Learning to Collect Antique Parian Ware

If you aren't familiar with the term, it can be mystifying what Parian Ware might be and why it's supposed to be a valuable collectible antique variety.

Well, one expert in the matter likes to call Parian Ware satutary porcelain – a kind of very fine porcelain that is so smooth it could be mistaken for marble of the highest grade used to make small statues with.

By most reports, Parian Ware was invented by a British creator calleld Thomas Battam in the mid-19th century. But the end of that century, it was so popular that no self-respecting Victorian home would be caught without a few beautifully-done examples – little intricate statues about a foot tall of just about anything. If you're wondering where the Parian name came from, the porcelain was thought to be so like fine marble from the Greek island of Paros (where most of the best marble for the classical statues came from) they named the porcelain after it.

If you have ever been to an upper crust home or country club, you have in all likelihood, seen a couple of examples of this art form on display. Perhaps trend started with Queen Victoria of England herself who was known to rely entirely on Parian Ware in decorating her homes and palaces. Before long, Americans visiting England always chose to bring these small porcelain sculptures back home to show how they really had been all the way there and were now sufficiently cultured (by the three days they had spent there) to be in a position to appreciate strange European art.

Are you curious about how exactly they managed to make such fine marble-like sculptures out of what is essentially china clay? Well, to begin with, they don't sculpt them, of course. They mold them in standard molding cases. The special ivory-like hard, smooth opaqueness comes from the way they make their clay. It contains a great deal more of feldspar than regular porcelain. It's a color and texture that is unbelievably close to that of high-quality marble. You'll also notice that vases and other such objects created in this fashion always have the interiors glazed as well.

When you set off to buy and invest in Parian Ware, what do you look for? How do you know to tell quality and authenticity?

Typically, you want to look for Parian Ware that was crafted before 1885. Only the major makers marked or otherwise identified their products. American-made Parian Ware has considerable value as well.

Buying Parian, make sure you don't fall prey to the myth that every piece in New England comes from the famed United States Pottery Company of Bennington. Basically, it can be very difficult to tell because they all mostly used the same kinds of molds. For the best choices try the small dealers.