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Dating your Bohemian and Czechoslovakian Porcelain

Marked: Czech Republic or a variation thereof, means it was manufactured after January 1, 1993, when Czechoslovakia became two separate countries the Ceskб Republika (Czech Republic) and Slovбk Republika (Slovak Republic).

Marked: Czechoslovakia or a variation thereof, means it was manufactured after 1920 up to 1993. Czechoslovakia became a country in 1918; therefore, the name/word did not exist until then. Czechoslovakia without a hyphen was rarely used before 1920.

Marked: Czecho-Slovakia or a variation with a hyphen may mean it was manufactured from 1918 to 1938 and 1990 to 1993, though the name was also spelled without a hyphen during these times.

Marked: Bohemia or a variation thereof, does not mean it was made before 1918. The factories often continued to use the name Bohemia after it was incorporated into the new country Czechoslovakia. However, manufacturers should have used the Czecho-Slovakia or Czechoslovakia on the piece as well, if it was made for export to the US, because since about 1880 the United States trade laws require a label with the country of origin.

Marked: Austria may mean it was made before 1918. Before 1918, Bohemia was in the country of Austria. It could also mean that you have a piece from an Austrian factory.

Marked: Germany or Deutschland can mean it was still produced in Czechoslovakia. It may mean it was manufactured during the Nazi occupation 1938-1945. There may be other periods marked this way that I do not understand.

Official names:
1918-1920: Czecho-Slovak Republic or Czechoslovak Republic; short form Czecho-Slovakia (rarely Czechoslovakia).
1920-1938: Czechoslovak Republic; short form Czechoslovakia.
1938-1939: Czecho-Slovak Republic; short form Czecho-Slovakia.
1945-1960: Czechoslovak Republic; short form Czechoslovakia.
1960-1990: Czechoslovak Socialist Republic; short form Czechoslovakia.
April 1990: Czechoslovak Federative Republic (Czech version) and Czecho-Slovak Federative Republic (Slovak version),
After: Czech and Slovak Federative Republic (with the short forms Czechoslovakia (Czech version) and Czecho-Slovakia (Slovak version)).
1993: Czech Republic and Slovak Republic; short forms Czechia and Slovakia

A Czech gentleman tells me the terms Bohemian and Czech or Ceskэ are synonymous. Often you will see Bohemian and Czechoslovakian porcelain and china referred to as Czech porcelain or Czech china. However, in my mind if one is referring to the time from 1918 to 1993, Czech porcelain is not as appropriate as Czechoslovakian porcelain.

Austrian porcelain or Austrian china is also appropriate for the earlier pieces because Bohemia was a part of Austria until 1918.

Other Marks & Clues: In addition to looking through references for specific mark dates, there are some other clues to dating. Country names can be helpful, as with Bohemian porcelain. Additionally, the country of origin has not always been on porcelain and can cause a great deal of confusion.

In 1890, the USA passed The McKinley Tariff Bill of 1890, which required the country name to be on imported merchandise. It was not until 1921 that the words УMade inФ were required on imports to the USA.

However, in 1897, Britain instituted it trade laws through their British Merchandise Marks Act, that required imports be marked with country of origin. The law required the words УMade in ЕФ or just the country name. This law also included British factories, not just imports.

Additionally, not all country of origin markings were impressed in the clay or inked on to the piece. Paper labels were used and it was also acceptable to mark the country on the packaging. Hence, it may have been marked according to the law, but the label or packaging is not long with the article. No country of origin does not mean it was made prior to 1887.

Furthermore, it is a logical assumption that a factory would produce a product for both the USA and the UK and not want to have country of origin marking systems and marked products in one manner that would satisfy both countries. Therefore, a porcelain piece with the words УMade in ЕФ as well as the country of origin does not mean that it was manufactured after 1921. One needs to use other clues as well to determine a date.

An additional consideration is that not all pieces of porcelain brought to the country in which they are presently located came through International trade and as a result were not subject to various country of origin marking requirements. A great deal of the porcelain that is presently in the USA (and the UK) was brought here by immigrants and was purchased in a country of origin which may not have had a rule requiring it to be marked with the country name.

For example: Moritz Zdekauer 1894 - 1904

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