Great Links to Identify Antiques & Collectibles
Please visit our On-line Shop. Visit us also on 
as inkspot-antiques.
Bottle Identification Vintage Road Maps Glassware ID Links Ceramics ID Links
Antique References Antiques Glossary and Definitions Search Many Sites at Once
Glassware Identification Links
Below are some great links we have discovered on the web that can help you identify glassware makers. When you click the link, you will leave our website. If you want to return, click the back button on your browser.
American Brilliant Period Cut Glass ACG Association - Examples
Anchor Hocking Glass Corp.(1937 to present, Fire-King 1940s to present)
Blenko Glass Company vintage catalogs (1930 to present)
Candlewick Stemware Reference Pages (Imperial pattern: 1936-1984)
Carnival Glass 101
Hooked on Carnival Glass
Davidson English Pressed Glass
Decanters & Drinking Glasses
EAPG: Corrections to Edwards Book
EAPG: Early American Pattern Glass at patternglass.com
EAPG- Early American Pattern Glass at the online store allantiqueglass.com
Etched Crystal Patterns at Replacements.com
Fenton Art Glass Co. (1905 to present)
Fenton Fanatics site
National Fenton Glass Society
Glass Bottle Marks
Glass Encyclopedia
Glass identification Marks and Shapes Shotglass.org
Glass Identification: Signatures & Marks
Glass Marks
Glass notes some manufacturer's labels & marks
Glass Lovers Database
Glass Encyclopedia
Glass notes manufacturers, Q to R
The Glass Museum links page
Heisey Glass Museum
Indiana Glass: Carnival Patterns
King's Crown
Collectors Weekly: Morgantown Crinkle or Seneca Driftwood
National Imperial Glass Collectors Society
Orrefors & Kosta
PatternGlass.com
Pilgrim Glass
Pressed Glass and Goblets pressedglassandgoblets.com
Herbert Green Collection of Sandwich glass, Skinner Auction
justglassmall.com glass auction site
Viking Art Glass
Westmoreland Glass
Information About Bottles, Jars, and Insulators
Below are some great links we have discovered on the web that can help you identify marks and codes to establish the age of vintage and antique items. When you click the link, you will leave our website. If you want to return, click the back button on your browser.
Antique bottle closures
Antique bottle price list
Collecting Antique fruit jars
BLM/SHA Historic bottle site
Collectors Weekly Bottle collecting page
Bottle Typing-Shapes Page
Bottle Collector's Haven
Determining Values of Bottles
FruitJars.org Homepage
Glass Bottle Marks
Glass Factory Marks on Bottles, Pg3
MyInsulators.com
Antique-bottles.net
Antique Medicine Bottles
Milner Article: Fruit jars, a history worth remembering
Fruit Jar Primer and References
More Bottle Marks - USA
Wheaton bottle summary at bottlebooks.com
Ink Bottles
Historic Glass Bottle Identification & Information Website
Country Living: Canning Jar Collectors Guide
California State Parks Type Bottle Collection
Fruit Jar Collector's Group Page on Facebook
Museum of historical bottles
Antique fruit jars at Hoosier Jars
Glassworks Auctions
Ink Bottles
Determining Values of Bottles
Chlorox Bleach Bottle Guide
Ceramics Identification Links
Below are some great links we have discovered on the web that can help you identify ceramic and porcelain manufacturers. When you click the link, you will leave our website. If you want to return, click the back button on your browser.
American Art Pottery marks
Beer Stein Library - Home Page
International Beer Stein Collectors
Blue and white.com
Ceramics Glossary
Miniapolis Museum Guide to Chinese Ceramics
Chinese Porcelain Marks-late; Gotheburg site
Chinese porcelain marks - 20th century
Ming Qing Chinese Porcelain marks
Chinese Porcelain, Ming,Qing porcelain pottery, marks
thepotteries.org: Crown Staffordshire Porcelain Co Ltd.
