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From 1842-1883 English items carried a diamond shaped mark which could be read to decipher the actual day a pattern was registered.
After 1884 the registry went to a single number series such as Rd. No. 12342, which can be used to determine the pattern registration date to within approximately one year.
Registration numbers greater than 360,000 indicate 20th century manufacture.

Registration Mark

The word Limited or an abbreviation like Ld. or Ltd. in the pottery firm's name indicates a date after 1860 and was not generally used until the 1880's.

Any piece having the word Trade Mark was manufactured after the Trade Mark Act of 1862 and the words generally denote manufacture after 1875.

The word England may appear on an item after 1891 to comply with the Mckinley Tariff Act.

Made In England indicates 20th Century origins.

Unmarked items are difficult to trace in terms of their origin.
The type of body, glaze, styling and decorating technique will be your best clues to identifiying an unmarked piece of pottery.
Sometimes the mark was a commonly used device such as the anchor or royal arms.

Modern Ware

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Have you ever come up with a good idea while working with your pottery or ceramics and thought that you would like to share it with others? You have? Well, why not send it to us and we will add it to the tips page for all to see.

There are signs that pottery and ceramics are losing appeal for a younger generation. There are pottery and ceramic departments closing in teaching institutions throughout the country. The common understanding is that younger students are reluctant to commit themselves to the intensive study required to master pottery and ceramics. Why spend three years to learn just one art form when you can pick up PhotoShop in less than a week? Pottery wheels lie idle as students flock to the computer labs. With all the stressful actions in the world today, releasing that stress through pottery and ceramics would be very beneficial to ones well being.