1) Is Marks4Ceramics.com secure?
2) Does it work on a PC or Mac?
3) Is the GALLERY SEARCH easy to use?
4) What other ways can I use on this website to identify a mark?
5) What happens if the mark I am looking for is not included in the database?
6) Why is Marks4Ceramics.com website better than a Book?
7) I have found some websites on the internet that offer Pottery & Porcelain marks as a Free Service. Why should I pay?
8) Can I access this database when I am away from my home or office?
9) Can I use this website to distinguish between genuine pieces and forgeries?
10) Once I have identified & dated the mark(s) on my Porcelain or Pottery or China, what do I need to do?
1) Is Marks4Ceramics.com secure?
We are an Approved & Verified Business member of PayPal and 2CheckOut, both reputable Credit Card
Payments Processing companies, and we accept all major Credit Cards. Also,
we are located in the San Francisco Bay area and our company is registered in the State of California, USA. All Payments and related Log-In procedures, including verifying any personal or account details, are made exclusively through PayPal's and 2CheckOut's
secure payment systems only. Marks4Ceramics.com does not have access to that information other than being notified when a payment goes through to activate a member's User ID and Password
for access to our websites in an automated "back-end" process. No personal and payment details are available to this website's staff and no such data crosses our website's Servers. For more information on PayPal's Secure Payments please visit PayPal's site at
www.PayPal.com and for 2CheckOut visit
www.2CheckOut.com.
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2) Does it work on a PC or Mac?
Marks4Ceramics.com works on any Computer or Laptop or other Portable
or Mobile Device, Cell Phone etc, regardless of Browser, Platform, Version etc. There is no need for any special requirements or additional Software to make it work.
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3) Is the GALLERY SEARCH easy to use?
The Gallery Search is our main method offered to research Ceramic
marks. It is a large album of Porcelain, Pottery, China and Ceramics Marks. All
marks are divided into Shape Categories according to a mark’s shape or form. Some
ceramic marks appear in several Shape Categories to make it as objective as possible. This is the easiest and quickest method to identify a
mark - simply compare your mark to others at a glance - see our "How it Works" page
for examples.
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4) What other ways can I use on this website to identify a mark?
In addition to our Gallery Search that locates a mark based on its overall shape
(see # 3 above), Marks4Ceramics.com also offers a unique and proprietary "NAME
SEARCH" feature. This method is very similar to using any search
engine like Google and works by the member entering (typing) a Name of a Pottery or Porcelain Manufactory in the
search box provided. Our website will search through our entire database instantly and will display all images of the marks that contain this Name.
In addition to the marks images, our Name Search results page will also
display a brief Fact Sheet on the company.
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5) What happens if the mark I am looking for is not included in the database?
If your mark is not included in our database or you have doubts, there is a link for members to
send us an Inquiry. We will research your mark(s) and respond within 3 business days at no extra cost.
There is no limit as to how many times or how frequently a member can
send us inquiries, provided their membership remains active.
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6) Why is Marks4Ceramics.com website better than a Book?
Cost vs. Completeness: There are several generalist books on the market that contain most common Porcelain & Pottery marks for under $20. However, most specialized Ceramics Marks books are usually available for specific countries or a certain region and cost upwards of $70 each. This means that these books usually contain information limited to manufacturers from that specific Country or Region (Britain, USA, Germany/Austria, France,
Russia etc). In contrast, Marks4Ceramics.com contains more than 12,000 unique western-world marks from all regions and of most
Asian Importers' marks (Japan, China) or Logos at your fingertips - literally!!
Peace of mind: If your mark is not included in a book, there is no recourse in contacting the Author or Publisher to ask questions or advice. As a member of Marks4Ceramics.com, in addition to several useful resources and links contained in the members-only area, if your mark is not included in our database, you can contact our Research Group and get a personalized response at no extra cost (see # 5 above).
It's like having an expert on retainer...
Always current: It took us several years to put this site together and we are constantly adding more marks, some of which are either newer ones or newly discovered rare marks that we find during our research.
This is especially important for marks used on recent imports that use
Fake or Imitation or Forged marks.
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7) I have found some websites on the internet that offer Pottery & Porcelain marks as a Free Service. Why should I pay?
We have visited other related websites and soon realized that most of these are "come-on" pages to someone's Antique Shop or Gallery
and Auction site. The marks they contain are usually very few and very common. As a member of our website, you only pay for your monthly or annual Subscription. We do not sell anything else and we do not offer any other services that require additional payments. Yet, once a member, you receive access to a vast database of over 12,000 unique Porcelain & Pottery Marks, which is being continuously updated. Furthermore, there are links to several specialized Dating Systems and Historical Notes, a proprietary "Name Search" feature that lets you search for images of marks from a specific Pottery or Porcelain Manufactory in an instant and many other easy-to-use Ceramics Research Tools.
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8) Can I access this database when I am away from my home or office?
Yes, this is one of the unique advantages of this service. Unlike books that you will have to carry with you, this site is available anywhere you can access the web and from any computer or laptop, including public PCs such as in Hotels, a friend's computer etc. For example, if you are traveling to an auction and need information on a Porcelain Figurine or China Service you saw during the Preview, you can Log In to Marks4Ceramics.com to identify it and then search the web for potential value information.
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9) Can I use this website to distinguish between genuine pieces and forgeries?
Since the early 1990's there has been a huge renewal of interest in Ceramics and there are thousands of pieces, made mostly in
China, that resemble some very old or antique pieces. However, these are fakes or forgeries and of decorative value only. Knowing the exact mark used originally helps in avoiding costly mistakes. In addition to several of these newer marks that are already included and are available to
our members, we constantly evaluate new ones entering the market or examine those sent to us by other members. If we determine that a mark is indeed on a recent replica or on a reproduction piece, we immediately include it in our database. This way a member's experience becomes a lesson to another.
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10) Once I have identified & dated the mark(s) on my Porcelain or Pottery or China, what do I need to do?
In addition to links related to specialized Dating Systems used by some specific Companies (Minton, Sevres, Wedgwood, Royal Worcester, Rookwood,
Rosenthal etc), you may use our Search Links for Google, Amazon or eBay or your favorite Search engine to locate additional information and potential Market Values.
Marks4Ceramics.com is an Identification and Period database.
For Auction Records of Past Sales, please see our
Values4Antiques.com service.
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