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collecting
antique english porcelain - The manufacturers and the history, the
marks and periods.
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18th Century antique english porcelain manufacturers followed in the
steps of the French in that the vast majority of porcelain was of
the soft paste type.  In
1567,
two potters arrived in England from Holland, bringing with them
the knowledge of making pottery with tin-glaze. This type of pottery
is known as delftware in England, and it flourished in London, Bristol
and Liverpool in the 17th and 18th centuries before being replaced
in the 18th century by refined stonewares, salt-glazed stoneware,
fine earthenwares, creamware and pearlware, made mainly in Staffordshire,
the heart of the English ceramics industry.
Soft
paste porcelain
is porcelain made to a different formula than the recipe for true
or hard paste porcelain which was first discovered by the Chinese
about a 1000 years ago; then rediscovered by Meissen about 1710.
Hard paste is a mixture of kaolin and petunse, or china clay and
china stone, mixed and then fired to a temperature of about 1350C
degrees.
The
alternative formula
for soft paste was first made in Europe by the Medicis in Florence
in 1575, and later made in France from the latter part of the 17thC
at Rouen. Then in the 18thC by St Cloud, Mennency, Chantilly, Vincennes
and Sevres. The soft pastes all include a fair proportion of glass
in their formulas and allowed for the production of some magnificent
French porcelain.
The
English
started making porcelain rather late compared with the rest of Europe,
and several of the English factories used the glassy type of soft
paste. In trying to improve the recipes two other basic types of
soft paste porcelain were made in England. One type used soapstone
(soapy) in the mix and the other used bone ash (bony). The three
basic English porcelains can loosely be called glassy, soapy or
bony.
Although,
it is said that all English 18thC factories used soft paste, there
are three exceptions, in the factories of Plymouth , Bristol and
New hall, who all used a hard paste mixture.
Towards
the end of the 18thC when the New Hall patent expired many factories
started experimenting with their own formulas and tried to better
their products, and you often see references to "hybrid hard
paste" in the late 1790s and early 1800s.
In
the early 1800s
New Hall continued with its hard paste and Worcester continued with
their soft paste but eventually all the English factories moved
to bone china production.
English
bone china is said to have been developed by Josiah Spode around
1800 and is a mixture of hard paste and bone ash which is still
being used by many of the great English factories today.
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John
Dwight (1671-1703)
John
Dwight established a factory at Fulham in 1671 and tests from
excavated shards found at the site revealed a glassy type of porcelaneous
material.
However,
it seems firing and glazing difficulties prevented full commercial
production.
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Pomona
Factory at Newcastle under Lyme (1744-1754)
Williams
Steers of Hoxton took out a patent for the manufacture of porcelain
in 1744 which states, "..transparent earthenware in imitation
of porcelain or china after a method entirely new..".
Some
2000 shards were excavated in 1970 and some glassy type of under
glaze blue items have been reconstructed but no pieces are known
outside of these museum pieces.
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Chelsea
(1744-1770) & Chelsea-Derby (1770-1784) ........ more
The
Chelsea factory was started in the town of that name by Nicholas
Sprimont who, up until then, had been one of the Huguenot silversmiths
in London. Right from the very start Sprimonts glassy type of
porcelain was aimed at the upper classes and so only a very small
amount of underglaze blue decorated Chelsea is found. The factories
production can generally, be divided into four groups according
to the mark used at the time.
 The
four main marks used by Chelsea are: Incised triangle, raised
anchor ,red anchor and the gold anchor. The earliest items made
were of a glassy paste but some bone ash was added about 1758
around the early years of the gold anchor period.
Marks
can generally be relied on but quite a lot of "gold anchor"
marked pieces fakes or copies are seen.
Nicholas
Sprimont did not always enjoy good health and the factory was
sold, eventually, to James Cox in 1769 and the some eight months
later to William Duesbury of Derby fame.
The
Chelsea-Derby factory spans the years 1770-1784 and was under
the control of William Duesbury. Wares were still made at Chelsea
and some may have been decorated at Derby. Marks during this times
include a gold anchor, an intertwined anchor and D and a crown
and anchor. The Chelsea factory was closed in 1784 and what was
left moved to Derby.
