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

What is a pot pade of? This is one of the basic questions to answer when you are looking at a piece of ceramics.

The basic types of ceramics can be categorised as:

•  Porcelain ( Made with the inclusion of China Clay in the body). It is finer and more translucent than pottery. Pots tend to be lighter weight and more delicate. The easiest distinction is to shine a light into a pot. If you can see the light though it it is most likely to be Porcelain. There are two main types:
  • Hard Paste ( most porcelain found today). This is used for most ” China” produced in Britain examples of which can be found from many of the best manufactures and seen on www.AntiquesAvenue.co.uk Fine China pages. A chipped piece can have a shell like edge which helps to determine that the piece is porcelain.
  • Soft Paste ( early European porcelain)

•  Pottery. Thicker walled and more solid than porcealin. Light does not show through a pottery body. Pottery needs to be glazed before use with liquids as it is pourous in its unglazed state. The main types are:
  • Earthenware. Lightly fired and unglaze it is known as “Terracotta”. Earthenware pots were the earliest type of pots produced in Britain. The clay is quite coarse. These examples of Devon and Cornwall pottery are made of Earthenware. This is quite a soft body and chips easily.
  • Stoneware ( fired at a very high temperature) is harder and more durable than Earthenware. A good example of Stoneware used today can be seen in Denby Pottery.