Crown over blurry green mark on snake handled vase Query

by CS

Crown over blurry green mark on snake handled vase Query:- Trying to help a friend identify this mark. In addition to the marks visible in this photo, it also has an E (or roman numeral III?), and a number 655 on it. The vase itself is sort of victorian/baroque if that makes any sense. I will upload a picture of that following this one.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

CS

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Reply by Peter (admin)

to Crown over blurry green mark on snake handled vase Query

Hi CS

If it was blurry for you, then your blurry and very far away photo made it double blurry for me!! LOL

I tried to enhance the photo the best I could, but I can't begin to help unless you can take a CLEAR photo of your blurry pottery mark.

Generally, blurry backstamps mean older wares because nowadays they have the technology to be clear - and blurry means hand applied (by possibly drunk employee).

That drunk employee may well have been a colleague of mine at the Royal Worcester Company, because I found a vase made by Royal Worcester for Tiffany & Co New York which obviously came out of the same mould and had the same snake handles (the hand application makes the snakes slightly different on each one).

see this photo:

Snake handled pot by Worcester for TIFFANY AND Co NEW YORK

I can only presume the stamp must be for a retailer or distributor, because it is nothing like any of the typical Worcester marks I have seen, but why they would not include the Worcester name alongside their own (as did the Tiffany stamp) who knows? Any Worcester association would make the item more valuable.

Hope this helps somewhat, although it has confused me more.

Regards

Peter (admin)

How To Do Effective Pottery Marks Research Easily

Offline

You can utilize the reference books at your local library, ask your local auction house for an opinion, or purchase your own set of reference books.

Online

Note: Pottery marks online research is a time consuming and often thankless task. Free pottery mark online information is often limited to the websites of antique dealers who tend to have only selective information. The most thorough antiquarian online databases are private and levy a charge. Some are better than others, but a good one can often be both cost effective and time saving.

I always pass on any information I have for free and publish it for all to benefit from. You can use the in-house search engine located on the home page (and on most main pages) to look for the answer to your query.

My China Replacements page tells you how to use various online resources to search for both replacements and how to value your item or collection.

My own knowledge more centered on famous English china makers, but all queries are welcome.

If I don't know the answer, I know which websites might. Below is a list of my recommendations.

Here are the pages I recommend for your own online research:

English China Manufacturers - when the mark clearly states “England”, post your query on this site – I can answer most queries. Just fill in a form here. Please include photos - a new form for each photo please, use as many forms as you like.

Gotheborg.com - Chinese & Japanese and Far East porcelain marks - export marks are normally in English, often with English sounding patterns and brand names.

Porcelainmarksandmore.com - German and East European porcelain marks - excellent site but uses navigation based on geographical location not maker’s name, so lacks simple alphabetical navigation (can be frustrating).

Collectorscircle.com - Bohemian & Czech china marks - great for eyeballing lots of pottery marks quickly – I always scroll down on ‘auto-mouse’ to look for a mark (you can sip a cup of teas as you do so).

Oldandsold.com – French pottery marks - 22 pages of French marks. Navigation can be somewhat muddled.

Oldandsold.com - American pottery marks - 41 pages of antique pottery marks to search in alphabetical listing. Good luck!

General tips on pottery marks (my own page).

Using a Professional Online Antiquarian Service

If you want to shortcut and can spare the cost of a couple of cups of coffee, I recommend going straight to Whats-it-worth.

They are online antiquarians, specializing in identifying pottery marks.

They are quick, efficient, friendly and not expensive. The choice is up to you.

They are best for one off queries and also run online courses (a great resource if you want to short-cut your china antiquing learning curve).

If you think you may have a series of ongoing queries (you are getting seriously into antiquing), you need John at Marks4Antiques.

You may have noticed some of the replies on this website are written by him. He and his team have an amazing knowledge but in order to have them on-board full-time, you have to join their membership site. We were lucky enough to have him answer some of the more obscure queries for free – in order to give a kind of taster to their site. For more details on John’s database and antiquarian expertise, contact me as I have negotiated a special price for my visitors.

Finally, I think many china antiquers would benefit from is a fun and interesting ebook with all the tips and tricks of the pros called 'How To Buy & Sell Antiques For Fun & Profit'. Buy it and find out why ebooks work – much more efficient than carrying around lots of heavy books on antiquing!! Have it on your laptop, like a mobile library, and it will save you time, money and effort - and show you how to earn a few dollars more whilst having fun.

'How To Buy & Sell Antiques For Fun & Profit'.

Check it out here:

www.figurines-sculpture.com/buy-and-sell-antiques-for-fun