Glossary

By Tina Howard and Paul Howard

Below are some terms used for describing pottery.

Mint: Perfect, just as it was the day is was made. No manufacturing flaws, no damage of any kind.

Excellent or Near Mint: Generally preferable to "Mint," in that the item is still perfect, but may have been used. May have very tiny imperfections, each of which must be described. No chips, hairline cracks, or crazing (for example, "Slight glaze run on side, pinhead sized flaw on rim, else excellent.").

Very Good: Item has no major flaws, but has been used. Flaws are not highly visible, or numerous (no more than 2 or 3), and must be described (that is, "Wear to gold trim, fleabite on handle, small chip under base - not visible until turned over"). For any item with more or greater flaws than this, a full description of each flaw should be provided.

Broken - Any item which has had a piece broken off and glued back on. Sometimes referred to as "repaired."

Chip - This term is used to describe any chip larger than the head of a pin. A "shell chip" is a chip which ha flaked off the piece, taking glaze and part of the body of the ware. It is no different than any other type of chip.

Crazing - Tiny cracks in the clear over-glaze of the item. A few types of pottery are made with "crackle" glazes which are supposed to have this affect. On all other pottery, crazing was not an intended result of the manufacturing process and should be described as damage. It is for the individual collector to determine whether crazing is acceptable or not. Although faulty glazes or firing during the manufacturing process contribute to crazing, it is caused by exposure to temperature extremes after it has been completed. Crazing is never an indicator of age! It can occur 50 years or 50 minutes after a piece was originally made. Crazing may be described by the amount and whether any stains have gotten into it: for example, "small amount of crazing," "all-over crazing," "no staining," "light stains," "heavy staining."

Flake - A Flake is a chip in the clear glaze that does not extend through the coloured underglaze, or into the body of the ware. Also called a "Glaze Flake."

Flaw - This is a flaw which occurred during the manufacturing process. It may be an area that was misglazed ("glaze flaw," "skip," "glaze pop," "glaze run"), or the item may have had a small chip or other flaw which was glazed over ("factory flaw," "manufacturing flaw").

Hairlines or Cracks - A very tight, hardly visible crack of any length (from ¼ inch to all the way down a piece) may be described as a "hairline." If it is visible, hairlines and cracks should be stated. Note that a broken piece which has been glued back together is "broken," rather than "cracked."

Reissue/ Reproduction from Original Molds - These are items which are reissued, either by the original manufacturer or by someone who bought the original molds from the original maker. They are usually permanently marked in some way that allows people to know immediately that they are not original, except in cases where they are still an active part of the original manufacturer's line of wares. These may occasionally have some place in a collection, if the original has become too expensive or too uncommon. Examples include certain pieces of Van Briggle, McCoy reissues, and some pieces of new Fiesta.

Reproduction/Fake - Also referred to as "Repro," "Copy," and "Repop" items, these are items which have been copied from the originals without use of original molds. They are usually designed to fool the unwary buyer, and attempt to mimic marks which are out of copyright. They are never permanently marked with the real manufacturer's information or country of origin, and are usually inexpensively made. Fakes and copies have no value to a collector. They may have some slight decorative value in their own right to someone who does not collect the original type of ware.

Restored/ Professionally restored - This item was damaged in some way: broken or chipped, and has been returned to its original, undamaged appearance by the use of fillers, paints, and a non-fired glaze. Any restoration work must be disclosed to the buyer before purchase, since restored items require special care. Restoration is expensive, and can return a piece to much closer to its original value than it was while it was broken, but it is up to the individual collector to decide on its desirability.

Scratched - This term refers to scratches in the clear glaze, such as those caused by a sharp knife on a dinner plate: "knife scratches" and "use wear" are other descriptive terms used.

The preceding material was written by Tina Howard and Paul Howard. These are the opinions of the authors, not the opinions of eBay, and therefore eBay does not validate the accuracy of or endorse these opinions.