How to Identify Antique Vases

Steps to Identifying Antique Vases

• 1

  Purchase an illustrated antique vase guide at your local bookstore or online. You can also visit your public library for some wonderful antique books but buying one allows you to take it with you. Having the information available to you as you search for treasures is advantageous.

• 2

  Read the guide and study the pictures thoroughly. There are countless manufacturers of vases, each with their own distinctive attributes, styles, finishes and techniques. Familiarizing yourself with the distinctive styles of the manufacturers you̵7;re interested in as well as their makers mark (the identifying mark that most manufacturers put on the bottom of a piece).

  The marks used by porcelain makers will usually display the manufacturer̵7;s name and sometimes the artist̵7;s initials, logo or signature. On many antique pottery pieces only the artist̵7;s identifying mark is present because many antique pottery pieces were one of a kind or produced in very limited quantities.

• 3

  Study the peculiarities common to pieces manufactured during certain eras. An example would be tiny bubbles that appear in the glass. These bubbles usually indicate that a glass piece is antique because the manufacturing techniques available at the time were not as advanced as modern pieces, so frequently air bubbles were encased in the glass. This bubbling is also an indication that a vase may have been hand blown.

• 4

  Visit your local antique stores with your illustrated guide and ask the sales associate if they have the type of pieces your interested in. Pick the pieces up and study them carefully, inside and out, comparing them to the illustrations in your book. The sales associates in antique stores are usually avid antique collectors themselves and as such are frequently an invaluable source of additional knowledge and insight.

• 5

  Once you are confident that you have the knowledge to make a purchase, take your illustrated guide and visit your local flea market or an estate sale. Peruse the offerings and compare the pieces with your guide. If you find a piece that you believe is a genuine antique, then purchase it.