Recommended
reading:
Chelsea Porcelain
by Elizabeth Adams (B & J)
Chelsea Porcelain at Williamsburg by J.C.Austin
Flowers and Fables, a survey of Chelsea Porcelain 1745-1769 by
Margaret Legge
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Derby
(1747 to today) ........ more
The
date of commencement of production at the Derby factory may never
be known but it is thought to be around 1747/1748 and was started
by Andrew Planche, a Huguenot goldsmith who had moved up from
London. The first products from this factory include some very
finely modelled figures that are categorised as "dry edge"
due to glaze free areas around the base.
William
Duesbury I, from 1756, and his son William Duesbury II, from 1786,
were the driving forces behind this successful factory, which
at first made a glassy type of porcelain, and later on some bone
ash was added.
No
marks appear on early Derby, but from about 1760 some patch or
pad marks are found on the bottom of wares and figures. These
were small "scars" left from pads which supported the
items in the kiln.
From
1770 model numbers are found incised into the bases of figures.
Also from the 1770s the familiar crown and D mark starts to appear
and lasts through till the 1820s.
Derby
made more figures than any of the other factories and probably
accounts for over 50% of all English 18thC figures. From about
the 1780s on the Duesburys managed to employ some great artists
to decorate their porcelain and names such as Billingsley, Robertson,
Complin, Boreman, Askew , "Quaker" Pegg etc. often add
a premium the the value of Derby pieces today.
Recommended
reading
:
Derby Porcelain by John Twitchett (B & J)
Derby Porcelain by Barrett & Thorpe
Derby Porcelain Figures by Peter Bradshaw 1750-1848 (Faber)
Derby Porcelain 1748 - 1848 an illustrated guide by John Twitchett
(soon to be released)
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Bow
(1747-1776) .......... more
 Heylyn
and Frye took out a patent in 1744 but production doesn't seem
to start until around 1747.
What
inspired the founders at Bow to include bone ash in their recipe
is not known but it proved to be a significant ingredient both
for Bow and the factories that followed.
The
Bow factory was situated on the East side of London and did not
aspire to the type of trade that Chelsea pursued, preferring to
produce wares for the growing middle class market. Their products
included a lot of blue and white wares together with polychrome
decorated pieces and a large range of figures. Pieces of Bow are
often thickly potted and can show brownish stains where there
are exposed areas such as chips etc.
Factory
marks were not often used but you can find mock oriental marks
on Chinoiserie styled blue and white pieces, and in 1760 an anchor
and dagger mark was used which might be an outside decorators
mark.
Recommended
reading
:
Bow Porcelain by Adams & Redstone ( Faber)
Bow Porcelain the Geoffrey Freeman Collection by A .Gabszewicz
Bow Porcelain Figures by Peter Bradshaw
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Limehouse
(1745-1748)
The
existence of a factory at Limehouse has been known since 1927,
when researchers found old ads from the "Daily Advertiser".
The advertisement states "..the proprietors of the Limehouse
ware give notice that they now have a large assortment at their
Manufactory, near Dick Shore in Limehouse...". Other documents
reveal that Joseph Wilson was the proprietor of the factory at
20 Fore Street, Limehouse.
A
glassy type of porcelain was produced and the products were mainly
decorated in under glaze blue. Some polychrome wares were made
but they were probably decorated in Holland or by Dutch decorators
in England.
Following
the 1990 excavation by Dr Bernard Watney and others, the existence
and products of this factory could be proved, and a class of wares
that had previously been attributed to William Reid can now be
called Limehouse.
A
creditors meeting was held in 1748 which heralded the end of this
factory.
Recommended
reading
:
Limehouse Wares Revealed, by the English Ceramic Circle with the
collaboration of the Museum of London.
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Lunds
Bristol (1749-1752)
This
short lived factory was started in Bristol by Benjamin Lund and
William Miller in 1749 following the granting of a licence to
Lund to mine soap rock in Cornwall. The wares produced using this
"soapy" type of soft paste were painted with underglaze
blue and decorated in the Chinoiserie style although some were
left in the white.
The
painting was usually slightly blurred and sometimes the images
will have three dots in the landscape (the three-dot painter).
Kiln failures and under capitalisation probably led to the demise
of the factory.
The
factory came under the notice of Richard Holdship (one of the
partners of the newly formed Worcester factory) in 1752 and he
arranged to take over Lunds licence for the mining of soap rock.
Holdship was instrumental in Worcester acquiring the factories
stock, utensils and effects and also the services of Lund and
probably some other workers.
Occasionally
the word Bristol or Bristoll is found moulded to the base of wares
and to the back of a figure.
Recommended
reading:
There are no specific books on Lunds Bristol but all books on
Worcester will have references to this factory.
