Top tips (back to contents)

What are ceramics? (back to contents)

Photography (back to contents)

A piece of paper, from an art shop, and curved into an L-shape, makes a good combined 'floor' and 'backdrop' for photographing objects(but notice that I made the mistake of using pure white paper, which is too bright, and makes the object look to dark)

Making nice photos of ceramics requires a lot of practice, a digital camera, a computer with a photo-editing suite such as Adobe Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro, and some pieces of cartridge paper of different colours. A quick glance at eBay shows that most people haven't quite got the knack, but it can be learned by trail and error (as I know from my own experience).

eBay horrors

Some sellers photograph their precious vase by standing it on a paving stone, brick wall or other rough surface - and probably causing damage to the foot in the process. One seller even photographs his vases standing on a sandy beach with the tide coming in. Very artistic, I'm sure, but presumably the vases are now covered in scratches and chips.

Other eBay fetishes are to photograph the object on an unmade bed (were the sheets clean?); or on a table set with a lace doily (making it look totally naff and nerdy). Some sellers hold the object in the hand so you can see black finger nails and nicotine stains. One eBayer even photographs her ceramics by propping them against the rear end of her sleeping cat. Very cute, but don't buy kitchenware from her!

Tips for success

The ideal conditions for ceramics are to use natural daylight, indoors, on a summer's day. This is not always possible, of course.

Basic clean-up using software
1. At start	2. Rotated	3. Cropped	4. Colour balance and saturation adjusted	5. Brightness/contrast adjusted; now OK
	1. Contrast too high	2. Colour balance: too blue	3. OK
Uneven natural light
Uneven illumination (white flare at left edge)		Flare in white background (top) bleeds into white of cup. Darker background colour needed		Flat objects: side lighting caused shadows and glare. Use direct light.
Flash problems
1. Front-on flash gives major reflections on plates. The typical result, seen here, is a bright central 'spot' surrounded by a ring.			2. The same plate, also taken with flash, but with the camera pointed at a slight angle to the plate; now looks excellent (although the angle makes the plate look slightly oval)
	Natural daylight, indoors	Flash: flattening, glare and hard shadow (right)	Flash: reflection on plastic

Background colour

what a difference the tint makes. In the example below, a grey-purple worked well, but another object would require a different tint. You just have to experiment.

White: doesn't look good; the yellow fades into the background, as does the white of the stripes	Beige: still not right	Grey: getting better but the yellow body is a bit lost	Grey-purple: Ideal! the bluish tint in the purple now sets the yellow off beautifully and provides a contrast for both the white and the black of the zebra pattern	Black: also looks good, but the yellow now a bit faded

Finding and cataloguing ceramics (back to contents)

Flea markets, auction houses and antique shops are obvious sources. Specialist collectors' clubs often hold meetings where pieces are bought and sold. The Internet is an increasingly important arena for retro ceramics sales.

Many of the pieces in this site were bought on eBay, or from the websites of specialist dealers. The big problems with Internet buying are the postage costs, and the fact that pieces frequently arrive in less than the 'mint condition' promised. You should always ask the seller about crazing and minor damage; if they do not reply, or their answer is evasive, don't bid. There will be another tasty piece along soon so be patient.

I have generally found that sellers will accept returns if they are approached courteously but firmly. For tips on how to buy retro ceramics on eBay, and how to avoid problems, see my Buying on eBay page.

Keep a good record of your purchases using software such as Microsoft Access. This programme is difficult to learn, but can produce a fabulous database with photos.

Sample page from my Access collection database

Investment (back to contents)

"Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy only when others are fearful"

(Warren Buffet, American investment genius)

People are greedy for Clarice Cliff, Whitefriars, Jessie Tait and Troika. Prices are rocketing skywards. Nobody wants to be left behind by a rising market, so a buying frenzy has developed. People think 'now is my last chance to get one of these before I get priced out of the market'. And so we have all the ingredients of a classic 'bubble', just as we have in the housing market right now, or in technology stocks in the late 90s. Maybe Troika and Whitefriars and Jessie Tait are now hopelessly overvalued, in which case buyers should be fearful. On the other hand, if we are just at the beginning of a long-term upwards trend in prices for 20th century ceramics, then Troika and Co. are currently undervalued (relative to their future value) and buyers can afford to be greedy. You will have to decide for yourself because skill, luck and judgement are needed to second-guess the market.

