Chinese Pattern:

How old is my pot ? Useful pointers to dating ~ Part 1

The easiest way to date a pot is often from a manufacturers backstamp. But what if the base has no markings at all? What clues can be used to help with dating?
We can look at several factors and see when they were introduced ( therefore the earliest the pot can date from) and when they were most fashionable ( therefore most likely that the pot will date from).
These include:

- Type of glaze
- Type of decoration
- Style of pot
- Colour
- Function of the item

Here is an example:

This pot was purpose built as an electric lamp with space for the fittings. This piece therefore has to post date the introduction of electricity. The style of the design is quite post-war modernist which would date it from between 1950s and 1970s. The decoration is hand pained under the glaze and the body is earthenware which would fit with a piece of art pottery from the same era.

A second example:
This tile has a majolica glaze, a Victorian aesthetic design and is about 12 mm thick. Majolica glazes ceased to be used in the early 20th century as they were toxic to the potters and so from the glaze it could date from the mid Victorian era to circa 1920s. However, the Japonaise / Victorian aesthetic stylised leaf design were first fashionable in the 1870s and as the tile is quite thick it is most likely that this tile dates from this era rather than in the late Victorian era or the early 1900s

Majolica glaze and Japosaise design Tile