Q: I recently paid £3 for a small urn-shaped vase with a chequered pattern. It has no makers mark other than the word Kioto. There is also a diamond-shaped mark with numbers and letters in each corner. Can you tell me anything about it?

Mr W

It is not possible to trace a maker for the item you mention -- it was almost certainly made in the Staffordshire Potteries -- and the name Kioto refers to the pattern. However, the diamond-shaped coding indicates a manufacturing date of 1879. Value would be modest -- probably £10 to £15.