Most investors in collectibles lose money because they have that fatal human flaw: an irresistible urge to buy when prices are high.

Why do people always buy when prices are high? One reason, as I noted above, is that they don't want to miss out on a rising market. Another reason is that people associate high prices with desirability. This attracts collectors who have a 'trophy-hunter' mentality; that is, people who must have the most expensive Troika vase, because it makes them feel good. Unfortunately, those high prices may turn into low prices, if everyone decides that Troika is rather common and rather boring after all (I like Troika, but there is heck of a lot of it on the market).

My non-scientific study of ceramics on eBay over the last 4 years (which included one of the worst stock market crashes in history) suggests to me that a certain item may move up and down in price quite a lot, but it does so within a fairly predictable price band. For example, the same thing wont sell for 20 pounds one year and 200 pounds the next. It may well vary, though, from 7-18 pounds, for example - with no obvious pattern or trend. It just depends who spots the item and how much they want it. In investing terms, therefore, prices are volatile within a stable trading range.

Another thing I have noticed is that some things that I have been tracking actually made their highest prices in 2002 - the worst year of the recent stock market crash. So, ceramics may be a good alternative investment - to reduce the volatility of a portfolio - because they don't appear to correlate strongly with the stock market. It will be interesting to track prices over a longer period, such as 10 years. Maybe prices have been driven up by eBay and BBC Antiques programmes and we are all paying too much. On the other hand, maybe the market is currently undervalued, and we are at the beginning of a real switch in collecting patterns as people stop buying traditional antiques and switch to retro ones. Impossible to say.

One advantage of collecting post-war UK ceramics is that few pieces are currently attracting auction-house prices. Indeed, top auction-houses would turn their noses up at most of my collection because the profit margin would be too low. The most expensive pieces on this website are the Poole contemporary vase and the Guinness toucan (around £250-£350 each) and these are sometimes sold by Christies Auctioneers of South Kensington, London. Other pieces, not illustrated here, can also fetch prices in the low- to mid-hundreds of pounds (e.g. Baxter-designed glass from Whitefriars, Troika pottery, some Tigo Ware from Denby, Poole 'freeform', and Jessie Tait's tube-lined vases).

Bargains can sometimes be had by looking for pieces from smaller factories, or by choosing wisely from ranges that were manufactured in large numbers. Poole 'twintone' was extremely popular and is therefore common. Nonetheless, the shapes and colours are exceptionally beautiful, and an impressive collection can be formed quite cheaply. Among the zebra-print patterns, Zambesi, zebrette and Beswick are expensive, but pieces from Arthur Wood, Kelsboro Ware and Sadler are still quite cheap at the time of writing, despite being relatively scarce.

Plastics (e.g. melamine from Gaydon Melmex and Midwinter) are still surprisingly cheap, even though sets with mixed colours can make an attractive display. Plasticware never really caught on, except among caravan owners and picnic-goers, and my guess is that much of the production ended up on the junk heap when houses were cleared, because people thought it was worthless.

Should I buy when prices are rising fast?

Only if: (1) you are a 'momentum investor': someone who buys when prices are shooting up, then sells out at the peak of the market; (2) you actually love the pieces and really want them anyway.

Warren Buffet makes billions by investing in boring, unsexy companies (e.g. financial institutions, or companies that make shaving cream). One might also do this with ceramics, by identifying a line that nobody else is buying right now. Be careful though: you may be buying into a hopeless cause!

Collecting for investment - my personal opinions

The opinions below are only my own personal thoughts and should NOT be taken as investment advice. I am not an investment professional, and my opinions may well be wrong!

According to the Stanley Gibbons website, the collectables market is a good investment because the over 50s population is increasing, and older people tend to invest their disposable income in childhood hobbies. Investing in antiques, art and collectibles is considered by financial advisers to be high risk, potentially high return, and requiring high expertise. One financial expert has said that post-war design is one of the last areas of art investing where value and the potential for growth can still be found. But predicting the future is a risky game.

