Imperial Bonn - Pottery mark and signatures query

by Eva Lynn
(Stockholm Sweden)

Imperial Bonn - Pottery mark and signatures query:- Me and my mother helped my grandparents to pick up potatoes. They lived in an big old house far up our country, Sweden.

During the digging we found some articles.
Among other things there was a can. (for water).
This happened at the 60ths. Not until now when I am going to put some flowers into it as I often do, I came to wonder what the mark and signs means.

Can you help me.

Kind regards Eva

reply by Peter (admin) below - just scroll down...

HOW I MADE MONEY FROM BITS & BOBS OF OLD CHINA .....more

Reply by Peter (admin)

To:- Imperial Bonn - Pottery mark and signatures query

Hi Eva

To get the best replies, submitters are best advised to include CLOSE UP of the mark (best use your camera on ‘macro’) and one of the wares too.

OK. having said that, I appreciate your hard work in translating from your native Swedish, so thank you for your time and trouble.

The mark is of a famous high quality maker ‘Imperial Wessel’ - the company being Ludwig Wessel of Poppelsdorf, Bonn, Germany, established in 1755 and continued through right until the 1970's.

They made high class expensive porcelains as well as earthenware (steingut) faïence wares (similar to majolica). The also made everyday utility wares for everyday use. In other words they were a large and fairly substantial maker in the North-Rhine Westphalia region of Germany.

Your mark is similar to those used for export between 1875 and 1900 (perhaps until 1910), so is most likely a genuine antique and worth something if in good condition. A good find from digging potatoes!

Anyone needing a professional valuation can go to this vintage and antique china values page. But if you want to keep with self-research for the time being, for an idea of how you can get a ball park idea of the value of any item you might own, go to my Be Your own Antiques Roadshow Expert article. It's fun to try it out and it's free.

Hope this helps.

Best regards,

Peter (admin)

p.s. The following page is a 'must see' if you are researching fine china - for value and identification:-

Researching the identity and value of antique and vintage fine china.