Published: May 20, 2008 07:07 am            

What are marks?

If you attend many auctions, flea markets or antiques shows, you will very quickly observe potential buyers picking pieces up and examining their backs or undersides. In fact, I sometimes embarrass my wife by looking at the reverse side of dishes when we are visiting. Why do we do this?

Marks are the identifying names, numbers and symbols placed on manufactured objects to identify the maker, the model number, the size and/or the artist. These may be as simple as the company name and location or as complex as Rookwood pottery’s RP, flames and Roman numerals.

Utilizing these markings helps identify not only the manufacturer and its location, but also the pattern name or number. This, in turn, assists in determining the year of manufacture and the artist if it is an artist created item.

As manufacturers are bought and melded into other companies, these marks may change. Additionally, over the years, manufacturers may change their logos (maker’s marks) as lines are added or subtracted from the company’s inventory.

All of this information is vital in determining an item’s appraised value. In the great majority of cases, items with no distinguishing identification marks have less value than those which may be readily identified.

Several problems arise even when marks are found. They may be worn to the point of being indistinguishable, which is the same as having no mark at all. The mark may be from an unknown maker, although this is becoming more and more rare as research is conducted on the various makers and the research gets published.

Last, there are fake marks which may either be applied to reproduction pieces or which come in decal form so that they may be applied to existing items. All of these factors must be considered when an appraisal is made.

While marks are relatively easy to distinguish and identify on pottery and silver, they are almost impossible to detect on cut glass. Manufacturers of American Brilliant cut glass seem to have had a devilish delight in hiding their marks in and among the cuttings.

Because these marks were for the most part acid etched, they have become lighter and lighter over the years. I have spent hours attempting to find a maker’s mark on a cut glass bowl when I was sure that one was present. Along with many other dealers, I finally resorted to circling the mark with a grease pencil so that I might find it in the future.

Furniture made by individual cabinetmakers or in small shops is another area where the lack of marks is a problem. Sometimes the maker would inscribe his name in pencil on the backs or bottoms of drawers or in an inconspicuous place on one of the side rails. Without a maker’s mark, identification becomes a matter of comparing stylistic elements with those of known examples.

Thankfully, there are a multitude of books on marks available. These range from those that consider only a specific maker to the broader ones that attempt to list all known marks in a specific field, e.g., English pottery or American coin silver. Research can be time consuming, but it is also gratifying to learn more and more about your collection.

Don’t forget the White Hall Antiques Fair on Saturday, June 7. If you want information about selling at the Fair, contact White Hall at 625-9178 for a contract.

Copies of the first 50 columns in this series are available in book form by sending a check for $7.50 plus $2.50 shipping to: P.O. Box 672, Richmond, KY 40475.

For questions of a general nature about personal property appraising, contact the author by e-mail at jimant@ipro.net.

        

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