Tangible assets

Collectables can be a good hedge against inflation, and even stock market crashes: in hard economic times, people often prefer to invest in things that they can see and hold, such as gold or collectables (or fine art, as the British Rail Pension Fund did in the 70s). Such 'touchable' things are called tangible assets, in contrast to paper assets such as stocks and bonds. The big disadvantages of tangible assets is that they can sometimes be illiquid, meaning that it can take time and trouble to convert them into cash in an emergency. After all, you have to organise an auction to sell your collectables, or spend time and effort listing them on eBay.

Getting rich quick?

It is very difficult to get rich quick, and generally realising this dream requires you to take very high levels of risk with your precious money. Collectibles do not offer risk-free return by any means. It is always possible that they will fall in value - and they often do. Collectibles, therefore, are risky. Most people who want to take some risk, and have a long investment horizon (many years), will be better off in the stock market.

However, people were scared away from the stock market by the stock market crash that began in 2000 and wiped half or more off the value of global stocks. So, alternative investments such as collectibles are popular now as a way of diversifying away from the risky stock market.

But in my opinion, it is unwise to sink all your cash into collectibles. And if you are worried about your short term financial future, you should invest a healthy chunk of your nest egg in safer, low-yielding assets such as investment-grade bonds - or even a good old fashioned savings account. Don't forget though that nothing is safe (see below) and even 'safe' savings accounts can lose you money - because they give low interest and therefore leave your savings vulnerable to being eaten away by tax and inflation.

Here are some other personal opinions of mine:

Appreciation

How long does it take for everyday ceramics to become collectable? My guess is: around 40 years. So there is little point in buying modern stuff now in the hope that it will appreciate in your lifetime. Take 1950s Midwinter, for example. People who were collecting in the 1970s would have regarded 1950s Midwinter as being modern enough to lack antique value, but old enough to look dated and out of fashion. In this respect, they scored a double-negative, and large quantities ended up being thrown out. By the 80s and 90s, however, people started to take an interest in fifties Midwinter, because they had become antiques and because fifties style was becoming appreciated again. When this happened, prices rose sharply (and there is now a danger that they are overvalued).

Summary and Conclusions

Ceramics and collectibles are an alternative investment that can form a part of your nest egg, but should certainly not account for all of your savings. Never start investing until you have paid your debts and saved up a cash reserve for future emergencies - if you are lucky enough to have any spare cash in the first place. Only buy things that you really like. Be prepared for the possibility that you may lose money, especially if you buy at the peak of the market (as most people do, unfortunately). Do not rush to buy things when prices are rising unless you really like the objects, and would buy them anyway. Always go for quality pieces in good condition, and at a reasonable price. Try to diversify by buying different styles and factories.

Valuing ceramics: LNRC (back to contents)

Remember the old adage: something is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. Apart from condition, the main factors in valuation are rarity, factory, style, shape, pattern, colour, and the quality of design and manufacture. I would go further and boil these factors down to four key issues: LNRC (in no particular order of importance):

Looks (does it look attractive and desirable, in terms of shape, colour and decoration?)

Name (is it made by a well-known factory or is it associated with a respected designer?)

Rarity (is it very scarce or very common, or somewhere in between?)

Condition (is it undamaged and free from wear or crazing?)

You need to score on at least 3 of these, and preferably all 4, to have a valuable piece. A rare piece from a good factory may be worthless if it is ugly and damaged. But if it is attractive too, the damage may not hold it back too badly. Something with a good name, in mint condition and which looks superb may still be valuable even if it is not very rare. Homemaker and Troika are common, but can nonethless can fetch good prices. Rarity and Condition are pretty much enduring qualities, but ideas about what Looks good, and even what constitutes a good Name, are fickle, and can be dicated by changing fashion and personal taste.

The completeness of a group is another value factor: does the gravy boat have its original saucer and ladle, and are all the cruet pieces present with the tray and mustard-pot lid? Do the pieces belong together, or do subtle colour differences indicate that the set has been put together by the seller from different sources? Most important of all is personal taste: do you really like the piece? Does it really sum-up the style of an era? Does it look good on display? Is it in good state? Pieces with no backstamp may be difficult to sell.

