How to Identify an Antique Plate?

You may be a newbie in antique plate collecting. And how you love to know where the antique plates passed down by your grand mother came from. You are curious of how every piece you have in your home which you think came from the fore-parents are made, who made them and if they are genuine antiques. Where did your family acquire them? How did they come to your possession? And you might be enthusiastic in knowing how genuine the pieces you would like to purchase are.

Identifying antiques is a must in antique collecting. You have to identify what the piece is, where it was made and how old it is to know its hidden value. Now you may say a resounding “how”. Here are some of the things that you need to know in identifying antiques:

Invest in antique resource materials. It is necessary to study what antiques are first before you start collecting. The art of identifying them is very broad. A good study of what antiques really are and how can you classify an antique will is a good way to start. Buy magazines and books about antiques. They will tell and show you all kinds of antiques and you’ll be very enthusiastic reading them. They will also give you tips in knowing the genuineness of an antique piece—is it real or fake?

Study your piece. Look closely at your piece. Do you see marks? Marks are the best way to identify the manufacturer of the piece. They are usually initials, numbers or short words and logos. They can be found usually at the bottom of the piece.

Look for the manufacturer. You may have identified the mark. Your next step is to do a little research about it. The net is overloading with information about them. But try to look for a credible source of antique marks.  Find the one that looks exactly the same as in your antique piece. Know its back ground. And it will definitely lead you in identifying things beyond the manufacturer like when it was made, and what it was made of.

Ask an expert. If you think you’ve got a genuine antique, you may consult an appraiser to tell you how valuable it is. But you must also be ready to the possibility of knowing that you’ve got a fake.

Share and get information. There are online forums which are full of people, expert for that matter, who can help you in identifying your piece. All you need to do is join forums, make a post describing your antique plate, upload a photo of your plate and wait for their expert opinions and information.

How Authentic are Your Antique Plates?

Everybody enjoys collecting antique plates. Some would even drop bucks simply to find a plate from the tombs of emperors in Egypt. Some skitter the cyberspace to get antique plates interred with the Asian treasures so they can be the first to purchase them. The fad is going on. But how can you discover the authenticity and the value of antique plates?

Age. Antique plates are usually dinnerwares which are passed from generation to generation. They can come from your great grandmother or even the first queen of England. Just imagine when you have such item in your possession. One of the modifiers of the authenticity of the antique plates is their age. It is necessary to know how old the plate is. A good antique can be a five decade-old dinnerware. A better one can be a century old silverware, and you can be very lucky if you can find an antique plate that goes beyond centuries.

Artistry. How it is designed matters in identifying its genuineness. Modern art has vast differences in past artistry.  The figures and the designs are quite difference. Artistry in the past has a variety of figures showing ancient tradition, some of them are vividly carved or drawn shapes and lines to produce a one of a kind design. You can identify ancient artistry from modern artistry.  An antique plate would usually go with artistic quality of the past. But be you must also be careful in choosing a good antique plate with awesome designs; there are a lot of fake antiques in the market that replicates the artistry of the past.

Origin. You must identify where the antique comes from. Where was it manufactured? You can see it on the markings under the plates. As far as antique plates are concerned, antique bone china is one of the best options.

There are a lot of dos and don’ts in buying and collecting antique plates. It is just necessary to take into consideration some things before buying an antique. If you are not sure about the value and the authenticity of the antique plate, don’t be in a hurry. You can do several researches or asked opinions of antique experts—that would be the best move to do.