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Worcester
(1751 to today) .......... more
The
Worcester factory was started by a group of fifteen subscribers
in 1751. Included in their number were Richard Holdship, William
Davis and Dr John Wall. Worcester had probably made porcelain
in 1751 with some difficulty and it was fortunate for them that
the vigilant Holdship allowed them to acquire the Lunds licence,
knowledge and probably some stock, as well as Lund himself moving
to Worcester.
 Soapstone
soft paste porcelain proved to be the best of the soft paste recipes
and Worcester produced a porcelain which did not craze and which
could survive the addition of boiling water to tea pots ( other
factories notably Derby had problems with their tea pots flying,
ie. breaking, on the addition of boiling water).
Worcester
produced a fine range of wares including printed wares ,both under
and over glaze, scale decoration in blue, red, yellow and pink
and of course under glaze blue painting. Whilst their main opposition
at Derby were producing a lot of figures it is surprising that
Worcester made just a few.
The
periods of Worcester in the C18th and early C19th can generally
be divided into the Dr Wall period 1752-1776, the Davis period
1776-1783 and the Flight and various Barr’s periods 1783-1840.
Worcester
used a large range of marks, the most recognisable being the crescent
marks, both open and hatched, the fret mark and the script and
printed W. It should be noted that some Worcester under glaze
blue painted patterns have their own unique mark.
In
1840 the Worcester factory merged with Chamberlains, later to
become Kerr & Binns and then Royal Worcester.
Recommended
reading
:
Worcester Blue and White Porcelain 1751-1790 by Branyan, French
& Sandon (B&J)
Caughley and Worcester Porcelains 1775-1800 by Geoffrey Godden
Worcester Porcelain 1751-1793 by Henry Sandon
Dictionary of Worcester Porcelain Vol .1 1751-1851 by John Sandon
The Zorensky Collection by S.Spero & J.Sandon
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Girl
in the Swing Factory or the St. James Factory
of Charles Gouyn (1749-1759)
In
1962 Lane and Charlestone "isolated" a group of porcelain
that had previously been given to Chelsea, and gave it the name
of the Girl in the Swing. This name was taken from a figure in
the V & A Museum which shows a girl in a swing supported by
two leafy trunks. The paste is glassy like Chelsea’s but
with a greater percentage of lead and with some other modelling
differences. The products of the factory are decorated in polychrome
, or left in the white. Some wares and figures were made but the
main production seems to be "toys", ie. perfume bottles,
etuis, patch boxes etc.
Following
recent research in the archives of Sevres this factory has now,
been firmly given to Charles Gouyn, a Huguenot , and former associate
and partner of Nicholas Sprimont at Chelsea.
The
critical document found by Bernard Dragesco in the French archives
reveals that Charles Gouyn "... left with the loss of part
of his funds and makes at his house in St James Street very beautiful
small porcelain figures...". This statement means that he
left the Chelsea factory.
There
are no marks associated with this factory.
Recommended
reading
:
There are no specific books but all books on Chelsea will have
a reference to the Girl in the Swing
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Longton
Hall (1749-1760)
In
1749
William Jenkinson "obtained the art, secret or mystery of
making a certain porcelain ware in imitation of china ware"
and started production at Longton in Staffordshire.
In
1751 he was joined in partnership by William Littler
and William Nicklin.
A
glassy type of soft paste was made and decorated both in polychrome
and under glaze blue. Naturalistic forms are common with leaf
and vegetable forms often found. Figures were made and are often
referred to as "snowmen figures" due to their slightly
melted look which tends to blur their features. Flower painting
is often done by a recognisable hand as are castles and buildings
painted by the "Castle painter". Unusual and sometimes
clumsy handle forms help with identifying Longton Hall products.
"Littlers blue" a distinct blue which sometimes ran
into the glaze is another characteristic of the factory.
There
are no distinct factory marks but the crossed "L" is
often cited as a Longton Hall mark although this may now be attributed
to the West pans concern.
In
1760
following the break-up of the partnership the factory closed and
a massive sale of 90000 pieces was held at Salisbury.
Recommended
reading
:
Longton Hall Porcelain (Faber) by Dr Bernard Watney.
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West
Pans (1764-1777)
After
the dissolution of the Longton Hall partnership William Littler
and his wife went to West Pans in Scotland and started another
porcelain making concern.
The
glassy paste at West Pans produced much the same sort of wares
as at Longton Hall with "Littlers Blue" continuing to
bleed into the glaze.