With estate agents, it is 'location, location, location', but with ceramics collectors it is 'condition, condition, condition'. The sad truth is that ceramics are easily damaged, and even have a self-destruct mechanism called 'crazing'. Tableware is also subject to wear-and-tear through daily use. A further valuation issue are the imperfections left in manufacture, such as firing marks (although some collectors are not bothered by these if they do not spoil the appearance). Sellers have a duty to disclose all damage, manufacturing faults and crazing in their descriptions to buyers, because they affect the value. This duty is not always met by Internet sellers.

Dating ceramics (back to contents)

Midwinter, Lord Nelson and Empire Ware often carry what appears to be a date code, e.g. 1-65, on the underside. In preparing this website, I have assumed that the last two digits indicate the year of manufacture (in this example, 1965). Hornsea contrast and Maastricht/Regout carry date codes consisting of dots. Mould numbers may be dated by checking in a standard reference work; see reference list on the books page for examples. The same applies to the style of the backstamp, which was changed periodically by the manufacturer. The style, colouring and pattern of the piece may date it to within a few years (see Style Finder). 'Detergent Proof' can be, I guess, from the sixties, but 'Dishwasher Proof' and "Microwave Safe"are more variable in date. Villeroy and Boch marked their Acapulco range "Dishwasher Safe" in 1992, and "Microwave Safe" in 1993. However, as early as 1964, a Canadian rep was asking Broadhurst to add the words 'dishwasher safe' to their ranges (according to Casey, 20th Century Ceramic Designers in Britain; p. 277).

This commemorative plate is unusual in having a full date backstamp (3/1953)

Backstamps (back to contents)

See my Backstamp Index for detailed backstamp listings and photos

Backstamps are printed or gilded marks or symbpls on the underside of the item, either over or under the glaze. They are of vital importance for identifying and dating items, because they were changed over the years. Impressed numbers indicate the body number, and can yield a date if records from the factory have survived. Carlton Ware can be dated from the impressed numbers; see pages 30-31 of Collecting Carlton Ware (David Serpell, 2nd Ed. 1999) as can Beswick — see The Charlton Standard Catalogue of Beswick Pottery (Callow and Callow, 1999). A splash of coloured paint is the paintresses mark, and she (rarely he) may have painted their initials or code as well. Many ranges, including Holmegaard glass, Beswick Ware, Wade and Tigo Ware, would have had a small sticker (now usually missing).

Seconds

Pieces with minor imperfection were sold by the factory (sometimes in their own factory shop) as discounted "seconds". To preserve their reputation for quality, the factory would often disfigure the backstamp on seconds by gouging or drilling into the body, as with this drilled Crown Ducal example (below).

This Crown Ducal backstamp (left) on a 1950s piece from the Arizona range, has been drilled to create a shallow pit in the centre (see detail, right). This indicates that it is a "second".

Notes:

For marks on Dutch pottery, see http://members.ams.chello.nl/r.b.rigilink/marksfabr.htm
Rosenthal backstamps are listed at

Condition (back to contents)

Crazing

Crazing consists of a network of fine lines in the glaze or decoration, which are present at manufacture (and ought to have been rejected by quality control); or which develop over time. Crazing cannot be removed, and is caused by different rates of expansion in the glaze and body, respectively, when the temperature changes. Quite literally, the glaze cracks like a sheet of thin glass (which is what it is, in fact) as it is stressed by the expansion or contraction of the underlying pot. Crazing is less likely if the pottery is skilled enough to use a body and glaze with similar thermal expansion coefficients (i.e., which move in harmony when they are warmed up or cooled down).

Thermal shocks can cause crazing, as with the inside of teapots exposed to boiling water. Crazing can develop if ceramics are stored in a cupboard near the central heating boiler, or in a shed where they are exposed to extremes of temperature in winter and summer. Crazing can trap bacteria, and so it is a problem if you are going to eat from the piece.

