The Valuable Antique Dishware Pattern To Search For At Thrift Stores & Estate Sales

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Thrift stores and estate sales are great places to find a deal, but sometimes, you might actually find more than you bargained for. It's no secret that certain antiques hold a lot of value, but if you look out for one particular dishware pattern, you could hit the jackpot. The Pekin pattern produced by English manufacturer Beech & Hancock is one of the prized items you should never overlook when shopping at an estate sale, and its value may surprise you.

The Pekin pattern is a classic early-to-mid-Victorian Chinoiserie design inspired by East Asia, and you can find it on jugs, plates, and bowls. Peking is the original name for Beijing in English, and Pekin is a variation on the spelling. The classic design consists of a vibrant print that depicts two figures in traditional Chinese clothes, surrounded by an exotic garden. Each piece is framed with a geometric fretwork border, and the visual was created using a transfer print that was then hand-colored with polychrome enamels. These pieces were produced between 1857 and 1867, making them a pretty rare find, and they can now sell for hundreds of dollars. For example, a single Beech & Hancock Pekin bowl is available on the marketplace platform Chairish for $219, though it is on sale for $129 at the time of publication.

To identify this antique dishware, the first giveaway is the Pekin pattern itself. It's quite distinctive, with bright colors that are hard to miss, but the real secret to finding antique and vintage treasures? Checking the trademark. For Beech & Hancock earthenware, look for a swan trademark on the back of plates or the bottom of jugs. This is a small, blue swan with "Pekin" displayed in a ribbon underneath and the initials "B&H" printed below. After James Beech took over the pottery company in 1877, some of the pieces were later marked with his initials (JB) instead of B&H.

Other items by Beech & Hancock also hold a lot of value. For example, the Siam pattern, which features a floral scene with a central peony or chrysanthemum and bamboo shoots, sells for around $80 per plate on Etsy, like in the case of the antique Siam oval platter. Meanwhile, the English Scenery Pattern platter, which shows a British landscape, sells for $240 per plate online. If the dishware is in especially good condition with no marks and scratches, it could sell for even more. Large, complete collections of plates, bowls, and jugs will also hold more value, making this patterned pottery one of the valuable collectible items you should never overlook at estate sales.