This is part 2 of my Crown Ducal backstamp styles research and covers the early 1930s and more recently for some styles. If you missed part 1, click on this link:
Richardsons introduced several new tableware shapes during the early 1930s, many with their own backstamps. That is why the date range in the title is ambiguous. Backstamps specific to certain shapes, (such as Gainsborough, Florentine, Premier and Queen Anne), will have been created in the 1930's and then developed until 1950s, 60s and 70s, whereas other shapes were given generic marks depending on when they were manufactured. So my objective here is to look mainly at the backstamps of the 1930's until before World War 2, but some, (relating to specific shapes) , may represent manufacturing times until the company ceased trading in 1974.
I need to emphasise that this is all a work in progress. The content of this post is all based on observation and inference. I have not discovered any documents of the period that record backstamp styles.
As in part 1, I have numbered the backstamp styles for my own cataloguing purposes and they do not reference the work of anyone else. The type numbers are based on age, style and shape ranges so there is no particular structure or significance to their order. Dates are rough guides only.
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| Left, type 109 and right, type 110 |
As a reminder of what the main backstamps in use were during 1929 the two most commonly found are: type 109 for high gloss glaze lustre ware and type 110 for virtually everything else, tableware and fancies.
Registration Numbers
Before I start with more backstamps, I think it is important to say something about the registration numbers that are often on the base of Crown Ducal items as they are usually an integral part of the backstamp design. These numbers show that the owner of the original design had it registered with the, Board of Trade to try and prevent the copying of successful styles by competitors. The numbers were assigned sequentially and can therefore be dated. The date of the registration number is the date of when the design was registered NOT when the item was made or in most cases even when the pattern was designed. The item would have been made after that date, but not simply anytime after that date.
The oldest and youngest possible manufacturing date for an item depends on the production period for the pattern. For Crown Ducal art pottery and tableware this information is not known with much accuracy, although it is possible to make an educated guess based on design dates, backstamp styles and advertising material of the period. (That perhaps, will be the subject of another post once I understand it better myself!).
Design dates are best determined from the Crown Ducal pattern number. There is a java applet which calculates Crown Ducal design dates for pattern numbers between 2681 and 6353 here:
I wrote this some time ago and it is not particularly accurate, but it gives a reasonable estimate for most pattern numbers within that range used for Charlotte Rhead designs, or any Crown Ducal pattern within that range.
If you would like to know the date of a registration number, it can be calculated from the information on this website:
If you would like to see the original documents of what these registration numbers refer to then you will need to visit The National Archives at Kew, (these documents are not available online):
Registration numbers do not really serve any useful purpose, except to help identify a pattern or shape range. But if you feel compelled to use the registration number for any purpose you will need to know what the number is registering and with regard to Crown Ducal it can be one of two things:
- The TABLEWARE SHAPE range.
- The actual PATTERN on the ware.
Here is list of Crown Ducal registration numbers. There may be more than this, but these are the ones I know of.
A consecutive series of six numbers assigned to the Carnival print and enamel design by Norman Keats. The version illustrated in the documents is the matt black ground version with blue interior, but the same numbers can appear on the orange lustre versions. I am assuming that the registration is for the lantern pattern, not the shapes so it seems rather strange why several numbers were needed. There were a lot more shapes produced with this design than the six illustrated. Perhaps each number refers to the arrangement of the pattern as well as the pattern itself. That's a project for collectors of the Carnival pattern!
706196 = PATTERN CARNIVAL on a vase (Jun 1924)
706197 = PATTERN CARNIVAL on a bulb bowl (Jun1924)
706198 = PATTERN CARNIVAL on a rose bowl (Jun1924)
706199 = PATTERN CARNIVAL on a flower pot (Jun1924)
706200 = PATTERN CARNIVAL on a coffee set items (Jun1924)
706201 = PATTERN CARNIVAL on a ewer and basin (Jun1924)
Richardsons must have learnt a lesson after the registration of Carnival because the Red Tree pattern only gets two numbers. Although I still do not understand why more than one number is needed.