By no means all ceramics develop crazing, but some wares are more prone to it than others (some early Hornsea slipware is particularly difficult to find in uncrazed state). Unlike cracks in the ceramic body, crazing lines do not pass through from one side of the piece to the other. Crazing may not be visible in weak light, but always shows up under strong, raking light. Pieces should be tilted under a bright lamp or in a beam of strong sunlight entering a window into a shady room. Crazing does reduce the value of a piece, although many collectors will tolerate crazing on rare pieces. Furthermore, crazing may not be a problem if it is fine (visible only on close inspection). 'Clean crazing' has no trapped dirt in the crackle lines. Some wares (e.g. Hornsea coastline) were deliberately given bold crazing during manufacture to produce a strong visual effect.

Manufacturing faults

Kiln marks on the underside of pieces, usually in a pattern of 3 points, are where the piece rested on a tripod in the kiln (normal for Geodewaagen). I personally don't consider kiln marks to be any problem at all, but some collectors are very fussy! Underglaze chips are smooth dents in the ceramic which are covered by glaze. Some mass-produced wares, such as those from Midwinter and Alfred Meakin, may have flecks of soot or brown spots in the body, and this may be considered normal for that factory.

Rust coloured specks in the earthenware body of an Alfred Meakin plate. These are scattered all over the plate and are manufacturing features, not damage.

Shrinkage lines on the rim of a Barker Bros coffee pot. Shrinkage lines are typically seen on rims where the clay is thin and dries out quickly. They are superficial, not passing through the body, and are underglaze. Notice also that the rim is slightly indented in this area, as though it had been pinched when the clay was still damp.

Chips and cracks

These consist of damage to the ceramic body. Chips are always a problem, and are often found on edges, rims or spouts. A small chip in an inconspicuous place may be acceptable. The edges of tiles, and the fine ridges on Denby Burlington ware, are prone to small chips ('nibbles'). With Burlington Ware, this may sometimes simply be where the glaze hasn't adhered. With tiles, the edges and corners are always very very vulnerable; even setting them down carelessly on a hard surface can cause chips (so always place tiles on a cloth). Tile edges also get damaged when they are levered away carelessly by salvagers from their original position on the wall.

Cracks (hairlines) are serious, and pass through the body. They weaken the piece physically and may also spread under stress. Unseen cracks on a white body may be revealed, to the purchaser's horror, by wetting with water: the moisture runs into the porous body and tuns it grey along the line of the crack.

Never hang plates on the wall using wire plate-hangers, especially spring-loaded horrors, because they bite into the edge of the plate, may leave rust marks, and place the item under stress. Plastic-coated frames are safer. (Trade adverts from 1955; click here for larger images of Perfect and Ideal hanger ads).

Always run you finger round rims, edges and spouts to feel for roughness. Fine roughness that is evenly-spread round the rim may be a manufacturing issue, where the glaze has not stuck to the edge. Cruet sets should be checked for nibbles round the salt or pepper holes, caused by someone sticking a fork-prong in to clean out blockages. Salt holes can bleed salt crystals round their edges long after use; this can be prevented by soaking the piece for a few days in cold water, if the decoration can tolerate it. Salt and pepper pots may also have damage around the filling-hole underneath, where someone has used a knife to lever-out the bung.

Chips or bruises on glass are sometimes mechanically ground and polished out by dealers, leaving a shallow, smooth pit. Beware of virtually undetectable glass repairs made using epoxy resin moulded and coloured to match the original glass. Such plastic additions do not clink like glass if you tap the area against your front teeth.

Surface wear

Gilding is very prone to wear, and transfer prints are easily scratched or damaged. The handpainted beaks on original Guinness toucans are often scratched or worn. Plates, bowls and saucers often show fine scratches or cutlery wear in the glaze on the upper surface; knife marks are deeper and more conspicuous. Plastic ware (e.g. melamine) is relatively soft, and very prone to fine scratching and knife marks. Overglaze or slip polka-dots (e.g. on black Piazza ware) may be chipped or missing.

