Unknown Vase - 'N' under Crown

by Christina
(Eloy, AZ. United States)

This item belongs to my mother-in-law and she has had it in her possession for over 36 years. It was left behind in an apartment that my mother-in-law cleaned after the tenent moved out, when she was a manager there. It was found wrap in an old foam pad in the closet. We think it is a vase, but not sure. It measures 10 inches tall, 1 and 1/2 inches wide at the top, and 5 inches wide at the base. It has 3D flowers and leaves around it. It has 3 legs at the base of the item. The water mark on the bottom is a 5 point crown with a capital N under the crown. Under both of those is writing that says dresden. Please tell me anything about this item, where it was made, how much it is worth, what it is.

Christina

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The forum Help Elf says:-

Fairly typical Dresden style from the post war Soviet period post the destruction. Nothing particularly to commend it in my view. Not old enough to be collectible and somewhat out of fashion to-boot. The N mark refers to the florid Italian Capodimonte styling. Likely made in Thuringia - not Dresden itself.

For general free advice on how to research your collection and seek out valuations and research prices, Peter wrote this page:

value of antiques.

H.E.

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Unknown Vase - 'N' under Crown

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by: Christina

Basically what you are telling me is that the vase is not worth much and because it is out of fashion no one will be interested in it.

Thanks for your response.

Flower Encrusted Dresden Vase With N Crown Mark
by: Peter (admin)

Hi Christina

Remember, that was Help Elf's personal opinion. None of the volunteer staff here try to set themselves up as experts. They are not experts, they just say what they think. We are all just trying to help each other out.

If you need an antique ceramics expert to talk to, you know where to go (click the link and follow online instructions). The experts charge for their opinions, unless you plan to sell your wares at their auction rooms.

On these public forums the idea is to freely help as many people as possible to identify their marks and antique & vintage china. However, we steer away from talking too much about the value. This is because valuation appraisals are really best left to expert - it is too easly to get it wrong. even experts get it wrong - but they have the broad picture of what they see every day going under the hammer (the auction gavel I mean LOL!).

Broadly there are several factors that effect price.

The first is age. Things take time to acquire an antique kudos. Newer stuff tends to be worth less.

The second is quality. Is the item knocked out for a bit of much needed revenue? (especially export revenue), or is this a lovingly created item with the main criteria being 'loveliness'?

Third is design values. Was the item just copying older stuff that sold well in the past? or has there been a talented designer having a vision of freshness and innovation?

The fourth is the whims of fashion. In antique ceramic wares, the whims of fashion touch this area of collecting just the same as any other walk of life. One minute something is all the rage, next minute dead as a dodo.

The fifth is rarity. How hard to come by are similar items?

If an item ticks all the above boxes, it is worth thousands, if it doesn't tick any it is worth pennies.

If it comes somewhere in-between (ticks some boxes, but not others) it will be worth somewhere in-between. How high up the scale is comes depends on how many boxes it ticks.

Help Elf obviously thinks your item does not tick many boxes - he is saying it is not old, it was made for post-war export revenue by the Soviet GDR, it was copying glorious items from the past, floral decor is somewhat out of fashion, and floral encrusted Dresden vases of this type can be easily picked up at auction for possibly less than $50.

So it's all about ticking boxes.

Personally, I can see the skills in this nice floral vase. The flowers are hand made by crafts people. I know personally the last flower maker ever to be employed by Coalport, England. She now makes the flowers for my own bone china figurine company in Hanley Stoke-on-trent Staffordshire.

Hope this helps put it into perspective, a nice item, but will not net you a small fortune right now. A bundle of dollars rather than a container load. A nice item all the same.

Peter (admin)

Dresden
by: Michael

This is a dresden candle stick you may be able to receive 50 dollars or so on ebay, it would be a considerable amount more if you had the pair for obvious reasons,It looks maybe mid 20th century

N Mark Dresden is in fact Sandizell
by: Peter (admin)

Hi all

Just discovered on another thread this mark is that of Hoffner & Co of Sandizell (Schrobenhausen-Sandizell), Bavaria. This firm was not founded until 1952, so Help Elf's initial analysis and guesswork was pretty accurate.

The word Dresden is just that - a word. Schrobenhausen-Sandizell is hundreds of miles away from Dresden. They mean "in the Dresden style", I guess.

Hoffner Sandizell was staffed by skilled porcleain workers from Thuringia fleeing the GDR. However, the nearest part of the region of Thuringia to Dresden is still 50 miles away. So take it that the word Dresden is used loosely in this context.

Peter (admin)

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