Antique Marks

Exactly what are antique marks and what can they tell you?

Watching the experts at antique roadshows or on auction house valuation days, you probably wonder just how they get so much information about a teacup, vase or a piece of silver simply by turning the item upside down.

The fact is, the markings that are stamped, painted or impressed on the underside of most antique items can help you tell a great deal about a piece other than just who made it.

The name of the pottery manufacturer and an approximate date of manufacture can be discovered if the piece of pottery has a backstamp or the silver item has a hallmark.

What the expert is looking for is some historical reference point. A mark that they have learned over many years spent researching and studying antique marks. What few people are aware of is that it's not just the name of the company such as moorcroft, rookwood, worcester or doulton that may be there, but also a number of other things used by the company and placed in or around the mark itself.

Dating an antique is a little like detective work. The company name itself only gives the appraiser a rough timeline of when the company was known to operate. Other factors such as the colour of the mark, how it's applied or the numbered codes within the design can often date a piece to the exact year it was produced and tell you where or who the specific artist was.

Famous companies such as Wedgwood, Meissen, Doulton, Minton, Derby and Worcester all use a variety of numerical or symbol codes which can, with just a little knowledge and analysis, give you the exact date of production.

Silver hallmarks, pewter touch marks, signatures on bronzes, foundry marks and engraved signatures on glass can all help to point you in the right direction.

However, few collectors, buyers or sellers have the ability to memorise every mark, signature or number code used on antiques.

even the experts that deal in antiques for a living, still need good sources of information to refer too.

But, even without refering to a list of makers antique marks there are a few pointers that you can copy or commit to memory to help you date antiques.

However, unfortunately most design registration marks are illegible

the marks were often stamped irregularly into ceramics or metalware and printed on top of the glaze, and most have either not taken properly or have worn over time and are difficult to read. This is probably why the kite mark was changed to a serial number in 1884.

The examples below demonstrate just how difficult it can be to determine the characters in each corner.

On the 1st January 1884, the whole system changed, and all registered designs after that date were allocated a sequential number instead of a kite mark.

The number is usually prefixed with, Rd. No. or Registered Number

1884 to 1899	1900 to 1909	1910 to 1929	1930 to 1949	1950 to 1965
1884 - 1 1885 - 19756 1886 - 40480 1887 - 64520 1888 - 90483 1889 - 116648 1890 - 141273 1891 - 163767 1892 - 185713 1893 - 205240 1894 - 224720 1895 - 246975 1896 - 268392 1897 - 291241 1898 - 311658 1899 - 331707	1900 - 351202 1901 - 368154 1902 - 385180 1903 - 403200 1904 - 424400 1905 - 447800 1906 - 471860 1907 - 493900 1908 - 518640 1909 - 535170	1910 - 552000 1911 - 574817 1912 - 594195 1913 - 612431 1914 - 630190 1915 - 644935 1916 - 653521 1917 - 658988 1918 - 662872 1919 - 666128 1920 - 673750 1921 - 680147 1922 - 687144 1923 - 694999 1924 - 702671 1925 - 710165 1926 - 718057 1927 - 726330 1928 - 734370 1929 - 742725	1930 - 751160 1931 - 760583 1932 - 769670 1933 - 779292 1934 - 789019 1935 - 799097 1936 - 808794 1937 - 817293 1938 - 825231 1939 - 832610 1940 - 837520 1941 - 838590 1942 - 839230 1943 - 839980 1944 - 841040 1945 - 842670 1946 - 845550 1947 - 849730 1948 - 853260 1949 - 856999	1950 - 860854 1951 - 863970 1952 - 866280 1953 - 869300 1954 - 872531 1955 - 876067 1956 - 879282 1957 - 882949 1958 - 887079 1959 - 891665 1960 - 895000 1961 - 899914 1962 - 904638 1963 - 909364 1964 - 914536 1965 - 919607