Ceramic Marks Tell A Story
Janet can still recall her first ceramic purchase, it was a Shelley Tall Trees Bowls which she spotted in a local antique shop. This 1920s design of black trees set against a white background with a bright yellow sun caught her eye, it stimulated a long lasting passion for collecting Shelley Porcelain. Janet, soon found that like most ceramic enthusiasts she wanted to add other items to her collection, particularly those which were influenced by the Art Deco period. The strong use of colour and geometric shapes is a good indication as to whether an item was manufactured in the 1920 and 1930s, however the real clue is the mark to the base of most pieces which clearly identifies not only the date but the manufacturer, it tells a story of where and when that particular item was produced, the secret is to understand the Marks.
These can be Incised, Impressed, Painted or Printed.
Small hand written marks tended to be used Pre 1800s, the decoration, shape and style of the item also helps to attribute manufacturer.
The kite shaped mark with Rd was used from 1842-83.
The use of coloured marks were introduced after 1850, as was the use of the word ‘Royal’
The use of Ltd/limited appear after 1860 and the term Trademark is seen after 1862.
Registration numbers were introduced in 1884 and the word England dates from 1891.
Famous companies such as Wedgwood, Minton’s, Derby and Worcester have all used a variety of numerical or symbol codes, a quick look in a reference book will provide the exact date of production. These are a few of the basics to understanding Ceramic marks, below are a few examples.
This is a good example of a Mark that tells a story, it gives details of where it was manufactured and the pattern name, these details make it much simpler to trace the date of production which was the 1950s. This pattern is another of Janet’s favourites, the black on white design is as fashionable now as it was when it was first introduced.
These Royal Crown Derby Marks tell us a number of things, firstly and most obviously, the manufacturer, they also tell us that they were produced at different times, look at the use of the word England, the first mark is dated from 1921 -1965, the symbol at the bottom will give the exact year, the second mark just has the word England, Made in England was introduced in 1910 so this mark suggests it could be an earlier piece, the use of the vertical England was used between 1891-1921. The hidden story on the first mark is that a faint line which runs through it shows that the factory marked it as seconds, this may be due to a small flaw in the pattern or the gilding, many collector’s would not want to add this to their collection.
