Age does not spike value for ironstone utility ware

A: Noting that “Ltd.” is missing from the mark on her ceramic piece, our reader wonders if the wording (or lack thereof) indicates date of make. She also spotted that no pattern name is included in the mark.

Donning my clairvoyant turban, I infer that the info on dating came from online. Caveat: Some Net references are correct; some are not.

The piece seen in images sent is a white glazed rectangular dish with raised angled sides. Not a platter, it’s intended as a serving dish. It was made by a Staffordshire pottery.

John Maddock and Sons was an English maker of earthenware and ironstone ceramics in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent England from 1806 to the present. The firm was known for making hotel china, and the reader’s glazed white dish is utility ware. It was intended for use. It may be old, but it was not made as a luxury item.

Perhaps someone in the reader’s family ordered an early set. Or the serving piece was picked up through a hotel, hospital, railroad dining car, or restaurant.

We can’t find any reference to the merit or lack thereof of “Ltd.” in the mark, but the mark seen, a lion passant above a banner reading “Vitrified,” was used from 1896 to 1906. A smudge at the end of the company name suggests that “Ltd.” at the end of the wording might have been lost in the transfer process.

There’s no pattern name because the piece is white ironstone, developed in 1813 by Charles Mason in Staffordshire, England. Early ironstone shapes came from Chinese export ware; much was made in paneled shapes. By 1870, white ironstone was made in both England and America.

Early undecorated white ironstone came in sets that are the precursors of later matched sets of china. There were dinner and tea sets, also child’s sets. Bath sets included the familiar ewer and basin. A dinner set often had so many pieces that some included a four-piece soup tureen, three or more smaller tureens, and a large variety of serving pieces.

Later, copper luster decorations on white ironstone became popular and are still sought by collectors. I’m sure many readers have seen Tea Leaf, Tobacco Leaf and other botanical themes done in copper luster on ironstone.

As far as value goes, the product was utility when made, and today’s demand for standard white ironstone is limited. Much remains available.

On www.worthpoint.com we saw a complete Maddock white ironstone soup tureen with original lid that sold on eBay for $24 in 2010. A small covered vegetable bowl brought $35 in 2014.

Q: How should I sell a collection of circa 1920s demitasse spoons from New York City Hotels? One is from the original Waldorf Astoria.

A: Vintage hotel china, glassware, ashtrays, flatware and silver serving pieces are collected. Ditto airlines, railroad and train items.

It all fits into the category of advertising or transportation memorabilia. Best are items bearing the name or logo of their former home.

Keying www.worthpoint.com for completed 2014 sales of demitasse spoons on eBay, we found that three Hotel Astor spoons sold for $20, a single Waldorf-Astoria Gorham plate example marked 1892 for $14.99, a set of seven demitasse spoons from assorted hotels for $46.98, and a set of six plated demitasse from the Commodore Hotel for $142.51. And that’s just a few.

Online is the best way to sell because that’s how to reach a worldwide pool of motivated buyers.