Vintage Guides

Majolica and Cabbageware guide header, Oddly Darling Vintage
Majolica and Cabbageware: A Guide to Leafy Vintage Pottery
Cabbage plates and majolica pottery are a collector favorite. Learn the history, how to spot older pieces, and fresh ways to decorate with leafy vintage pottery. Read more...
Lladro, NAO or Porceval? Spanish porcelain guide header with Porceval swan, Oddly Darling Vintage
Lladró, NAO or Porceval? A Guide to Spanish Porcelain from Valencia
Long necks, soft pastels, a glossy glow: it looks like Lladró, but Valencia had dozens of porcelain makers. Here's how to tell them apart. Read more...
Antique Art Nouveau hand painted porcelain dish with pink flowers on olive green
What Does Gesetzlich Geschützt Mean? A Guide to German Porcelain Marks
Flipped over a pretty dish and found "Gesetzlich Geschützt" stamped on the bottom? Here's what it means, plus how to read the other marks you'll find on old German porcelain. Read more...
Antique K&G Luneville France flow blue salad plate in the Violette pattern, from Oddly Darling Vintage
Flow Blue, Delft or Blue Onion? A Guide to Telling Vintage Blue and White China Apart
Flow blue, Delft, Blue Onion and transferware can look like cousins on the same hutch. Here's how to tell vintage blue and white china apart by its lines, body, motifs... Read more...
Antique Coalport demitasse cup with raised gold garlands and stars on ivory, from Oddly Darling Vintage
What Are Demitasse Cups? A Guide to Demitasse Cups, Cabinet Cups and Their Marks
Demitasse cups were made for small servings of strong coffee, and cabinet cups were made to be admired behind glass. Here's how to tell them apart, what their marks can... Read more...
Hull USA Rooster #58 ceramic planter in black and dusty pink, from Oddly Darling Vintage
Collecting Mid-Century Figural Planters: Hull, Napcoware, California Pottery and More
Roosters, swans, frogs, little girls in ruffled dresses: mid-century figural planters once arrived holding a florist's bouquet and stayed on the windowsill for decades. Here's how to tell who made... Read more...
Maker's mark on the base of a Coalport porcelain cup
How to Read Pottery and Porcelain Marks: A Beginner's Guide to Flipping It Over
The first thing every collector does is flip it over. Here's what backstamps, impressed marks and country names can tell you. Read more...
Coalport crown mark with A.D. 1750 and pattern number T122 on the base of an antique demitasse cup
How to Date Coalport Porcelain by Its Marks
That little crown on the bottom of your Coalport cup is a calendar, if you know how to read it. Here's how to date Coalport porcelain from its marks. Read more...
Vintage silver plate toast rack with letters spelling TOAST
Odd Victorian Tableware: What Was This Dish For?
Crescent dishes, tiny plates and racks that spell TOAST. A guide to the strange, specialized pieces Victorian and Edwardian tables were set with, and how to use them today. Read more...
Vintage Japan lusterware wall pocket with moriage phoenix bird
What Is Japanese Lusterware? A Guide to Luster Glazes, Moriage and Made in Japan Porcelain
That shimmery pearl, peach and blue finish on old Japanese porcelain is luster glaze, and the raised decoration that looks like piped icing is moriage. Here's how to recognize both,... Read more...
Pair of vintage hand-painted Japan lusterware cat ashtrays with gold trim
Nippon, Japan or Occupied Japan? How to Date Japanese Porcelain by Its Mark
Flip it over. The few words stamped on the bottom of Japanese export porcelain can tell you roughly when it was made. Here's how to read Nippon, Japan, Made in... Read more...
Vintage Limoges miniature plate with a Fragonard courting couple and a cranberry and gold border
What Is Limoges Porcelain? A Guide to Limoges Marks, Makers and Miniatures
Limoges isn't one company, it's a whole French city famous for porcelain. Here's what the name really means, how to read the marks on the back, what those romantic courting... Read more...
Vintage speckled stoneware mug with a schooner sailing on blue waves
Collecting Vintage Mugs: A Guide to Stoneware, Pedestal Mugs and Studio Pottery
Vintage mugs are one of the easiest and most joyful things to collect. Here's a guide to the classic styles, from speckled 1970s stoneware to footed Irish coffee mugs and... Read more...
Large studio raku pottery vase with an iridescent copper luster finish in copper, violet and blue, from Oddly Darling Vintage
What Is Raku Pottery? A Guide to Raku Firing, Crackle Glazes and Copper Luster
Raku is pottery pulled from the kiln while it's still glowing hot. Here's where it started in Japan, how American potters turned it into the crackled, smoky, metallic style collectors... Read more...
Andrea by Sadek barn owl figurine with detailed feathers on a wooden base, from Oddly Darling Vintage
Andrea by Sadek: History, Marks and What Collectors Look For
Andrea by Sadek is the brand name of the Charles Sadek Import Company, a New York importer of porcelain figurines and decorative wares founded in 1936. Here's the company's history,... Read more...
Vintage pink ceramic cat wall pocket planter with applied roses and a bow, from Oddly Darling Vintage
What Is a Wall Pocket? A Guide to Vintage Wall Pocket Vases and Planters
A wall pocket is a vase or planter with a flat back, made to hang on the wall. Here's where they came from, who made them, how to date one,... Read more...
Large majolica style pitcher with an embossed bird and cattails in a green to brown glaze, from Oddly Darling Vintage
What Is Majolica? A Guide to Victorian Majolica and Majolica Style Pottery
Majolica is molded earthenware covered in bright, glossy colored glazes, a Victorian favorite that has been copied ever since. Here's where it came from, who made it, how to tell... Read more...
Miniature celadon green ceramic pitcher with a ribbed body and crackle glaze, from Oddly Darling Vintage
What Is Celadon? A Guide to the Glaze, the Color and Its Many Shades of Green
Celadon is a soft green ceramic glaze, and the pale gray-green color named after it. Here's where it came from, why it ranges from misty gray-green to blue-green and olive,... Read more...