How To Identify Colonial Ceramics

While the british were in control american potters were prohibited from making.

How to identify colonial ceramics. It is important to identify paste type and surface treatment first because the same decorative elements can occur on several different paste types and surface treatments. Items made from porcelain a type of white clay with kaolin as its main ingredient belong to the broader field of all ceramics. What pottery early american colonists produced was mostly for their own use. How to tell porcelain figurines from ceramic.

The term ceramic. One such mysterious mark is the capital a found on a rare group of 18th century british. Germans influenced pottery in the northern states. Not all pottery used during the colonial period originated in america.

The final step in identifying a pottery type is to analyze the decoration. Ceramic objects are often identified by their marks. How to identify colonial era pottery. Marks like the chelsea anchor or the crossed swords of meissen are well known and were often pirated while the significance of others is uncertain.