The RL What's This? Shop

Ask Your Fellow Shop Owners For Help Identifying An Item
Member since February 2006 View Profile

Do you have an item that you cannot identify? Post it in this shop to get feedback from other Ruby Lane shops.

Today's Featured Items

$100 USD
Cloisonné Slave Collar? Necklace?

$40 USD
Topaz or Citrine Brass Pin or Brooch

$35 USD
Vintage perfume bottle-2 handles

$50 USD
'How shall we display it?

$75 USD
Need Value .....Old Large Composition Baby Doll ~ ..

$5 USD
Saki Server

$200 USD
Handpainted Porcelain and Metal Press or Vice with ..

$135 USD
Unusual Old Time Shoes

$125 USD
Vintage Colonial Couple Figurine

$49 USD
Basketweave And Cherries Pottery Pitcher

$50 USD
Lotus Sculpture statue resembling Lotus Spirit or ..

$500 USD
Jules Moigniez Bronze Letter Opener Bird Feather & ..

---

View All Shop's Items (44)

---

This Week's Arrivals (7)

 

About The RL What's This? Shop

About Us
Welcome to the Ruby Lane What's This? Shop!

The What's This? Shop is designed to serve as a tool for shop owners who need help in accurately identifying an item before placing it for sale in their Ruby Lane shop. If you’re not sure about the maker, the age or any other aspect of an item’s identification, you can use this tool to post your item and ask the hundreds of fellow Ruby Lane shop owners, many of whom have years, if not decades of experience, who may be able to help. This service is free to all currently open Ruby Lane shop owners.

The Importance of Complete and Accurate Identification
In order to ensure that items portrayed on Ruby Lane are accurately represented, we strongly encourage shops to use this service rather than list an item in your shop, the identification of which you are unsure, as it is misleading to prospective buyers and the search engines, and can lead to the item being flagged.

Fully Searchable
The What's This shop is fully searchable using the Ruby Lane Search tool which functions exactly as if you were searching within any individual Ruby Lane shop.

A Few Important Guidelines
The Ruby Lane What's This? Shop is designed to serve the purpose of allowing shop owners to assist one another in an item identification. It is not a forum. All questions and responses must pertain, or be relevant to the identification of a particular item in question, and all responses must offer insight. Responses to What's This items that contain non-item related or non-insightful information will be removed without notification. No exceptions. Repeated misuse of the What's This comment tool may lead to further action. Ruby Lane will follow comments posted within this shop, and reserves the right to adjust the comment guidelines if needed.

Question About Item
For best results, be specific when asking about your item. Is there a particular aspect of the item’s identity of which you are unsure? The more specific you can make your inquiry, the better your chances of receiving the feedback that you need to accurately and completely identify the item.

At Least One Photo
All items that you put in the What's This? shop must be accompanied by at least one good photo. As with items you already have for sale in your shop, the more photos you can include, the better. Be sure to show any marks, the back, top and bottom of an item, and close-ups of important details that pertain to your inquiry.

Keep It Brief
In the interest of efficiency, we request that shop responses to a What's This? item be relatively brief, composed in a professional manner, and to the point. If you feel that additional background information to support your insights will help to lead the inquiring shop closer to an accurate identification, please feel free to include it.

Know Your Facts
When your suggestions can be supported by facts, please include them. We welcome the inclusion of specific reference data whenever available. However, if you are unsure of a suggestion that you make regarding an item in question, be sure to make that clear. Again, the What's This? shop is only for communication that directly relates to the identification of an item.

Ruby Lane Does Not Determine Identity
It should be noted that Ruby Lane does not monitor the What's This? shop to determine whether an identification by a shop owner is, or is not correct. It is up to fellow shop owners to agree or disagree with another shop's assessment, and ultimately up to the shop owner who has posted the item to determine whether to use a shop's feedback.

What's This FAQ:

How Does The What's This? Shop Work?
Step 1: While in your own shop, add the item in question to your Backroom just as you would any other item. As with all items, a minimum of one picture is required; multiple pictures are encouraged.

Step 2: While in your shop, choose the tool to "Send The Item to the What's This? Shop."

Step 3: Choose the item from the drop-down menu of all of the items that are currently in your Backroom.

Step 4: Choose the item category to the best of your ability.

Step 5: List your specific question(s) about the item and include any background information that could help others help you in identifying the item, using the field provided.

Is There A Fee To Put An Item Into The What’s This? Shop?
No. Adding an item to the What's This? shop is a free service for all open shops.

Is There A Limit To The Number Of Items I Can Place In The Shop At Once?
There is no limit, but please use discretion when choosing the number of items to post at any one time.

Will The Name Of My Shop Be Listed With The Item As Well?
Yes, there will be a link to your shop in the What's This? item listing.

How Will I Be Able To View Responses To My Posted Item?
Comments from shops will be viewable by all shops in the What's This? shop. The shop who has posted the item will receive those responses via email, as well.

Will The Price Of My Item Be Listed Too?
The price of your item will be included when posted in the shop. While the shop is designed for identification purposes rather than for appraisals, the subject of price may be discussed, however we prefer that it remain secondary to the identification of the item.

What If I Do Not Receive Information That Is Adequate For Me To Correctly Identify My Item?
If you do not receive information enabling you to successfully identify the item and your item is no longer viewable in the What's This? Shop, you may send it to the shop again at any time. When you do so, we again recommend that your inquiry be as specific as possible, to help ensure useful responses.

In order to send a previously submitted item to the What's This? Shop again a new item ID number is required. To resubmit, remove the item from your shop using the Remove Item tool and then add it to your Backroom once again with a new item ID number. Then follow the steps outlined above under How Does The What's This Shop Work?

What Happens To My Item If I Remove It from the Backroom of my shop?
The item will remain in the What's This or What Was This shops even if removed from your Backroom. Items remain in the What Was This shop indefinitely.

Can I Ask More Questions Or Add Additional Comments About The Item Once I Begin To Receive Responses About My Item? How Do I Do That?
Yes, you can. While viewing your item in the What's This shop, simply choose the Add Another Question tool, and add your text. Do not use your email program reply function to respond to posted comments.




What Was This? shop: An Archive Tool
Items identified by other shop owners in the What's This? shop are automatically moved into the What Was This? shop, along with all accompanying shop feedback. Identified items remain here indefinitely. The What Was This? shop is designed to serve as an archive resource for shops to refer to before they list an item in the What's This? shop, to determine whether a similar item has already been listed and successfully identified. A link to the What Was This? shop is located in the Favorite Links section.


Do You Have Other Resource’s To Assist With The Accurate Identification Of An Item?

Yes, we do.

The Favorites Links section of the What’s This Shop is another great resource. It contains many links to websites with information that will assist you in your research, including historical information, identifying a particular pattern, style or maker’s mark, information on patents and trademarks, and much more. To access the page simply click on the Favorites Links button located on the left hand tool bar of the What’s This Shop’s home page.

Another terrific resource is the Ruby Lane Notes from the Lane blog. The blog is designed to complement the Ruby Lane site, offering articles on topics relating to antiques & art, vintage collectibles and jewelry. A link to the blog is located under the Relax section of Ruby Lane.

Notes from the Lane also features a regular column titled What’s This? where you are invited to submit your questions and comments. Instructions for submitting an inquiry to the editors of ‘What’s This?’ are noted at the end of every "What's This?' column. A link to the ‘What’s This?’ column is listed in the Favorite Links section.