For example, it seems easy to find 19th century examples of bone china and hard porcelain on ebay made by the famous companies Sevres, Spode, Meissen, Wedgwood, Royal Doulton, Mintons, Aynsley and Royal Worcester.
The trick seems to be that these companies had different owners over time, which impacted their seals in known and well documented ways. Also, as far as I can tell, these are mostly not very well valued except for extensively painted sets- so doesn't seem to be much point for forgers to do their thing on simple items.
However, based on what I am reading, people seem to really fuss over them, suggesting they are very very sensitive to glaze crazing and cracking, etc- almost as if they are generally poorly made in terms of stability/ robustness.
Also there seems to be heightened risk of things like lead.
For example:
https://www.international.meissen.com/f ... ntent.htmlMEISSEN colours, which have always been developed in the manufactory’s own paint laboratory, contain lead oxides in their molten mass. Only with these colours can pastes be mixed that are suitable for different painting styles. It is not possible to produce the colour brilliance that Meissen porcelain has always stood for with lead-free colours.
Additionally, I learned that prior to late 18th century, the European teacups, like the Chinese ones, did not have handles.
The discovery of the formula for hard paste porcelain in Europe was made in 1708 that ultimately resulted in the establishment of Meissen porcelain. The history is interesting (from wiki):
More details about the discovery as conveyed in Porcelain: A History from the Heart of Europe by Suzanne L. Marchand:At the beginning of the eighteenth century Johann Friedrich Böttger pretended he had solved the dream of the alchemists, to produce gold from worthless materials. When King Augustus II of Poland heard of it, he kept him in protective custody and requested him to produce gold. For years Johann Friedrich Böttger was unsuccessful in this effort.
At the same time, Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus, a mathematician and scientist, experimented with the manufacture of glass, trying to make porcelain as well. Crucially, his ingredients included kaolin, the vital ingredient of true porcelain, though he was unable to use it successfully.[5] Tschirnhaus supervised Böttger and by 1707 Böttger reluctantly started to help in the experiments by Tschirnhaus.
When Tschirnhaus suddenly died, the recipe apparently was handed over to Böttger, who within one week announced to the King that he could make porcelain.