711270 = PATTERN 1211 RED TREE on dinner set items (Feb1925)
711271 = PATTERN 1211 RED TREE on tea set items (Feb1925)
732597 = TABLEWARE SHAPE REGENT (Oct1927)
742838 = PATTERNS 1698 & 1699 (Jan1929)
749657 = TABLEWARE SHAPE GAINSBOROUGH (Oct1929)
752078 = PATTERN LONDON CRIES (Feb1930)
762054 = PATTERN 1915 RED POPPY (Feb1931)
762055 = TABLEWARE SHAPE PREMIER (Feb1931)
778200 = PATTERN 2546 MEADOWSWEET (Nov 1932)
778201 = PATTERN 2545 HAPPY DAYS (Nov 1932)
780964 = PATTERNS 2649 SUNBURST (Mar 1933)
780965 = PATTERNS 2633 ROSEMARY, (& 2534 & 2635?) (Mar 1933)
780966 = TABLEWARE SHAPE VICTORY (Mar 1933) (780960 was applied to the ware!)
784158 = TABLEWARE SHAPE COTSWOLD (Jul 1933)
796148 = TABLEWARE SHAPE QUEEN ANNE (Sep 1934)
813982 = EDWARD VII SHORT CORONATION MUG
813983 = EDWARD VII TALL CORONATION MUG
Returning to the subject of backstamps
Gainsborough
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| Type 201 |
The first new backstamp style comes with the arrival of the Gainsborough shape for tableware. The design registration number for Gainsborough is 749657 which dates to the autumn of 1929 and this correlates well with when publicity starts to appear for the shape in the Pottery Gazette. I have found five backstamps specific to Gainsborough, and there is one that I am reasonably confident was used from 1929 and that I have named type 201. The earliest known pattern number for a Gainsborough design, (that I know of), is 1760 which is the design where the bramble embossment is overlain with a lithograph of the same pattern to colour it in autumnal shades of brown.
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| Type 202 |
There is a very similar style, (type 202), with the words U.S.A. PATENT APPLIED FOR instead of RD NO 749657. I presume that the company was encouraged by Gainsborough sales in the USA and modified the backstamp for items to be sold in that market. The rest of the script and crown look very similar and the patterns that it is seen on include most of the early ones from 1929/1930, so I am guessing it was created soon after the original style, but I do not have any particular evidence to support this.
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| Type 203 |
The third style, (type 203), has similar text to the original but with the insertion of “Made in” to precede “
England”. I believe this is a later version because the text font is closer to that used for the companys other backstamps of the 1930s and it is found particularly on later Gainsborough designs that were not introduced until much later in the 1930s. There is also a version in the same text style as type 203 but without the words "Made in", (ie similar to type 201 but less crisp text). This is type 204 and may possibly have been created to put on smaller shapes like the bottom of teas and coffee cups, or, was a precursor to type 203.
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| Type 205 |
This Gainsborough backstamp is not only unique to the shape style but also the pattern series named "Rural England". It looks similar to type 201 with the addition of the name Rural England above and a small version of the print design on the front with its name of the house or village below. The prints for the Rural England series themselves were used by Crown Ducal on many of their tableware ranges from the 1930s possibly until the 1960s. I believe the Gainsborough Rural England series with this backstamp style are from the early 1930s, but there is uncertainty, so this needs more research.
Cries of London
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| Type 211 |
A backstamp style specific to one lithograph frieze design for a range of tableware items including a teapot and stand, biscuit barrel, jug, butter dish and octagonal bowl. The range was called “Cries of London” and the backstamp includes the registration number. 752078 which would date the design to early 1930. It is unknown for how long the pattern remained in production or the pattern number that was used. It is highly likely that the lithograph for the Cries of London pattern was re-used throughout the 1930s and into the 40s and 50s but these later productions may not have used this original backstamp.
Florentine
The earliest pattern number known on the Florentine shape is 1954 which would date the introduction of the range to early 1930, quite soon after Gainsborough. So it is not surprising that the backstamp styles are similar, although I have yet to see a registration number for Florentine, or perhaps it was never given one.
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| Type 222 |
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| Type 223 |
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| Type 224 |
As for Gainsborough I believe the fine script version with the USA PATENT APPLIED FOR text is the earliest version and probably for the USA market. Type 224 is not often seen, it may be the precursor to type 223 or originally made for smaller items. Generally though, type 223 is the one most likely to be found. The Florentine shape remained in production well into the 1960s and so the backstamp alone is not going to be much use in dating an item.
