1300-1500…)

The following general terms are defined as such:

Antique = pre 1940

Vintage = 1940 - 1989

Contemporary = 1990 - present

New = just made, unused

Describing a century:

21^st Century = 2000-present

20^th Century = 1900-1999

19^th Century = 1800-1899

18^th Century = 1700-1799….and so on….

Part of a century:

Early = first quarter of a century

Early-Mid = First & Second quarter or a century

Mid = second & third quarter of a century

Mid-Late = third & fourth quarter of a century

Late = fourth quarter of a century

Date spans are used for a specific known period of time:

i.e. …”dating to 1940-1960”…., self explanatory!

General dating for American Period and Styles:

(Periods and styles did overlap throughout the years)

This is a general list for the more common terms used.

Mid Century Modern: 1930’s - 1970’s

Art Deco : 1920’s - 1930’s

Art Nouveau: 1915 - 1920’s

Arts & Craft: 1890’s - 1915

Victorian: 1840’s – 1900

Empire: 1830’s-1840’s

Sheraton: 1810’s - 1830’s

Federal: 1780’s - 1810’s

Chippendale: 1760’s - 1780’s

Queen Anne: 1740’s - 1760’s