How Do I Identify Makers Of Items.

 Identifying who made a vintage or antique item can be difficult.  I would say fifty percent of items I pick up in the thrift store are unmarked.  Researching any unmarked item is time consuming and often leads to dead ends and the item is still unidentified.

My first go to is Google Lens on my phone, it always with me and is pretty simple to give me a quick idea of what the items and potentially a maker.  I try not use Google Lens to get an idea of what the item is worth, some returns may included the list price.  If I see several returns with a similar list price I then go on my mobile browser and look on eBay or Poshmark.  I will search for the item and then filter the results to sold or completed listings.  This step gives me a rough idea of what the item is actually selling for, it is easy to fall for listings with high asking prices.  Take a screenshot of any listings that give you the information your looking for, this helps when creating a listing.

After all the quick research on my phone, I have to decide if I am going buy it.  If I decide to buy it, I will do a deeper dive into the piece at home on the computer.  For instance, I bought a milk glass collection in May. figured all of the pieces where Fenton the pattern, hobnail, all matched from piece to piece.  The research showed me, before 1970 Fenton hobnail milk glass did not have any imprinted mark in the glass.  They used paper sticker labels.  The piece made 1970 and later all have a Fenton mark in the glass.  Many of the older colored glass piece that were hand painted are generally signed on the bottoms and dated.  This helped me to decern that all the pieces are indeed Fenton. 

When I am researching at home I will look through the listings of the item on eBay, Etsy, and Poshmark.  I will compare the measurements with my item, condition, color, etc.  If I am lucky to find a listing with the maker identified, I then use Google to research it even more.  

When Google strikes out, there are websites for glass, pottery, porcelain collectors and identification.  There are also Facebook groups for identifying and some will even give valuations.

There are paid subscription websites like Worth Point to help identify and even give what the item has sold for online.  According to Google, a monthly subscription can cost between $28.99 to $46.99, it is tier based and the higher tier gives full access to all features on the website. There is also an option for annual membership.  

You may never find out who made an item or even when it was made.  I look every now and again with Google Lens, you never know when you will have success.  You can still make money selling items with unknown maker, it may take a bit longer to sell.