ANTIQUE APPRAISAL: ANTIQUE CHINA APPRAISAL

The appraisers at EmailAppraisals.com look for certain characteristics when preparing an antique china appraisal. First, we follow the proposition that common pieces of china are plentiful, and fairly easy to identify. Second, we must be able to determine the age of the items.

An antique china appraisal, therefore, indicates that since we can identify the common items, we then are able to recognize the rarer ones because they are different. A logical place to start is to study the item by using the most obvious clues first: turn the dish over and check for a mark on the bottom. If the name of the country of origin is on the bottom, the dish was probably produced after 1890, when the U.S. Government passed a law requiring the name of the country of origin on every piece of china imported into the United States.

A trained appraiser when preparing an antique china appraisal must be able to denote the age of the piece with a degree of certainty. An antique china appraisal is dependent on this knowledge and awareness to know whether a piece is, in fact, an antique.

The china appraisal expert should also consider the fact that if the words “Made in England” (or some other country) appear which will indicate the piece was made after 1914.  The word “Trademark” was used on English wares after 1855, and most of the pieces with the letters “LTD” were made after 1880.

The abbreviation for registered is “RD” and each pattern of English china was registered with the government Patent Office after 1885. If “RD” is printed in the center of a diamond figure, that will indicate to the appraiser that the item was designed from 1842 to 1867.