How do I know if my porcelain is valuable? (2024)

How can you tell if porcelain is valuable?

See if the porcelain is thin, durable, and made of kaolin.

This means the clay was fired for a long time and is considered high grade (and more valuable). Porcelain from the 18th century should be flawless since this was the peak of ceramic production in China. Earlier vases may have miniscule defects.

The best place to research the monetary worth of your pottery is online. The internet has an enormous wealth of information concerning pottery and its value. If your item is relatively common, check past auctions of similar items on sites like eBay.

After establishing the material and technique used to create the piece, the three best ways to identify an antique are by establishing its shape, decoration, glaze and most importantly of all, its markings. These will usually give a rough indication as to the time period and place of production.

The toughest porcelain tile available on the market, Grade 5 tiles are used in areas that receive very high foot traffic and are prone to a lot of wear and tear. They are popular for installation in schools, hospitals, grocery stores, and industrial buildings. Grade 5 tiles can hold up to harsh chemicals as well.

How much is fine china worth? Fine china is the most valuable type of pottery, with the most expensive piece—a Qing Dynasty porcelain vase—fetching $84 million in an auction.

There are marks that indicate a specific mold called a mold number. These numbers often look like dates such as 1953 or 1789. It is rare that a piece of pottery will have a date stamped or embossed into its base. If a number looks like a date or a year, it is most likely a mold number.

Another way to identify a valuable antique is to look for distinctively rare, precious, or “one of a kind” items. A “one of a kind antique”, such as a custom manufactured item owned by a historical figure or prominent celebrity is likely to be worth more than a mass-produced piece.

What is ArchAIDE? Every day, archaeologists from around the world have to recognise and classify thousands of ceramic fragments. With ArchAIDE, a tablet or a smartphone can be used to take a photo of a ceramic fragment, and to enter basic textual information.

How do you identify porcelain?

Pottery is opaque; light does shine through a piece of porcelain. Pottery breaks in a line. Porcelain is thinner, lighter and more stain-resistant. If you hold a pottery plate in one hand and a porcelain plate in the other, you will find the porcelain is colder and the pottery is heavier.

Ancient Chinese porcelain are based on five colors: red, yellow, green, blue and purple. Porcelain with these five colors are instantly recognizable for their elaborate brushwork. Today, you can still find masters of such art in Jingdezhen, birthplace of the craft.

Value relates directly to quality, manufacturer, age, market interest and other factors which I can help you determine. Even pieces from the 1900s and early 2000s can be very, very valuable whether they are marked or unmarked. If you didn't find your clue here, your piece might be from the 1800s.

The three main types of porcelain are true, or hard-paste, porcelain; artificial, or soft-paste, porcelain; and bone china. Porcelain was first made in China—in a primitive form during the Tang dynasty (618–907) and in the form best known in the West during the Yuan dynasty (1279–1368).

Porcelain has a high level of mechanical resistance, low porosity and high density, which, on a daily basis, provide it with durability, innocuity, soft touch and beauty.

Porcelain is usually more expensive than ceramic due to the amount of labour and materials required to produce it. Ceramic is considered to be more affordable, which makes it a great option for those on a budget. However, both ceramic and porcelain come with their own unique characteristics and features.

There are a number of valuable pottery marks, but some of the most sought-after include Meissen, Wedgwood, Royal Doulton, and Limoges. Each of these marks signifies a certain level of quality and craftsmanship, and collectors are willing to pay top dollar for pieces that bear them.

Look for consistency and evaluate quality in sets. A complete set is often worth more than a single piece. However, different pieces that have similar patterns can often be mistaken as part of a set. Most sets are usually consistent throughout, including similar borders, corner-work, shape, and pattern.

What is the price range for porcelain?

Porcelain Tile Cost Estimator by Project Size

Porcelain tiles by themselves cost, on average, between $2 and $30 per square foot. Hiring a professional to install the tiles for you can cost $9 to $50 per square foot, including the tiles.

Porcelain marks are the fingerprints of antique china. Serving as both evidence of its origin, age, and often times, quality, the makers mark on a porcelain item is the first place many collectors look before making a purchase.

