Guides › Pottery

Reading potters' marks and stamps

Name stamps, printed backstamps, and what they can and can't prove.

Marks appear across pottery history: Roman potters stamped samian bases and mortaria flanges; stoneware makers impressed medallions; and from the 18th century printed or impressed factory backstamps become standard on refined tablewares, often with pattern names and even registration codes that date designs precisely.

Registration marks and numbers are gold: British diamond registration marks encode an exact date range (1842–1883), and 'Rd No' series run onward from 1884. The words 'England' (from 1891) and 'Made in England' (20th century) are quick period fences for export ware.

Copy the mark exactly — spelling, punctuation, device — and photograph it square. A mark dates manufacture, not deposition: a Victorian plate sherd can reach a field a century after firing. And remember famous marks (Meissen crossed swords, Chinese reign marks) are the most imitated of all.

From the guide library inside Collectors Catalogues, a free app for cataloguing antiques and finds with honest, museum-grade records.

More on pottery

Identifying pottery and ceramics — Fabric, surface, and how it was formed.

Identifying terracotta figurines — Mould lines and vent holes.

Identifying amphorae and transport pottery — Shape equals cargo.

Identifying tiles and brick — Fabric, stamp, and format.

Identifying Roman samian ware — Glossy red tableware with moulded scenes and potters' stamps.

Identifying Roman coarse wares — The kitchen pottery of the empire — greywares, mortaria, and flagons.

Home · Get the app · Guides · Museums · Privacy · Terms