Can anyone help me date these antique bricks?

[djs259]

Can anyone here help me date these bricks? They were used to build the chimneys in my colonial style home as well as the brick facade in front. At the time, the builder indicated that they were antique bricks and that we were lucky they were able to get them. This was back in 1982. While they do look quite old, I really have no clue what century they are from. Could these be 18th century or early 19th, or is there anything about them which indicates a later manufacture date? Any help will be appreciated.

 

[djs259]

Can anyone here help me date these bricks? They were used to build the chimneys in my colonial style home as well as the brick facade in front. At the time, the builder indicated that they were antique bricks and that we were lucky they were able to get them. This was back in 1982. While they do look quite old, I really have no clue what century they are from. Could these be 18th century or early 19th, or is there anything about them which indicates a later manufacture date? Any help will be appreciated.

 

[djs259]

A few more pics showing the average length of each brick is 8"

 

[djs259]

Not all the bricks are the same color. Some of them are closer to an orange shade. For example:

 

[30WCF]

Did they leave you any spares? Mabe you could show the tops and bottoms? Not that I’d be any help there, but sometimes you may forget if they left you some spares for repairs. As a kid there was a pile in the crawl space.

 

[30WCF]

There are some old brick from the foundation columns in my current homes crawl space that have the name on the top. No holes in them, just a depression with a name inside. My house is 1950s.

 

[djs259]

Did they leave you any spares? Mabe you could show the tops and bottoms? Not that I’d be any help there, but sometimes you may forget if they left you some spares for repairs. As a kid there was a pile in the crawl space.

No spares left, sadly!

 

[PaulOinMA]

My wife's late uncle may have helped. Owned the Old Virginia Brick Company.

A friend had a house built in Colchester, CT. Person came to build the fireplace and chimney. Looked around the property, and said he could build it with stones from the yard.

A few bricks were found in the. He placed them above the mantle in the chimney.

My friend is an attorney in Norwich. Large early 1800s map of the Colchester area in his office.

Has dots where homes are. There is a dot where his house is. Vacant area when he built 30 years ago.

 

[bholler]

Can anyone here help me date these bricks? They were used to build the chimneys in my colonial style home as well as the brick facade in front. At the time, the builder indicated that they were antique bricks and that we were lucky they were able to get them. This was back in 1982. While they do look quite old, I really have no clue what century they are from. Could these be 18th century or early 19th, or is there anything about them which indicates a later manufacture date? Any help will be appreciated.

There is no way to tell. Bricks were made the same way for thousands of years until the industrial revolution when they started to be fired in order to make them harder. Antique brick with modern mortar really isn't a very good choice though.

 

[stoveliker]

I see many bricks with vague white lines at 1/3 and 2/3 of the width of the bricks. See e.g. second pic, bottom line of bricks, middle two.

I have no knowledge of antique bricks but think that these lines are not consistent with modern brick making.

In any case, if you find someone knowledgeable to talk to, mention this.

Also this website was informative to me

Top 5 Ways To Tell if a Brick is Historic or Contemporary

There are telltale signs, even if you look closely at the brick without considering the rest of the building. It will determine whether the brick is historic or contemporary.

www.ids-dmv.com

 

[djs259]

Antique brick with modern mortar really isn't a very good choice though.

I was thinking that myself! I guess the builder just didn't care. Is lime mortar more expensive or difficult to work with or something?

 

[djs259]

I see many bricks with vague white lines at 1/3 and 2/3 of the width of the bricks. See e.g. second pic, bottom line of bricks, middle two.

I have no knowledge of antique bricks but think that these lines are not consistent with modern brick making.

In any case, if you find someone knowledgeable to talk to, mention this.

Also this website was informative to me

Top 5 Ways To Tell if a Brick is Historic or Contemporary

There are telltale signs, even if you look closely at the brick without considering the rest of the building. It will determine whether the brick is historic or contemporary.

www.ids-dmv.com

Yeah, I read that article. Our bricks appear to match the characteristics mentioned in the article which distinguish antique or historic brick. So it's definitely not just old or battered and reclaimed modern bricks that were used. Was just wondering if there was any way to distinguish between 18th, 19th, and early 20th century antique bricks. I would ask the builder but he left NY a long time ago and I'm pretty sure he passed away.

 

[bholler]

I was thinking that myself! I guess the builder just didn't care. Is lime mortar more expensive or difficult to work with or something?

Much more difficult to work with yes

 

[bholler]

Yeah, I read that article. Our bricks appear to match the characteristics mentioned in the article which distinguish antique or historic brick. So it's definitely not just old or battered and reclaimed modern bricks that were used. Was just wondering if there was any way to distinguish between 18th, 19th, and early 20th century antique bricks. I would ask the builder but he left NY a long time ago and I'm pretty sure he passed away.

How soft are they? Late 19th and early 20th century bricks could be fired or air dried. Earlier than that almost everything was air dried. Those white lines look like evidence of firing to me but it's hard to say