Question:
Greetings, I recently inherited a lovely set of village green dish ware. As the story goes, my great-grand parents took my grandmother and her husband to Redwing to buy the set as a wedding gift.

There are no markings on the bottoms of the plates or any of the set, so I’m trying to date it and also know for certain that it is indeed Redwing. I would like to use the dish set but also have concerns about lead content.

My questions are two:

Can it be official Red wing pottery without any stamping?

Does any one know if they are safe to use, and lead free?

thank you for your time! Kathleen

Answer: Many of the pieces in the Village Green pattern were never marked with the company name. Cups, saucers, plates, platters, and bowls are among the unmarked items. But RED WING USA in raised or impressed letters will be found on the bottoms of many other Village Green pieces. These marks were placed when the piece was formed during the molding process. Village Green was a popular pattern and was made for many years. Over time new molds replaced old worn molds; some molds included the RED WING USA mark while others did not. Thus a given Village Green item, such as the beverage server, can be found in both marked and unmarked versions. Red Wing was consistently inconsistent with their markings. So yes, there is a lot of official Red Wing pottery that is not marked in any way. Lack of a company mark does not mean the item was not made by Red Wing.

It is my understanding that glazes used by Red Wing contained lead, but how much and what danger they pose I do not know. Generally if the glaze is intact the piece can be considered safe to use. Pieces with chips, cracks and other breaks in the glaze may have a greater chance of exposing the user to lead so they should probably not be used on a regular basis.

Larry