Delft marks free e-book
Delft: Porceleyne Fles
Delftware identification
Doulton Ceramic Marks
English Registered Design or Trade Mark
English Stoke-on-Trent
English Porcelain, Pottery and Ceramic Trade Marks
English Ceramic Trade Marks
Fiesta, Fiestaware, and Homer Laughlin article in Collectors Weekly
German site of International Ceramic Marks
Gouda pottery
Hagen-Renaker Retired at Margaret's
Haviland Online - Haviland Backmarks
Japanese porcelain marks
McCoy Pottery Online
Old Ivory and Ohme Porcelains
Piggy Banks and Famous Potteries
Porcelain Mark Identification
Pottery Links from GLSA
Quimper Marks and signs
Royal Copenhagen Marks
Royal Delft - Porcelyne Fles Marks
Staffordshire Pottery Trademarks
Replacements, Ltd.
Roseville Exchange Marks Fakes
Royal Copenhagen date marks
Royal Copenhagen Dating
Spatterware
Wade Whimsies Figurines
Wade Ireland
Wedgwood Datemarks
Weller Pottery History from Justpottery
Date References: Determining the Age of Vintage and Antique Items
Determining the Age of Vintage and Antique Items
Establishing the age or date of a manufactured item can sometimes be quite easy. Most often, however, you have to piece together a number of clues and make inferences. Below are some clues to look for. Of course, there are exceptions to some of these rules of thumbs, and you have to consider design elements, manufacturing materials, and use some common sense, to determine the general era of manufactured items. Of course when an item is marked by the maker's name, you can narrow down the period that the company was in operation through internet searches. Some companies had their own system of codes for dates. Many companies changed their markings or names on specific dates. A patent or registry number can pin down a date precisely. Some cameras and lenses had serial numbers that began with letters and numbers to indicate the year and factory our country of manufacture. At the other extreme, handmade items of any period can be extremely difficult to age, so form, purpose, composition, and wear are important indicators of these items.
Country of origin
The McKinley Tariff act of 1890 required imported merchandise to have the country of manufacture. Prior to that, top quality "prestige" merchandise might still have the country of origin, but most often they would have the company name and or mark. An unmarked ceramic, for example, could have been imported before 1890, or American made, after 1890, or was designated with a paper label that wore off.
In 1914, the tariff law was revised to require the phrase "Made in..." was required. Thus, an item labeled "France" could have been imported between 1890 and 1914, and an item marked "Made in France" was likely imported after 1914. In more recent years, the phrase "Made in" is sometimes dropped. From any period, the country of origin marking may consist of a paper label or sticker that may be removed. For all these reasons, the country of origin marking is not always reliable, so look for other clues about the age of an item to make sure they are consistent with the purported age of an item.
There are certain country names that can definitely pin down a date. For example, "Nippon" was only accepted for items made in Japan until 1921. Here are some general rules:
| Nippon | 1890 to 1921 |
| Occupied Japan | 1945 to 1952 |
| Czecho-slovakia (with a hyphen) | 1920s |
| German US Zone | 1945 to 1950 |
| Western Germany | 1950-1989 |
| Taiwan | mostly after the mid- 1970s |
| Hong Kong | mostly 1970s to 1990s |
| German States (e.g. Bavaria) | before 1914 |
Other markings
| Depose (French for registered) | mostly early 1900s |
| Bone China | after 1915 |
| Microwave safe | after 1970 |
| Ovenproof | after 1935 |
| Patent pending | after 1940 |
| Patented | mostly after 1900, but earlier |
Bar Codes and Zip Codes
If a paper product shows a zip code, it was made after 1962. The first bar code appeared on a pack of Wrigley's chewing gum in 1974.
Helpful Links
Below are some great links we have discovered on the web that can help you identify company marks, silver hallmark codes, and other information to establish the age of vintage and antique items. When you click the link, you will leave our website. If you want to return, click the back button on your browser.
English Registered Design or Trade Mark
General Info on dating English ceramics and marks
Brownie Camera manufacture dates
Determining the age of a watch