FLOWER MARK

Q: I have an ornate Teplitz compote with this mark on it. I've heard that if a piece is marked "Austria," it was made after 1892. Is this true? Can you tell me who made it and how old it is?

A: Teplitz is not the maker of your compote but a town in Bohemia (part of Czechoslovakia since 1948). Several potteries were located in the area around Teplitz. The country of origin was marked on goods imported into the United States after 1891. The words "Made in" were usually used after 1915. This flower mark was used by the Ernst Wahliss pottery in Turn-Teplitz, Bohemia, from c.1894-c.1921. After Ernst died in 1900, his sons took over the pottery. The name of the pottery was changed to Alexandra Porcelain Works Ernst Wahliss in 1905. The Ernst Wahliss pottery made reproductions of Vienna porcelain figurines beginning in 1902 using molds from the Imperial and Royal Porcelain Manufactory in Vienna, which was out of business. Since your figurine is marked "Wien," the German name for "Vienna," you probably have one of the reproduction figurines made between 1902 and c.1921.