How to Read Pottery Maker’s Marks

Every identification starts the same way: flip it over. The bottom of a piece carries the maker’s mark, and the mark carries the date, the factory, and — once you can read it — the price.

Where and what to look for

Marks come in four flavors: impressed (pressed into wet clay), raised (molded, standing proud of the surface), ink-stamped (printed under or over the glaze), and paper labels (usually long gone — their absence proves nothing). Check the center of the base first, then the lower side walls; some makers marked shapes near the foot.

The big American names

Roseville: later lines carry a raised or impressed “Roseville U.S.A.” with a shape number; many early lines were label-only, so unmarked ≠ fake. McCoy: the familiar “McCoy” script mark is mid-century; earlier Nelson McCoy pieces are marked differently or not at all. Hull: “Hull Art U.S.A.” with shape numbers on the art lines. Van Briggle: the conjoined “AA” mark. Red Wing, Weller, Shawnee, Frankoma all marked most production — a genuinely unmarked piece from these makers deserves extra skepticism.

Dating shortcuts that actually work

Country-of-origin words are legal timestamps: imports marked with a country name are generally post-1891, “Made in [Country]” is generally post-1914, and “Occupied Japan” pins a piece to 1947–1952 exactly. “U.S.A.” marks on American art pottery cluster from the 1930s onward.

Spotting fakes

The famous tell: 1990s Roseville reproductions carry a raised mark that omits “U.S.A.” — real later-period Roseville includes it. Beyond that, fakes give themselves away in the details the mold can’t copy: crisp mold lines gone mushy, glaze pooling in the wrong places, bottoms glazed where originals were dry-footed. When the mark looks right but the piece feels wrong, trust the piece.