Plain White Ceramic Pottery Barn Mug.
The logo on the bottom of this Pottery Barn PB Classic ceramic mug is positive for a fairly high level of lead.
If you want a guideline on determining if your mug’s logo is leaded I have found the following rule to consistently be true (probably about 99% of the time):
IF you can FEEL the logo/maker’s mark (as a rougher raised surface above the base glaze of the piece) then it is likely leaded glaze was used for the logo.
If the Logo is visible and a contrasting color but cannot be felt and appears to be below the surface clear coat final glaze (in an otherwise lead-free item), then the logo is also usually lead-free.
NOTE: This rule ONLY applies to NEW china pieces (made in the last 5 or 10 years), NOT to vintage pieces. With vintage pieces the surface clear coat itself is often high lead.
With the exception of the logo on the bottom of the cup, this piece is a good example of how newly produced / newly manufactured/ newly sold items DO NOT HAVE TO HAVE LEAD! Even the base material (the unglazed ceramic substrate) was non-detect for Lead, etc. (see readings below). Now if only we can just convince Pottery Barn to go the way of Crate & Barrel and get the Lead out of their logos, they’ll be an A+ in my book
To see the lead-free dishes I use in my home, Click HERE.
I would not use a mug like this in my home because I choose to only have 100% lead-free dishes (I am especially strict when applying this rule to glazes or painted surfaces on items.)
To learn more about XRF testing, Click HERE.
Please do take a moment to read the exact XRF test results for this item (scroll down) so you can see exactly what is in it.
To see more white ceramic items I have tested, Click HERE.
Please note that just because something is WHITE does not mean the food surface of the item is lead-free, there are several examples of white ceramic items on my site that have, in fact, tested positive for very high levels of lead (here’s a good one – LINK.)
As always, please let me know if you have any questions.
Thank you for reading and for sharing my posts.
Tamara Rubin
#LeadSafeMama
Below are the full XRF Test results for the mug pictured in this post.
(Tests are for a full minute each).
Outside Surface of Mug:
- Lead (Pb): Negative/ Non-Detect
- Cadmium (Cd): Negative/ Non-Detect
- Arsenic (As): Negative/ Non-Detect
- Mercury (Hg): Negative/ Non-Detect
- Barium (Ba): Negative/ Non-Detect
- Chromium (Cr): Negative/ Non-Detect
- Antimony (Sb): Negative/ Non-Detect
- Selenium (Se): Negative/ Non-Detect
- Zinc (Zn): Negative/ Non-Detect
- Copper (Cu): Negative/ Non-Detect
- Iron (Fe): 2,696 +/- 222 ppm
- Bismuth (Bi): 101 +/- 14 ppm
- Vanadium (Va): 71 +/- 20 ppm
- Titanium (Ti): 172 +/- 31 ppm
- Zirconium (Zr): Negative/ Non-Detect
Logo area on bottom of mug (black glazed logo – image above):
- Lead (Pb): 2,528 +/- 78 ppm
- Cadmium (Cd): Negative/ Non-Detect
- Arsenic (As): Negative/ Non-Detect
- Mercury (Hg): Negative/ Non-Detect
- Barium (Ba): Negative/ Non-Detect
- Chromium (Cr): 1,626 +/- 96 ppm
- Antimony (Sb): Negative/ Non-Detect
- Selenium (Se): Negative/ Non-Detect
- Nickel (Ni): 186 +/- 71 ppm
- Zinc (Zn): Negative/ Non-Detect
- Copper (Cu): Negative/ Non-Detect
- Iron (Fe): 3,116 +/- 251 ppm
- Bismuth (Bi): 72 +/- 19 ppm
- Vanadium (Va): 96 +/- 25 ppm
- Titanium (Ti): 378 +/- 46 ppm
- Zirconium (Zr): Negative/ Non-Detect
- Platinum (Pt): Negative/ Non-Detect
- Cobalt (Co): 1,894 +/- 162 ppm
- Magnesium (Mn): 1,403 +/- 272 ppm
Unglazed circle of bottom of cup (base ceramic substrate around logo – image above):
- Lead (Pb): Negative/ Non-Detect
- Cadmium (Cd): Negative/ Non-Detect
- Arsenic (As): Negative/ Non-Detect
- Mercury (Hg): Negative/ Non-Detect
- Barium (Ba): Negative/ Non-Detect
- Chromium (Cr): Negative/ Non-Detect
- Antimony (Sb): Negative/ Non-Detect
- Selenium (Se): Negative/ Non-Detect
- Zinc (Zn): Negative/ Non-Detect
- Iron (Fe): 2,314 +/- 211 ppm
- Copper (Cu): Negative/ Non-Detect
- Bismuth (Bi): 84 +/- 13 ppm
- Vanadium (Va): Negative/ Non-Detect
- Titanium (Ti): Negative/ Non-Detect
- Zirconium (Zr): Negative/ Non-Detect
Note: I cannot seem to keep my kitties out of my pictures! LOL!
Hi Tamara I was wondering if the label on the newer PB Classic coupe dishes lead free. I used a 3M swab lead test on the label and got a negative test. Do you know if they are now lead free? Also I bought a set of the discontinued Pottery Barn Great White Coupe Collection that have been sold for the past ten years. Do you know if these are lead free? The label is not as raised as the PB Classic coupe. Would you please test this dish? I would hate to find out years later they have lead in them.
Hi Melody, If you cannot find it on the blog I have not done a full workup on it.
Here’s the link to the full Pottery Barn category (there are currently seven posts in it): https://tamararubin.com/category/pottery-barn/
In general I don’t like Pottery Barn as a brand and would personally never buy any of their products (they have had too many violations and toxic products [products that have tested positive for Lead] in my opinion – and cannot be trusted.)
Here’s how to send in a sample dish to me for testing: https://tamararubin.com/2019/08/tamara-can-i-send-you-one-of-my-dishes-to-test-for-lead/
Thank you for commenting.
Tamara