The
crossed "L"s of Longton Hall may well belong to West
Pans. Lack of funds and quality probably led to the downfall of
this factory .
In
1777 William Littler returned to Staffordshire
and became associated with Ralph Baddeley at Shelton.
Recommended
reading:
Longton hall porcelain by Dr Bernard Watney
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Vauxhall
(1751-1764)
In
1751 a licence to mine soaprock was taken out
by Nicholas Crisp of London, a jeweller, and John Sanders of Lambeth,
a potter, and by 1752 nearly 30 tons had been used by this licence.
The
soft paste porcelain was of the soapy type with some added calcium.
Interestingly, John Bacon R.A. was employed at the factory and
may have been a modeller and decorator of figures.
Wares
and figures were produced in underglaze blue and polychrome and
a polychrome printing technique was used at Vauxhall.
In
1758 John Sanders died leaving Crisp to carry
on until 1763 when he became bankrupt. Crisp’s unfortunate
circumstances were probably not caused by the porcelain factory
but by his other business interests.
In
1764 the stock was sold up and Nicholas Crisp
then turned up at Bovey Tracey.
In
1980 and 1987
following excavations carried out at the Vauxhall site a group
of porcelain previously attributed to William Ball of Liverpool
is now attributed to Vauxhall.
There
are no factory marks for Vauxhall.
Recommended
reading
:
no specific books for this factory
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The
Liverpool Factories (1754 - )
A small city, small factories, different family members concerned
with different factories, the itinerancy of workers and decorators
has all helped to add to the confusion that has and may still
be the Liverpool factories.
The
porcelain factories at Liverpool produced a great variety of wares
and some figures. The main production being blue and white. Some
printed wares, over and under glaze, were made as well as polychrome
decorated pieces.
There
are no factory marks for the Liverpool concerns although a mark
on later wares is sometimes seen in underglaze blue with the initials
HP.
Liverpool
factories in chronological order:
- Samuel
Gilbody (1754 to 1761)
- Richard
Chaffers (1754 to 1765)
- William
Reid (1755 to 1761)
-
Phillip Christian
(1765 to 1778)
-
William Ball (1763
to )
-
James Pennington
(1763 to 1773)
- John
& Jane Pennington (1770 to 1794)
-
Seth Pennington & John Part
(1778 to 1803)
Recommended
reading
Made in Liverpool. Liverpool Pottery & Porcelain 1700-1850
an exhibition catalogue Liverpool Porcelain by Dr Bernard Watney
The Liverpool Porcelain of William Reid by Maurice Hillis and
Roderick Jellicoe
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Lowestoft
(1757-1799)
In
1757 the Lowestoft factory situated on the east
coast of Suffolk, was started by five partners .
The
best known of the partners was Robert Browne who may have picked
up some ideas when working at the Bow factory prior to the forming
of Lowestoft. Both Bow and Lowestoft used a phosphatic (bony)
type of soft paste.
Until
1768
the first products of the factory were all under glaze blue painted
wares with both under glaze blue printed and polychrome wares
made afterwards. The range of wares made were typically for the
middle class market with some figures in the mix.
Towards
1799
and the end of the century, Lowestoft made mugs etc. bearing the
words "A trifle from Lowestoft".
There
are no factory marks for Lowestoft but you can sometimes find
a numeral in underglaze blue on the inside of the foot rim.
Recommended
reading
:
Lowestoft Porcelain by Geoffrey Godden (A.C.C.)
Lowestoft Porcelain in the Norwich Castle Museum Vol. 1 Blue &
White by S.Smith
Lowestoft Porcelain in the Norwich Castle Museum Vol.2 Polychrome
by S.Smith
Early Lowestoft Porcelain by C.Spencer.
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Plymouth
(1768-1770)
William
Cookworthy, a chemist in Plymouth, was the first to make hard
paste porcelain in England. He found the two essential ingredients,
kaolin and petunse or china clay and china stone on the property
of Thomas Pitt.
He
experienced difficulties in manufacturing his wares as some pieces
slumped, the porcelain would come out a grey colour and the fabric
sometimes showed signs of wreathing or tearing. Neither did his
under glaze blue fire to a good colour.
A
factory mark of the alchemists sign for tin which looks like a
cross between a 2 and a 4 is found on some pieces.
In
1770 production was moved to Bristol where most
of the production problems were solved.
