A vintage Steelite Bakelite and wood fly reel, Reg No.1869.…
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A vintage Steelite Bakelite and wood fly reel, reg no.1869. 29-4-31. Varnished wood, width 11 cm, depth 12 cm

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  • Registered Numbers - Between 1842 and 1883, a diamond- shaped mark was used to identify items as British-made, which classified the item according to the material from which it was manufactured, as well as the date of registration. This system was discontinued in 1884 when a numbering system was introduced.

    Design registration is for "what and item looks like", and is not a patent ("how something works") or trade mark ("what it is called").

    The registered number is usually on an under-surface of an object (on the base of ceramics) and oftern shown as "Rd. No. 99999", sometimes surrounded by a rectangular box.

    The table below lists the year, and the first registered number for that year:

    1884 1

    1885 18,993

    1886 39,547

    1887 61,207

    1888 87,266

    1889 111,664

    1890 140,481

    1891 160,613

    1892 183,259

    1893 203,348

    1894 223,861

    1895 244,726

    1896 266,237

    1897 288,848

    1898 309,956

    1899 328,527

    1900 349,120

    1901 367,628

    1902 380,979

    1903 401,944

    1904 422,489

    1905 428,004

    1906 469,160

    1907 486,464

    1908 516,375

    1909 533,561

    1910 546,084

    1911 561,570

    1912 585,707

    1913 608,541

    1914 627,887

    1915 642,613

    1916 651,079

    1917 655,001

    1918 662,576

    1919 665,728

    1920 664,869

    1921 676,491

    1922 685,412

    1923 691,571

    1924 695,944

    1925 705,943

    1926 716,386

    1927 723,430

    1928 725,899

    1929 740,459

    1930 741,336

    1931 757,945

    1932 767,110
  • Bakelite - Bakelite was the first completely synthetic man-made substance. Bakelite was invented in 1909 by an independent New York chemist Leo H. Baekeland. It was called the "material of a thousand uses" and used to make everything from car parts to jewellery.

    Although nearly all plastic from this period is known as ?Bakelite', it is important to remember that this is an umbrella term that covers many different early plastics such as Lucite and cellulose acetate, and includes Bakelite.

    We often think of the colour of Bakelite items as dark brown, but it was manufactured in various colours including yellow, butterscotch, red, green and brown.

    Bakelite could also be transparent, or marbleised by mixing two colours. Plastics were cheap to produce and could be moulded or carved in a huge variety of ways.

    Bakelite is most commonly associated with radio cases of the 1930s, telephones and kitchen utensils, but it was also used extensively in jewellery manufacture.

    Early designs from the 1920s were plainer and simpler than later examples. Geometric and floral patterns typical of Art Deco styling were popular.

    During its heyday in the 1930s, Bakelite jewellery was stocked by the most prestigious stores, such as Saks, Harrods and Macy?s, who dedicated a shop window display to it in 1935.

    Coco Chanel featured Bakelite items in her accessories collection and the material was praised frequently in Vogue magazine.

    Manufacture of some consumer Items were suspended in 1942 in order to concentrate manufacturing on the war effort.

    Small items made of Bakelite are now valuable collectables. Andy Warhol was an avid collector, and when he died in 1987, his pieces sold for record prices at Sotheby's.

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