Q: I inherited a 60-piece dinner set from my grandmother. The dishes are marked “Pirkenhammer Czechoslovakia” on the bottom. Is this set antique?
A: Pirkenhammer porcelain factory was founded in 1803 in Pirkenhammer, Bohemia (now Brezova, Czech Republic). This mark with crossed hammers and a crown was used after 1918, when Bohemia became part of Czechoslovakia, and before 1939, when World War II broke out in Europe. Legally, an antique is at least 100 years old. Your dinner set isn’t quite there yet, but is close. Dinner sets are hard to sell.
