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You can start the home decoration by finding the best antique pewter articles and collectables that will match your home furniture and home design.
Therefore, whether you are a pewter collector or just interested in purchasing some pewter articles, it is important to know the meaning of the terms used.

Let us consider the following definitions and terms in accordance with the American and British pewter. The glossary presented below contains terms used starting from the 17th century and until today:

• Antimony – A type of metal used to create the pewter alloy along with tin or other materials. Antimony was first used by the French pewterers around the 17th century, by British pewterers at the end of the 17th century while the American pewterers used this metal starting from the 19th century.
• Basin – Describes a narrow and deep bowl with rims which was used for its domestic purpose.
• Baluster – Term used to describe hollowware featuring a bulbous body and sometimes similar to measures.
• Beaker – A type of mug or cup without handle. Beaker was commonly used in England during the 19th century.
• Bleeding Bowl – A type of porringer vessel used for blood letting and featuring capacity marks on the inside. Commonly, the bleeding bowl has straight sides rather than curved sides.
• Bismuth – A metal used to create the pewter alloy. The amount of bismuth used to create pewter is low, but its effects are impressive: bismuth improves the casting qualities of the pewter alloy, and thus improves the qualities of the antique pewter items produced. The chemical symbol for bismuth is Bi.
• Bobeche – A disk or extension placed at the top of the candlestick in order to retain and catch the wax drippings of the candle. Sometimes the casting can be removable, thus separate.
• Brim – The rim or the flatten, broad and upper edge of a dish, plate or charger that surrounds the flatware item.
• Britannia Metal – This is an English term introduce during the 17th century and used to describe a type of lead-free alloy consisting of antimony and copper. The Britannia metal was sometimes mistaken with the pewter alloy but there are some clear differences between these two alloys.
• Casting – Term used to describe the process through which the molten pewter has to be poured into a mold in order to create the antique pewter items desired. In the past, casting was the main technique used to create pewter articles until the appearance of the Britannia metal when pewter articles started to be created from sheet metal.
• Chalice – Stemmed cup used for religious purposes. More specifically, chalices were used in the Roman Catholic ceremonies and it is rather small. However, chalices have been also mentioned during the Protestant communions, but later these were replaced by larger bowls.
• Chairback – Term used for the thumb piece of a tankard or flagon during the 18th and 19th centuries.
• Charger – A sadware piece used to hold the plates and other pewter flatware items. This term is also used today.
• Corrosion – Term used to describe the slow phenomenon which leads to the formation of the dark layer over the surface of a pewter item. In time, corrosion appears and its effects can vary depending on the pewter alloy. However, the corrosion can occur as a very thin layer or a very thick layer.
• Copper – A type of metal used to create the pewter alloy, in combination with other metals like tin, lead, bismuth or antimony. The chemical symbol of copper is Cu and it is a red brown type of metal.