This is normally occurs where materials are contaminated with natural iron minerals (e.g. iron stone concretions) or by iron from the refining process. Porcelain manufacturers must be especially careful to avoid this problem. One tiny black speck can ruin an entire large fired porcelain item.

While porcelain and fine china come from kaolin - the point of difference comes down to their firing temperatures. Porcelain has a higher firing temperature making it the more durable option. Its delicate beauty and enduring strength make it an aspirational material worthy of admiration and reverence.

Let's cut right to the chase. As a rule of thumb, Antiques have to be at least 100 years in age. That is what makes a true antique according to respectable dealers. Vintage can be anything from 20-99 years old and generally capture a sense of nostalgia that's relevant to the culture in some way.

Hallmarks - The app Hallmarks - Identify Antiques is a good option for identifying random hallmarks on silver and other pieces. The hallmarks are alphabetical.

Dealers, auctioneers and designers point to a number of reasons for the declining interest in antiques and rapid rise of contemporary design. More homes have open-concept, casual living spaces rather than formal dining rooms and studies, which reduces the need for stately mahogany dining tables, chairs and cabinets.

Google Lens is an app you probably already have on your phone as part of the Google search app. On the Google start screen, there is an icon of crosshairs or a small colorful box. Tap that box to open Google Lens, a handy feature for many reasons but especially for estimating the value of a collectible.

iHallmarklite. The hallmark of an object will often tell you a lot about how old it is and where it came from, but most importantly it can help you to learn the value of it. With the iHallmarklite app, you can check what certain types of Hallmarks mean and you can use the app to help date and value your item.

If the china is modern or hard-paste, then it's not usually worth much unless it's rare or collectible. If your china is bone china and very old or rare, then it may be worth a fortune!

How do I find out how much my fine china is worth?

Most Fine China kitchenware includes a back stamp that will assist you in identifying the brand/company. Look up the company's online registry, and you should be able to uncover the exact price for your piece. You can also check the online marketplace and check how much other individuals sell it for.

Porcelain is generally thicker than bone china products, as it is forged at a higher temperature. Bone china has a more elegant perception at the dining table than porcelain due to its milky texture and stunningly lightweight, delicate feel.

China vs Porcelain

Actually, the two terms describe the same product. The term "china" comes from its country of origin, and the word "porcelain" comes from the Latin word "porcella," meaning seashell. It implies a product which is smooth, white, and lustrous.

High quality fine bone china contains at least 30% bone ash, enabling thin, walled pieces to be made with a more delicate appearance and translucency compared to porcelain, and allowing for greater chip resistance and durability. Fine bone china is thinner and lighter in weight than porcelain.

Porcelain has been described as being "completely vitrified, hard, impermeable (even before glazing), white or artificially coloured, translucent (except when of considerable thickness), and resonant".

Some of the most valuable antiques in the world are made of Chinese porcelain. This esteem and artistic tradition is centuries old, with the first imports coming to Europe in the 17th century as highly sought after items for royalty and aristocracy.

They are hardness, whiteness and translucency. Porcelain has a high level of mechanical resistance, low porosity and high density, which, on a daily basis, provide it with durability, innocuity, soft touch and beauty.

What is ArchAIDE? Every day, archaeologists from around the world have to recognise and classify thousands of ceramic fragments. With ArchAIDE, a tablet or a smartphone can be used to take a photo of a ceramic fragment, and to enter basic textual information.

You can also identify porcelain by examining the type of glazing used on it. For this, you may have to turn the piece and check the unglazed area at the bottom. Porcelain's glazing technique is highly refined- so smooth and articulate.

Porcelain tiles cost, on average, from $2 to $30 per square foot, while ceramic tiles cost from $2 to $20 per square foot, so ceramic tiles are slightly cheaper.

Can I take a picture of an item and find it online?

With CamFind, understanding the world around you has never been easier. Simply take a picture of any object and CamFind uses mobile visual search technology to tell you what it is. The CamFind app provides fast, accurate results with no typing necessary.