Please help identify this ceramic bowl

April 24, 2013 6:24 AM

Hi, I picked up this ceramic bowl at a thrift shop and would love some help identifying the marks (hallmarks?) on the bottom.

I am wondering what it's use might be and what the marks on the bottom might denote

Photo

I have tried to identify the marks online but have had no luck

I am wondering if it is old or worth anything?
Do I call it ceramic or porcelain?

Thanks so much,
Rob

posted by Fun Bobbie to Home & Garden (6 answers total)

Looks like a candy bowl, or maybe something in which to put out potpurri (or just to be decorative in itself). Appears to be porcelain.
posted by acm at 6:33 AM on April 24, 2013

It looks European - German or possibly English or Italian - to me, based on nothing but the fact that I used to collect vintage ceramics before the thrift stores around here got too picked over. The English stuff I've seen is more finely detailed and realistic. Again, based on nothing but my feelings and the gold lines, it looks thirties or maybe fifties in style.

Here are the things I notice, which might mean nothing: it has a serial number but not a company hallmark, which suggests that it was not produced by a famous-and-well-organized-maker or by a very post-war, modern kind of maker. It looks like porcelain with applied flowers. I have never seen an older applied flowers piece of this type from Asia. It could also be from Czechoslovakia or the periphery of Europe before WWII, maybe? A lot of cheap (yet surprisingly nice! I do not impugn!) stuff was produced there in the early 20th century.

I mean, for all I know it's a 1960s Japanese export in the style of German ceramic, but those are the things I notice.

I suspect it's not especially valuable, but it's certainly charming.
posted by Frowner at 6:41 AM on April 24, 2013 [1 favorite]

Also, the painted bugs are very cute - honestly, the painted bugs suggest Japan to me. But they also suggest a certain thirties post-surrealism or fifties cutesie-pie-ness.

But again, look, it will turn out to be definitely, like, Portuguese from 1920 or something, what do I know?
posted by Frowner at 6:43 AM on April 24, 2013

I don't know much about this kind of stuff, but it looks similar to a Capodimonte piece my mom has except, as you can see in these images, the edges of the flowers are a lot thinner and look a little more refined. Here are some Capodimonte marks; I haven't looked through them to see if any match yours.
posted by Room 641-A at 7:15 AM on April 24, 2013

That blue symbol looks very close to the crossed-swords mark(s) used by Meissen. Possibly a Meissen rip-off?
posted by hanov3r at 8:11 AM on April 24, 2013 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thank you everyone for your help. I think I will put it on ebay and see if I can sell it.
Rob
posted by Fun Bobbie at 9:24 AM on April 25, 2013