Scratch to transfer on Midwinter diagonal coffee pot	This gilded rim shows two features of wear: FIrst, it has lost its lustre and appears slightly blackish. Second: instead of having a sharp border, the margin has instead become fuzzy and wooly where patches of white body are showing through. This is a Renlym beach ball ashtray

Stains

Stains are difficult or impossible to remove; please do not try unless you really know what you are doing. Never use chlorine-based household bleach. If stains are in an inconspicuous place, they may not affect the value too seriously. Some ranges (e.g. Portmeirion blue totem) are particularly prone to staining from the contents (e.g. from oils in salad dressings or citrus skins). The interior of vases and fruit bowls may show indelible water-stains, or dark marks from fruit skins. Pieces which contained oil or fat (e.g. vinaigrette or oil bottles, cream or milk jugs, and butter or cheese dishes) may have dark staining where grease has seeped into the ceramic body through glaze faults. Gravy boats may have brown stains around the base. Pie funnels have to sit in boiling gravy or fruit pulp, and so they often show browning. Tiles may have discoloured glue on the back: some people suggest dabbing paint stripper on, but the risk is yours! The finish on brushed aluminium pieces can be permanently clouded by abrasives or soaking in an alkaline cleaner.

Repairs (restoration)

With valuable pieces, it may be worth the dealer's money to have professional repairs or restoration made. The tails on Guinness toucans are easily damaged, and should be checked for repairs. Repairs can be detected in several ways. The resonant 'ping' which can be heard on tapping an intact piece may be heard as a dull thud on repaired items. Some repairs show up under UV (black) light (e.g. from pens used for detecting counterfeit bank notes). There may be obvious repainting. X-rays will detect joins or cracks, but are expensive and difficult to arrange; some auction houses can organise this. Tiles are very easily damaged round their edges, and may be put in a frame by the dealer so as to conceal this damage.

The Beswick bowl (below) arrived from eBay and I was immediately suspicious because the legs were a slightly different shade of yellow from the body. Furthermore, brush strokes were visible in the paint on the legs, and there was a faint smell of acrylic paint (!). Finally, the tooth test: my incisors clinked sharply against the body, but felt a plasticy dull contact against the paint on the legs. Paint stripper soon revealed that this was indeed overpaint disguising a clean break to 2 of the legs. However the piece is so rare and attractive that I kept it. (NB: I have never had a piece restored and none of the pieces on this site has restoration, to the best of my knowledge.)

Note: Never use paint stripper on decorated pieces unless you know what you are doing: you could ruin original handpainting.

Beswick tripod bowl	There is a line of demarcation at the base of the leg where the overpainted region joins the body.	A dab of paint stripper confirms that this is simply modern acrylic overpaint.	After the paint is stripped, two of the legs are seen to have a fracture line around the base.

Glass sickness

Sickness (crizzling) is a cloudy appearance of the glass surface caused by prolonged contact with water or some other liquids; or burial in an alkaline soil. Bottles buried in river banks or coasts may show "river-washing" - an overall frosted appearance due to years of abrasion by sand. Bottles buried under the sea may show iridescence - a surface sickness that has a multicoloured sheen in certain lighting conditions, rather like mother-of-pearl. Glass vases often show sickness inside from prolonged water exposure, as do chemist's bottles that have stored alkalis such as ammonia.

Unlike ordinary limescale deposits inside vases, true sickness cannot be removed by kettle descaler - or indeed any household cleaners (see below for details on professional cleaning). Also remember that sickness is caused very easily by alkalis, such as ammonia and caustic soda (sodium hydroxide), so never use these to clean glass; bleach can also sicken the surface of glass, if you leave a bottle soaking in it for too long. Beware bottles that have been varnished by unscrupulous dealers to conceal sickness. You can detect this easily because varnished areas do not clink when you tap them with your front teeth.

The problem with cruets

Cruets (salt and peppers) require special attention. So, to summarise some of the things I have said about cruets on this page:

Fakes and reproductions (back to contents)

Authorised reproductions are made with the blessing of the original factory. Poole Pottery issued later, authorised reproductions from their freeform range. On the other hand, fakes are unauthorised pieces made with intent to deceive the unwary buyer. Fakes are generally made only in the case of valuable pieces. The Carlton Ware Guinness range is a notorious examples of unauthorised pieces made in large numbers. The fakes carry the Carlton Ware stamp, just like the originals. The pages of eBay are currently flooded with reproduction Guinness pieces, although these are easily spotted because, although the shapes mostly match the originals, the decoration does not; it is crudely painted and in garish colours. Some other Carlton Ware pieces, such as the Bulmers woodpecker, and some Hitler figurines, may be suspect, but I haven't researched this. Subscribe to the Guinness Collectors' Club to access the excellent comparative photos on their website. SylvaC pieces were also faked, as were Toby jugs and character jugs by Shorter and Sons, and some reproduction animal pieces were attached to original stands from Beswick.

