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How to Identify Pottery

Pottery is defined as clay that is baked in a kiln either glazed or unglazed. The first examples of pottery were found in in a cave at Yuchanyan in China's Hunan province 17,500 to 18,300 years ago. The use of pottery began when people abandoned their nomadic ways to settle in agrarian villages to raise grain and other crops. It was necessary for people to have a means to store their harvest where it would be safe from rats and other vermin. Identifying pottery, as a hobby or profession, can lead to beautiful and perhaps valuable finds. Most European ceramics after 1492 are classified according to three attributes: paste, surface treatment and decoration.

Instructions

- 1
  Find pottery-identification resources online. There are several websites that offer free or low-cost information about ceramics and pottery. Alternative sources of information include books, antique dealers and auction houses.
- 2
  Identify the paste type. Paste concerns the physical characteristics of the vessel's clay and is divided into the categories of coarse earthenware, stoneware, refined earthenware and porcelain.
  
  Coarse earthenware is fired at temperatures of 1,652 to 2,192 degrees. This is the softest of the paste types, is porous and has a variety of surface treatments. It ranges in color from cream to dark red.
  
  Stoneware is fired at temperatures of 2,192 to 2,462 degrees. It is hard and nonporous with a granite-like texture. This paste type is usually gray in color and salt-glazed.
  
  There are two types of porcelain paste, refined and true porcelain. The first is fired at temperatures of 2,012 to 2,192 degrees and is slightly porous. It is thin, usually lead-glazed and cream to white in hue. True porcelain is fired at a temperature of 2,372 to 2,642 degrees and is very hard with a white to blue-white color. It is usually lead-glazed.
- 3
  Identify the surface treatment. The surface treatment concerns how the ceramics are prepared, such as glazing, painting and pigmentation, tin-glazing, etc. Many artists work with a specific technique in surface treatment.
- 4
  Identify the decorative motifs, including symbols, colors and iconographic elements, to specify the maker.
- 5
  Look at the bottom of the pottery to find the manufacturer's mark. A pottery-making company usually imprints its seal into the bottom of the item for identification. Identify the paste type, surface treatment and decoration if there are no manufacturing hallmarks.

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