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Bristol
(1770-1781)
In
1774 when Cookworthy retired the running of the
factory was taken over by Richard Champion who had been a partner
in the works at Plymouth. Some of the problems, like wreathing,
still occurred but the quality was generally better than at Plymouth.
In
1782 the patent to produce hard paste porcelain
was due to run out and in seeking to extend the patent Champion
was opposed by Staffordshire potters and Josiah
Wedgwood. However he achieved limited success with his application
and was given the right to use the materials for production of
transparent porcelain.
Some
Bristol goods are marked with an overglaze cross or a B which
may also occur with a potters or gilders number.
In
1778, after contemplating bankruptcy, Champion
managed to dispose of his patent to a consortium of potters from
Staffordshire.
In
1781 New Hall was formed.
Recommended
reading
:
Cookworthy’s Plymouth and Bristol Porcelain by Severne MacKenna
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Baddeley
Littler (1777-1785)
This
group of porcelain was previously attributed to the Liverpool
area.
Geoffrey
Godden has for some time, quite effectively, argued that William
Littler, after the failure of his West Pans concern, moved to
Staffordshire and helped Ralph Baddeley make porcelain. This porcelain
was a type similar to the glassy paste of West Pans.
This
group of porcelain was, for a while, known as the "Caddy
Class" because of a label that was attached to a tea caddy
once owned by Enoch Wood. The label states that it was given to
Enoch Wood by William Fletcher who recalled that it had been made
by William Littler.
Known
items belonging to this group are usually in polychrome but some
under glaze blue painting and printing occur.
No
factory marks are recorded.
Recommended
reading
:
No specific books on this factory.
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New
Hall (1782-1835)
In
1782, a group of potters from Staffordshire acquired
the patent to make hard paste porcelain from Richard Champion
and the patent ran umtil 1796.
New
Hall made a range of goods in both underglaze blue and polychrome
decoration. In the 18thC the production consisted mainly of tea
wares with fairly simple decoration.
In
c1790 the firm introduced a system of pattern
numbers which is helpful in identifying New Hall wares.
In
c1814 when bone china was introduced, a change
was made to the paste. The style of decoration also changed as
fashion dictated the desire for more brightly decorated wares.
Marks
other than pattern numbers are rarely found on New hall but sometimes
after about 1815 the words New Hall appear within double concentric
circles.
In
1835
an auction was held to dispose of all stock following the leasing
of the factory premises.
Recommended
reading:
New Hall Porcelain by David Holgate (Faber)
A Guide to New Hall Porcelain Patterns by A.de Saye Hutton (B
& J)
New Hall Pattern Book by Patricia Preller
New Hall Porcelains by G.A.Godden. Printed by A.C.C. ISBN 185149
463 4
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Caughley
(1775-1799)
The
Caughley factory was started near Broseley in Shropshire by Ambrose
Gallimore and Thomas Turner; Turner having had some experience
at Worcester.
The
paste used was of the soapstone variety and typically shows an
orange like translucency.
Caughley did seem to copy a lot of Worcester shapes and patterns
but they were also innovative in picking up on the French style
of decoration; and while Caughley is sometimes thought of as being
inferior to Worcester it can be argued that Caughley produced
better quality wares in the last quarter of the 18thC.
Their
wares were fairly utilitarian and typically utilsed under glaze
blue decoration; either painted or printed.
Their
polychrome wares were probably decorated by Chamberlains factory
at Worcester.
Caughley
used few marks.
- A
capital S which sometimes has a small x or o beside it.
- A
capital C with a serif (if not clear, can be confused with the
hatched crescent of Worcester),
- The
impressed word "salopian".
Some
older books give the disguised numeral marks to Caughley but they
firmly belong to Worcester.
The
caughley works were sold to John Rose at Coalport in 1799.
Recommended
reading:
Caughley & Worcester Porcelains by Geoffrey Godden
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"A"
mark factory
About
thirty pieces with an A mark, either incised or painted, are known
and all of them have been found in England, which probably indicates
an English source. They appear to be a type of hard paste with
polychrome decoration in the European style. The decorations are
taken from Gravelot’s engravings which were printed in London
in the 1740s and this suggests that the decoration may have been
done in the 1750s.
One
theory suggests that they were made by Alexander Lind who was
working for the Duke of Argyll near Edinburgh about 1750, and
that the A stands for Argyll.
Recent
research has offered the possibility that -A- marked porcelain
was the product of the first Bow patent and was made at Bow using
imported clay from America. It was first found by Andrew Duche
in the Appalachian mountains of Carolina and exported by him to
Bow.