Cleaning (back to contents)

For tips on storing and cleaning ceramic tiles (and these tips are good for ceramics in general) see the website of the Tiles and Architectural Ceramics Soceity:
http://www.tilesoc.org.uk/cleantiles.htm

My guess is that more damage is done to ceramics during cleaning than at any other time. Pieces get knocked against the taps, or damaged when they rub against the bottom of the sink. They slip out of wet hands. Dishwashers can ruin practically any glass or antique ceramic, especially pieces with overglaze decoration. I ruined a nice Victorian hospital plate this way. The problems with dishwashers are thermal shocks, the high temperature of the drying process, and the harsh nature of the cleaning agents.

The safest approach to removing surface dirt is to soak items, one-at-a-time, in tepid water, in a plastic basin, with a little dishwashing liquid. If you soak them in a sink, place a cloth in the bottom to prevent clattering against the plug hole. And if you put more than one piece in, place a cloth in between to make sure they dont crack into each other. Take care not to catch the pieces against the tap when you put them in or take them out of the sink.

More aggressive treatments include a soak in water containing dishwasher powder (see below, under "tea and coffee stains"). One of the most effective soaking baths for dirty or discoloured pieces is a bucket containing a scoop of biological laundry powder, pre-dissolved in hot water and allowed to cool to warm before using. This treatment can dissolve some overglaze patterns if you are not careful. Some people use denture-cleaning tablets for glass. Oven cleaners are highly alkaline and can strip off surface decoration, so please don't use them. Limescale in vases may come off with kettle-descaler or vinegar, but sometimes the minerals in hard tap water cause a permanent yellowish discoloration that cannot be removed.

Abrasive creams and green-backed sponges should be avoided at all costs. Melamine may tolerate a soak in diluted chlorine-based household bleach to remove stains, but a word of warning: prolonged bleaching, or strong bleach, can cause permanent discoloration of melamine. I once filled a melamine cup with water and squirted some bleach into it. The bleach sank to the bottom, as it is designed to do, and so the next morning my cup had a bright orange bleach stain in the bottom.

Stains are most often seen on the unglazed foot rim, where grease and liquids can soak into the unsealed, porous body and creep under the glaze to leave discoloured patches. This is a common problem with gravy boats, because they spend their working lives sitting in a puddle of brown fatty liquid. A similar effect is seen near glaze faults on plates. Household chlorine bleaches should never be used to tackle this problem (and indeed, should never be used on glass or ceramics). Diluted hydrogen peroxide can be effective when used at room temperature for several hours, but please don't blame me if it goes wrong or damages delicate patterns. Take 30 vol hydrogen peroxide and dilute it with 9 parts of water. The 30 vol solution is a powerful bleach and will burn the skin and damage clothes so be careful. Make sure you dont bleach too far, or the ceramic body will end up with a conspicuous white patch. If the original stain contained grease, the brown colour will bleach out, but a translucent spot will persist. Hydrogen peroxide may be difficult to buy these days, because it was used in the London Transport terror attacks to make the explosives. An alternative are the transparent tooth-whitening gels, used in cosmetic dentistry, and which contain carbamoyl peroxide (and may need to be thinned with water first if they are too viscous to penetrate the ceramic).

Rust stains can be removed with concentrated hydrochloric acid, followed by a prolonged soak in clean water; however there is a real danger of ruining any decoration present, especially if it is overglaze.

To rinse chemicals or salt out of a ceramic item, a prolonged soak in running water is needed. Some collectors therefore place pieces in the water cistern of their toilet. Again, don't do this if you do not know what you are doing.

After washing, wet pieces should be placed on a dry cloth, not put on the countertop (where the film of water can cause the piece to skate away like a hovercraft). Finally, drinking alcohol doesn't mix with ceramics; remember this yourself, and don't let party guests admire your collection.