Premier
The Premier shape, also known as "Old Hall Ivory Ware", has the registration number 762055 and this dates the shape design to the spring of 1931. You will find a wide variety of backstamp styles on this shape and I cannot fathom the rules of how they were used. Type 231 is used in the beginning for the earliest productions but soon after that you find Types 110, 241, 242 and 245 used, (except for specific designs like Bristol). I have made up a story that goes like this. The company creates a new shape, Premier, and at the time they are doing well in the USA market selling Gainsborough and Florentine ware. Someone has the idea to create a separate brand "Old Hall Ivory Ware" to appeal to the fashion in the USA market. Backstamps styles are created, the range sells well. Within that range the Bristol pattern is enormously popular, it get its own version of the backstamp, as does the Countryside series, (see Rural England series under Gainsborough). It is realised that the company is marketing their ware without the company name on it, especially in the home market so items get marked with existing backstamps such as type 110. Soon after that it is regarded as not acceptable to make a stamp with just "England" on it, it has to say "Made in England". Unlike other shape ranges they do not make a new version of Old Hall backstamps, but use another more general style for most patterns and revamp the style for Bristol. It could all be nonsense! One day someone will make sense of it all!
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| Type 231 |
Type 231 is the original style probably used for the first couple of years 1931-1932.
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| Type 232 |
Type 232 was used specifically for the Countryside series.
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| Type 233 |
Type 233 is believed to be the earliest Bristol style from 1931-1932.
Type 235 is the most commonly found on Bristol items and is believed to have used through most of the 30s, 40s and possibly early 50s.
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| Type 237 |
Type 237 is for later Bristol production, probably from late 50's 60s or even 70s.
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| Type 239 |
Because the A.G.R is absent, this style, type 239, may represent production after the company was taken over in 1974.
I have not spent much time on studying Bristol marks so there are bound to be corrections necessary. Documenting the sequence of backstamp styles for Bristol would be a worthwhile exercise as the pattern was in production for such a large part of Crown Ducal history from 1931 until 1974. The long production period is confirmed by newspaper advertisements from 1974 still promoting Bristol pattern dinner services The backstamp without A.G.R in the mark suggesting that the pattern might still have been in production after Richardsons had ceased to exist as a separate company lends additional support.
USA Commemoratives
I am going to group these together. I do not have much knowledge of these patterns as they are obviously rare in the UK and there is no publicity material for them in the UK either. The Washington bicentenary must date to 1932 and I believe the Colonial Times range does as well. Probably the others are from the 1930s too. They are all based on the single printed colour pictorial style of design and can usually be found in different colours typically blue, pink and mulberry, (and more rarely green).
The most commonly found are The Washington Bicentenary, Colonial Times and Scenes of Old New Orleans. Other, rarer designs are known to exist that were especially commissioned by towns or businesses in the USA usually to promote their historical interest.
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| Type 341 |
A period of change
It is now time to take a break from the backstamp styles specific to shapes or pattern ranges. During 1929, the range of styles was fairly simple, some of the lustre ware had type 109, virtually everything else had type 110 unless you had your hands on an item of Spectria Flambe which had its own style. Then within a period of less than two years Richardsons successfully introduces three new shapes, Gainsborough, Florentine and Premier with their own backstamps. I think it is safe to assume that fancies and earlier tableware ranges, (Regent, Ionic and Gem), continued to use the existing styles, but a change happens sometime towards the end of 1932 or the beginning of 1933.
This is close to the time that Charlotte Rhead starts working for the company, but that is probably just a coincidence. There are other big events taking place, a new managing director, purchase of the Britannia Pottery and the introduction of the Victory shape to name a few.
The change is recorded by the appearance of a new backstamp that has a very short period of use. It is found on patterns particularly with numbers in the 2350-2550 range. It is also seen of course on older patterns with long production runs such as Red Tree (1211) and Pinafore (2107). Popular patterns from the range 2350-2650 can be found with backstamps type 110, 241 and 242, but the key is that type 241 occurs in that small cluster of pattern numbers and is not restricted to a particular shape range.
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| Type 241 |
Patterns you are most likely to find with type 241 are the printed Crocus and Snowdrops (2361 & 2362), block coloured fancies (2373 and several others), freehand floral (2398), Happy Days (2545) and freehand floral (2628).
