Porcelain Marks: How to Recognise and Date the Stamp

Porcelain marks are the factories’ stamps under the base: painted in blue under the glaze, printed over it or impressed in the body. The mark shows which factory made the piece, and because marks changed over time it is often possible to date a piece to within a few decades, sometimes to the year. But marks have been copied for as long as they have existed, so the stamp is the start of an investigation, not proof.

Facts

Underglaze: Painted or stamped in blue, under the glaze
Printed mark: On top of the glaze, common from the 19th century
Impressed: Pressed into the body before firing
Second quality: A line or grinding mark through the mark
Oldest in Europe: Meissen’s swords, since the 1720s
Warning: Well-known marks have often been copied

Three kinds of mark

The oldest way of marking porcelain is to paint the mark in cobalt blue on the unfired body, so that it ends up under the glaze and is never worn away. This is how Meissen, Royal Copenhagen and many other factories marked their wares. Printed marks on top of the glaze, in blue, green, black or gold, became common in the 19th century and may be worn or rubbed away. Impressed marks were pressed into the soft clay, like the English WEDGWOOD.

Beside the factory mark there are often smaller signs: the painter’s initials or number, a mould number, a pattern name or a date code. One or more lines ground or drawn through the factory mark often mean that the piece was sold as a second, with a flaw. Always read all the signs together.

The great European factories

Meissen’s crossed swords in blue under the glaze have been used since the 1720s, and the shape of the swords, their hilts and the signs between them have changed many times. The variants therefore date the piece: the Swan Service and Kändler’s harlequins bear the swords of the 18th century. Meissen has been copied more than any other factory, and the monogram AR, for Augustus the Strong, often appears on later imitations.

Sèvres marked with two interlaced Ls and a letter for the year, where A means 1753; after Z double letters were used. During the Revolution and the Empire other marks were used. The mark can be seen under the vase from Sèvres. KPM in Berlin marks with a blue sceptre, Nymphenburg with the chequered Bavarian shield and Herend with a shield and the name, often with HUNGARY.

Nordic marks

Royal Copenhagen’s three wavy lines in blue under the glaze stand for three waterways and have been used since the factory was founded in 1775, later together with a crown and the word Denmark. Under Musselmalet (Blue Fluted) the waves are accompanied by the painter’s number, and lines under the waves help with dating. Bing & Grøndahl marked with B&G and three towers, from the arms of Copenhagen, and Arabia with crown marks and printed marks, often with a year or date code.

Swedish porcelain has two well-known marks. Rörstrand marked its 18th-century faience with Stockholm, Rörstrand or R and a date, and from the end of the 19th century with three crowns and a year mark. Gustavsberg has used an anchor in many forms, often with the name of the service and a year mark. They have guides of their own: Rörstrand marks and Gustavsberg marks.

English stamps and country of origin

Wedgwood impressed its name, and from 1860 three letters, the last of which gives the year. From 1891 ENGLAND was added, because the United States then began to require imported goods to state their country of origin, and many factories did likewise. A mark with the name of the country is therefore often later than 1891, and the words Made in generally point to the 20th century. Jasperware shows how the stamp sits under the base.

Royal Delft, the last of the great faience workshops in Delft, marks with a jar, the word Delft and the painter’s initials, and from 1879 with a letter code for the year. English factories often used registration marks and pattern numbers, which can also be looked up.

Chinese marks

Chinese porcelain has a system of its own. Imperial porcelain often bears the emperor’s reign mark in six or four characters under the base, like the blue-and-white Ming vase from the time of the Xuande emperor. But marks of earlier emperors were often put on later porcelain, as a tribute to the model or to raise its value, so a reign mark does not date a piece on its own.

The East India Company porcelain made for Europe is often entirely unmarked, and is dated instead by shape, decoration, commissioned coats of arms and the finish of the foot rim. European factories also copied Chinese and Japanese marks on their own porcelain. Here more than the stamp is needed: the body, the decoration and the traces of manufacture must agree.

How to proceed

Begin by seeing what kind of mark it is: painted under the glaze, printed on top or impressed. Then compare with the mark’s page on the marks pages, where each factory has its hallmarks, and with a marks book for the factory. Check that the material agrees: a porcelain mark on earthenware is a warning sign. The guide to porcelain, faience and stoneware shows how to tell the bodies apart.

Also see whether the style, the decoration and the mark belong to the same period. A Rococo mark under a 20th-century decoration means something is wrong. Be careful with marks that look too sharp or sit on top of the glaze where the factory would otherwise have painted under it. The same method is used for other materials in the guides to silver hallmarks and glass signatures, and the page on ceramics has the history of the factories.

How to recognise it

Marks in blue under the glaze are never worn away
Meissen: crossed swords, since the 1720s
Sèvres: double L with a letter for the year, A = 1753
Royal Copenhagen: three wavy lines, since 1775
ENGLAND on the stamp suggests a date after 1891
A line through the mark often means a second

Exercise

A plate has a printed mark with the factory’s name and the word ENGLAND. What does that say about its age?

It dates from the 18th century
It is probably later than 1891
It was made in Meissen