Identifying Pottery, Porcelain, Ceramics
I wanted to list an item on Wifey’s Ebay site, but could barely read the mark on the back of a decorative plate. Shown photo enhanced is a factory mark I did not reconize. I turned to our book shelves for help.
Our library of antiquing books contains two volumes that get lots of attention with wifey’s antique business. The one we have had the longest is “Kovel’s New Dictionary of Marks.” Published in 1986, it’s from Crown Publishers. Inc of New York by Ralph and Terry Kovel. It covers the world of ceramic companies.
The second, a newer book, acquired just a few years ago, is “U.S. Marks on Pottery, Porcelain and Clay” by Lois Lehner, published by Collectors Books a division of Schroeder Publishing Inc. © 1988.
Since neither book contains prices, they provide a wealth of information without losing their usefulness with age.
The Kovel book has an interesting arrangement for finding and identifying marks, especially when blurred, partial or faded. The layout of the pages are by the actual major design element of the maker’s mark in alphabetical order – Animals, Arrows, Banners, Birds, Cartouche, etc.
In the boxed section containing the logo is a small synopsis of the company essentials, the factory name, locations, dates the mark was used, successor companies, and years the factory was in production. Here I found the information I was looking for.
Back pages titled “The Vocabulary of Marks” list the dates country names were first included on the pieces, the meaning of words found in marks, dating systems listed by company, and factory’s family trees.
Lehner’s Encyclopedia of U.S. Marks is the “War & Peace” of antiquing books. Containing 634 pages, it’s arranged alphabetically by factory name. In the back are definitions used in the book, lists of various types of manufacturers, railroad letters and symbols used on diner car china plus electrical porcelain insulator markings.
Each company listed contains a great deal of detailed information on the founders, locations, dates, products and general history of the factories along with examples of the various iterations of the marks used.
The importance of identifying the marks and knowing the history are two-fold, first is having a key word or “tag” to include with wifey’s on-line antique listings, that steer searchers to her Ebay site.
Secondly, age and obscurity drive the passion of many collectors, and knowing the history and longevity of a particular mark’s usage, adds validity to your purchase price.
One other book in our library is this recent addition titled “Antique Trader, Pottery & Porcelain Ceramics, by Kyle Hosfloen, published by Krause Publications in 2006 and listed as its 5th edition.
While on the same general subject as the other books, it is first and foremost a price guide and includes dolls, figurines, cookie jars and lamps among the more common shapes and functions of typical pottery. Filled with color photos in 768 pages, this book also includes a small glossary on the back pages.
Alphabetically arranged, mixing categories with manufacturers, this book also contains histories of items and companies throughout, so when looking up examples of children’s ABC plates, we first learn they were popular at the turn of the last century, often incorporating the alphabet on the rim and scenes or rhymes at center. Other reference books are suggested for the serious collector throughout. The ABC section is followed by the manufacturer Abingdon, and so on.
We find this book’s usefulness in the information sections provided, the introduction to each entry and the quality of the pictures, along with the relationship between prices of like item you might see in a retail setting. Since antique and collectible values can change in either direction and have contracted in recent years, the use of any guide should be verified with recent sales on sites like Ebay or Tias.com.
