Carstens – Identification

Base
Carstens almost always used a red clay and marks were embossed rather than incised. Many items have the Carstens twin house logo which allows for easy identification.

If there was limited space on the base Carstens would often abbreviate Germany to “Germ” or “Germa” this is unusual amongst manufacturers but not unique to Carstens.

Most base numbers can be easily read but occasionally an item is discovered where base markings are either not present, or too over-glazed to be legible.

It is thought that the form numbers used by Carstens may run from 1 through to 9999. Some form numbers were prefixed with an A, B, C, D or E. It is not clear why but it may be simply that they had run out of numbers.

Stickers/Labels
A number of Carstens items can still be found which retain their original labels. In some cases these can be used to provide an indication of when a vase was produced. Some are also found with original retailer/shop stickers.