Date Ciphers and Factory Marks. In this section I have included a selection of factory marks for the period 1927 onwards. This website deals only with ware from the Osmaston Road Works. It should be appreciated the subject of date ciphers and factory marks in respect of Royal Crown Derby is a very complex one. Anyone requiring detailed information on this topic is advised to read the excellent paper by Ian Harding in Journal 6 of the Derby Porcelain international Society 2009. Fortuitously I have only needed to concentrate on a 34 year period. I have endeavoured to give sufficient information to give a reasonably accurate date of manufacture. Factory Marks Prior to 1927 For the purpose of elimination, below is a selection of factory marks for the period prior to 1927, dated in accordance with date ciphers set out in the subsequent tables. The first image shows a back stamp used from 1877-1890. The diamond registration mark dates the piece to 1881. There are however some exceptions. Anomalous Factory Marks Occasional anomalies turn up. Above is a coffee set. All pieces are marked A416, a design first entered into the pattern book in the 1930's. Most of the pieces have the factory mark for 1940. It seems most likely that pieces in storage were used long after they were originally potted, but further research is required. Factory Marks on Reproduced Pieces Royal Crown Derby® provided a replacement service during most of the period, so earlier patterns were reproduced so as to complete a set where a piece had been broken, but with an up-to-date factory mark. The piece in the image above in pattern 4550 designed well before 1927 with date cipher for 1964 possibly 1965 is perhaps an example of this. The dots in the 1932-35 ciphers appear to have been placed somewhat randomly which makes it difficult to date a piece with a downward arrow cipher with total confidence. Date Ciphers 1938 Onward:- From 1938 Roman Numerals were used to indicate the year of manufacture and these are set out below. Unfortunately not all pieces are marked with a cipher. The patterns were listed in the pattern books chronologically, so it is possible to give a date range, especially where the date the pattern was first produced is known from other records - e. It is also hoped to give an approximate date when the production of a pattern ended in due course from a study of images available on internet auction sites. The first image above shows a factory mark from the King Street works, the production of which is not included in this site. However the King Street Factory was taken over in 1935, and there would have been a period during which both factory mark styles were used. The second image shows an Osmaston Road factory mark on a coffee cup and saucer also in pattern number A67. Factory Marks without a date cipher This is an approximate guide but it aims to give a range of years over which a particular mark is known to have been used The first two factory marks are scratched through. Other marks indicating seconds quality include I. As much of the output up to, during and in the first seven years after the war was produced for export, only seconds quality or undecorated surrey shape ware was available to purchase in the UK. Unfortunately a piece could have been potted and then stored away for years before actually being decorated. They were used somewhat sporadically during the period under question, and then on flat ware but not on hollow ware i. The impressed marks are often difficult to read, being underglaze, and can therefore be rather misleading. Wartime Period Factory Marks The green factory mark above appears on ware produced during the 1939-45 wartime period. I have also have a dinner plate in the silver shape with pattern A1120 Pinxton Roses. Again there is no date cipher but a similar mark appears on the limited edition Coronation loving cups and trays dated 1953, so it was probably used between 1942-53. Many of the items in the A1018 - A1059 pattern range have been acquired from the US and were most probably intended for export, as the Board of Trade restrictions on production for the home market were not lifted until 1952. Factory Marks - UK Retailers Plate in the Dragon pattern 9684 with date cipher for 1928. In 1940 Lawleys began acquiring potteries and by 1948 The Lawley Group owned 7 potteries and three subsidiaries. It eventually acquired Royal Crown Derby in 1963, with change of name to Allied English Potteries in 1964. There would have been some reluctance to include retailers' information under the factory mark - This involved the expense of producing engraved copper sheets to produce a totally underglaze mark which would not have been justified for small orders. Early marks during the period were printed, and these are occasionally smudged as the pieces were worked on by the enamellers before firing. Latterly marks appear to have been applied as lithos with initially the pattern number being painted or printed on separately. In such cases the date cipher may be missing or added separately, sometimes well away from the mark. It should be appreciated that inevitably mistakes were made. I also have a number of examples where a piece has been marked with an incorrect pattern number. With a multiplicity of ground colours in use, of which some at first glance seem quite similar , and with discrepancies with regard to allocation of pattern numbers, it is hardly surprising that errors occurred. Miscellaneous Factory Marks The factory marks to the demitasse cups are sometimes divided to fit. Spoons and Forks and other smaller items are generally not marked although there are rare cases where the ceramic handles are marked on the reverse. Unfortunately the pattern numbers are not always as readily legible as the example given for A173 above and are often misread as a consequence! The two dots underneath are the identification mark for gilder Betty Bailey Later Betty Wherry. Certain fancy items, especially vases, are marked with both a pattern and shape number e. Other base markings include titles e. Dean, Price, Hague and Birbeck Plates etc. I hope to produce a list of marks as more information is made available - see the blog page on Constance Clark - but if anyone can supply information they would care to share then it will make it possible to attribute pieces to specific individuals and give them full credit for their work. One note of caution. The gilders and enamellers marks were sometimes passed on to new staff and therefore reused. They therefore need to be checked against the dates during which a gilder or enameller is known to have actually worked at the factory.
