This guide to antique china and silver is arranged chronologically, starting in the 16th century and concluding in the 1950s. There is a detailed introduction defining the principal elements of tableware which takes a broad view of the social history of the table, illustrated with paintings and engravings. Having given the reader guidance to identification and dating within this overview, the introduction concludes with a timeline of historical, stylistic and social change, in the production of china and silver.