May 2026
Reading the marks on antique ceramics
A mark proves nothing on its own: it must be checked against the body, the glaze and the making.
The mark is the last thing we look at, never the first. It is easy to imitate, and the history of European ceramics is full of marks copied from the eighteenth century onwards.
Start with the body: its colour at a chip, its translucency against the light, its sound under a finger. An old glaze often shows fine irregular crazing and tiny firing specks.
Only then the mark. Hand painted, it wavers slightly and sits under the glaze. Printed too crisply, or lying on top of the glaze, it almost always indicates a later production.