1. Incomplete Sets - Do not buy. Generally I would suggest you don't buy incomplete sets. Don't buy coffee sets with less than 6 mugs = x15 pieces (16 pieces inc. lid). A carafe has six goblets with it. Pots tea pots should have lids. You can still use six single mugs but you would prefer six the same. Pairs are acceptable IMO.

2. Hairline cracks - Avoid. Most type of pottery get hairline cracks and they normally diminish an items worth considerably. Often a hairline crack is a natural fault and is quite stable but the can worsen over time so collectors dislike hairline cracks. When an item has a hairline it no longer 'rings'. That is if you gently hold it and flick it with your fingernail near the rim it should make a bright ringing sound. A dead thud means it has a fault, a flaw, a break, repair or crack somewhere. This is true for all types of pottery. Collectors do not like this. Normally a hairline can drop an items value by up to 75%.

This is in fact a piece of Poole with a hairline.

3. Serious Damage - Do Not Buy. Avoid broken items like the plague, no matter what the price. You are throwing your money away, do not do it. 95% of the value for me has gone.

4. Crazing - Not a problem: With time the glaze on items does crack. I remember reading in Anthea's book that early on they did have a problem with the glazes at Briglin. I would expect early items to have some crazing, it's a good sign as far as I'm concerned, but is is possible to fake to some degree.

"One of the most common glaze defects is crazing, although in some cases crazing is a sought after effect, in which case it's called a Crackle Glaze. Crazing will occur when the glaze doesn't fit the clay body.The glaze shrinks more than the clay during the cooling causing the glaze to crack like a spider web. Crazing can occur after a piece has been fired. You can hear a new piece making a pinging noise long after firing, this is the glaze cracking. Crazing can also occur over centuries, as can be seen in many older wares, when they were new, they would have looked OK"

5. Chips - Bottom chips are not a problem: The red earthenware clay used for the majority of Briglin Pieces is quite brittle. Small chips to the unglazed base are not a problem. That is my opinion anyhow. Chips to the glaze to the (top) rim of a vase are more serious and these pieces are to be avoided.

This bottom chip is not a problem IMO.

This chip runis the value of this item. It's only 4mm long but it's unsightly and it the sort of damage you should avoid. Don't pay top whack for anything with obvious damage.

6. Pre-Firing Damage - Kilm damage - Some damage can be imperfections to the piece before it was fired or during the firing process itself. You can see this because the glaze has run over the defect. Normally this is not a serious problem if the defect is minor.

This pigs foot was obviously broken before firing since the glaze has run over the break. The item still stands without rocking.

7. Dirt - OK. I like dirt, dirty is good.

8. Repairs - Avoid: I have not seen any piece of Briglin repaired yet. This is simply because it's not worth the effort. It is a bit of a waste of time going into techniques used to spot repairs, but it is possible to re-assemble completly smashed pieces.

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