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Kentish
Town (1755-1756)
During
Whitsuntide of 1755 John Bolton was prevailed upon by William
Kempson to leave the employ of Crisp and Saunders at Vauxhall.
William
Kempson and Michael Alcock were button makers in Birmingham and
it was with the thought of making porcelain that they sought the
services of John Bolton. They were somewhat successful as apparently
some wares were made or decorated.
This
fact is gleaned from the bankruptcy petition against Alcock and
Kempson, which states that monies were owed to tradesmen and labourers.
James
Giles had a decorating establishment in Kentish Town and later
on he may have used the kilns of Alcock and Kempson.
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Isleworth
(1766-1800)
Both
Chaffers and Llewellyn Jewitt record the knowledge of this factory
in the late 1800s.
Following
excavations on the site in very recent times (1997) a small group
of porcelain products have been drawn together under the Isleworth
banner of this "new" factory. The porcelain is phosphatic
and some pieces that have previously been attributed to Derby,
Lowestoft and Bow can now bear an Isleworth label.
The
families involved were Joseph Shore and his two daughters, Ann
and Mary. Ann married Benjamin Quarman and Mary married Richard
Goulding. Goulding had been in Worcester and may have picked up
knowledge in porcelain there.
Recommended
reading :
Isleworth Porcelain by Anton Gabszewicz and Roderick Jellicoe
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Bovey
Tracey (1767- )
It
appears that Nicholas Crisp, following his bankruptcy at Vauxhall,
was experimenting with porcelain at Bovey Tracey in 1767. Crisp
is mentioned several times in Cookworthy's correspondence....
whether Crisp was making porcelain in marketable quantities is
unclear,and to what extent his connection with Cookworthy ran
is also confused.
Suffice
it to say that there was some co-operation and advice between
the two in the years 1767/8.
It
is interesting to note that Cookworthys comments on Crisp's porcelain
suggest that it had a yellowish tinge and that at a Phillips auction
in London recently a pair of sauce boats were sold which had a
yellowish tinge and bore a tentative attribution to Bovey Tracey.
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Wirksworth
China Factory (1772-1777)
There
was certainly a porcelain factory at Wirksworth during this period
as contemporary records mention invoices for materials, advertisements
for labour and the sale of stock etc. Josiah Wedgwood mentioned
this factory in1775 "...a china works, lately begun at Wirksworth,
by Mr Gell of Hopton who lately made some use of a fine white
clay found near Brassington in Derbyshire..."
Goods
produced included tea and coffee wares, bowls, figures, jugs vases
etc. with on and under glaze printing being done.
It
is fair to assume that, given the Derby factory was only 13 miles
away, quite a number of workers from this factory would have been
employed at Wirksworth and would have taken their various skills
with them. So that when the products are identified we should
probably look for some similarities with the goods from Derby.
Pierre
Stephan and his son John are both recorded as going to Wirksworth
from Derby.
The
factory was in decline by 1777 and sales notices in the Derby
Mercury tell of the disposal of equipment and stock.
It
is also possible that there is some connection between Wirksworth
and the infant factory at Caughley and that Turner may have bought
some of the moulds etc
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Recommended reference works on antique english porcelain.
- A
Collectors History of British Porcelain
-- by John & Margaret Cushion (A.C.C.)
- Eighteenth
Century English Porcelain
-- by Geoffrey Godden ( Granada)
- Encyclopaedia
of British Porcelain Manufacturers
-- by Geoffrey Godden (B & J)
- Staffordshire
Porcelain
-- by Geoffrey Godden et al ( Granada)
- Porcelain
Through The Ages
-- by George Savage
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Probably
less than 50% of all antique english porcelain and pottery from
the 18th and 19th centuries has a factory mark. You have to learn
to look for other signs.
The
key indicators to look for in identifying a piece of antique english
porcelain include the type of paste, the shape, the glaze, the colours
used (either under or over glaze), the mouldings, the handle and
the finial forms.
The
whole of these observations will often suggest a certain factory
and then the mark, if any is present, should confirm your observations
rather than have you trying to use the mark itself as the sole decider
of the items origins.
It’s
not that easy and many pieces remain unattributed.
You will only learn to tell original pieces apart by personally
handling and checking an object against pieces that have known attributions.
Recommended
reference books on Marks:
Encyclopaedia of British Pottery and Porcelain Marks -- by Geoffrey
A. Godden
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