Sickness on glass usually needs professional treatment. But always try vinegar or kettle descaler first, in case it is only a limescale deposit. If the cloudiness persists, then there is nothing you can do yourself, unless the area is very small or minor. In such cases, the sickness can be polished out by rubbing the area with a damp cotton pad with a dab of jeweller's rouge: a fine abrasive powder of ferric oxide or the more effective cerium oxide. However this may take you many tedious hours of polishing just to treat a tiny patch.

The alternatives are to send the bottle away to professionals to be tumbled in a drum containing a fine abrasive; or to have it dipped in hydrofluoric acid, which dissolves the surface layer of the glass, leaving a brilliant surface. Many of the most expensive collectable UK bottles, dug from old rubbish tips, have been "dipped" in this way to remove sickness. Unfortunately, hydrofluoric acid is incredibly dangerous and cannot be used at home. Household cleaners are useless against true sickness, because it is not a surface stain but destruction of the glass surface itself.

Tea and coffee stains

The stained interiors of cups can be cleaned by soaking the items in cold dishwasher solution. As noted above, dishwashers themselves should not be used, although I have cleaned melamine cups in the dishwasher, using the top shelf where they are less exposed to the heating elements during drying. Don't try it if you are unsure. My cold soak, described below, often works on melamine and ceramics. This technique can also remove the stains from crazing lines inside white-glazed ceramic cups. It should not be used on overglaze patterns, colour or gilding. Put 3 pints of water in a stainless steel cooking pan. Add one household dishwasher tablet, or one dose of dishwasher powder. Heat and stir until all the grit is dissolved. Allow to cool to room temperature. Fill the cups with the solution and allow to stand overnight at room temperature. The next day, rinse thoroughly with clean, cold water.

Displaying (back to contents)

Glass cabinets provide protection against children, dust and cigarette smoke. And because the pieces stay clean, they don't run the risks of breakage or spoiling associated with regular washing and dusting. Glass cabinets also make a great display if some kind of lighting is used. Don't use light bulbs that throw out a lot of heat, because pieces may crack. Oiled teak shelves are not recommended because the oil can seep into the ceramic through the foot, which is usually unglazed. Shelf collapses have ruined many collections, so use strongly-built cabinets with good shelf supports. Many collectors like to use their pieces for their original purpose; I don't, because of the risk of damage. Using your best retro pots for holding houseplants always carries the risk of staining or scratching the inside.

Packing (back to contents)

Remember, nuclear scientists found that the easiest way to crack the atom is to send it through the mail marked 'fragile'. After cleaning, shipping is the biggest killer of ceramics (followed by children, pets, indulgence in booze, and shelf collapses). Newspaper can leave oily ink residue when used to wrap unglazed pieces, especially white ones. Gilding, or overglaze transfer or paint, can get damaged by wrapping the item in very stiff paper. Wrapping pieces in used bubble-wrap carries the risk that glue residue from adhesive tape will stick to the decoration and pull fragments away; always use a protective layer of clean soft paper next to the body when in doubt. If plates are stacked together in a box, put a layer of padding in between each one. Similarly, don't stack cups inside each other without good padding inside.

Stoppers and lids should be wrapped separately, with no chance of the lids from different pieces getting mixed up or lost amongst the wrapping. Ground glass stoppers are tailor made for their bottle, so individual ones should be packed and then strapped against their correct bottle. I always double-box items, with a layer of padding or paper between the inner and outer boxes, with an inch or two of a gap. The aims of good packing are: to prevent the items knocking against each other; and to prevent knocks from outside the box. The boxes should be substantially bigger than the items, so that if the box is kicked, the dent wont touch the vase. A friend who bought a guitar from eBay received it at home with a triangular dent to the box, and a massive split in the underlying wood, as though someone in the mail room had smashed it against a table corner. But maybe his imagination had run away with itself. I once received a boxed coffee set and heard the dreaded rattle when I picked the box up. Everything inside was smashed (it was poorly packed).

Mummification is a common eBay problem: the seller wraps the item in bubble wrap, then literally entombs the whole thing in layer after layer of brown tape. The problem here is that you have to cut through all the tape with a knife or scissors, with the risk of damaging the underlying item.

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