The youngest designs which have type 110 come from the same pattern number range but are more common and so extend to a slightly younger date. The youngest seen are the freehand floral patterns 2711 and 2745 on the Victory shape. Both patterns have been seen where items in the same set are marked with types 110 and 242. This will because of whatever lag there is in collating sets of tableware after the manufacturing, distribution and warehousing processes. I doubt it will ever be possible to determine a precise cutoff when one backstamp gets replaced by another.
It should be noted that type 110 had a second life to mark small and awkward shapes where there was no room for the newer, larger marks until well into the mid 1930s. So if you come across a Charlotte Rhead table lamp or condiment set with type 110, this is normal. It does not mean that Charlotte was working at the factory in the 20s or that you have a fake item.
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| Type 242 |
Type 242 becomes the standard style for most ware with the exception of those shapes that have their own unique marks, (Gainsborough, Florentine and Queen Anne, and the early period for Premier/Old Hall). Victory and Cotswold items have the same mark but usually with the addition of the appropriate registration number.
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| Type 245 |
Type 245 takes over from 242 in early 1935 and becomes one of the most commonly found styles known to collectors of Charlotte Rhead fancies from her peak production period from 1935 to 1938. In general, type 245 stops being used in 1939, although there are some, as yet, unexplained exceptions to this rule.
Victory
The Victory shape was introduced early in 1933, it has the registration number 780960 on the base. (Although the documents at Kew record the design as No 760966). Apart from some very early examples with type 110, most of the first couple of years production have type 243, or sometimes there is no registration number, type 242. Then around 1935 the words "Made in" get added to form type 246. As a general rule, type 246 stops being used sometime around 1939.
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| Type 243 |
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| Type 246 |
Cotswold
The Cotswold shape, similar to Victory but moulded with the ribbed texture of a hand thrown pot, is also introduced in 1933. It has the registration number 784158. Type 244 is found on early items 1933 -1935 and type 247 on items made after 1935. As a general rule, type 247 stops being used sometime around 1939.
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| Type 244 |
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| Type 247 |
So, I hear you ask, why do some Charlotte Rhead pots have the Cotswold registration number and others do not? On my rhead-crownducal.info website I alluded to a possible reason being something to do with items for export. I do not think this is a valid explanation now. It is much more likely to have something to do with the Cotswold shape itself. During the early years, around 1933-1935, most of Charlottes tableware, and the large bowls and platters for the USA market were the Cotswold shape and so would have been given the registration number. Also, many of the vase and bowl shapes from this period had the same ribbed effect, (129, 133, 145, 148, 164 and 168 to mention a few), so you could say they were Cotswold shape too. But the application of the registration number to fancies was far less rigorous than for tableware. I believe that shape 192 is the highest shape number seen with the Cotswold registration number and this makes sense because the new shapes that were introduced in 1935/6 like 198, 199, 207, 209 do not have the Cotswold ribbed effect. It think it would have been too much bother to apply different backstamps to the fancies depending on their shape number and therefore they stopped using the registration number for all fancies; but the company continued to use it for Cotswold tableware.
Queen Anne
A shape that may also be referred to as "Adaptation of Early English" as that is what appears on the backstamp. A fluted shape for tableware that is not very common in the UK. It has the registration number 796148 which dates the shape to the summer of 1934. I have recorded five backstamp styles on Queen Anne tableware, one is a variation of a standard 1930's mark but because it has the Queen Anne registration number it should be recorded here. There is not really a date order except date type 251 precedes those with registration numbers and type 255 is quite young possibly late 50s at the earliest with the mention of dishwasher safe ceramic prints and glazes.
Types 254 and 255 are specific to the Ivy pattern, another single print colour design that was particularly popular in the USA. Sometimes the pattern gets named Joy, I understand the script style is difficult to read - but trust me, the pattern is named Ivy in the Crown Ducal pattern books. The pattern books do record the design numbers for each colour, blue-green (4012), pink (4013), Old English blue (4014), grey (4035), Cobalt blue with gold edge (4189). These designs all date to the winter of 1934/35 but they were in production certainly until the mid 1960s, possibly later.
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| Type 251 |
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| Type 252 |
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| Type 253 |
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| Type 254 |
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| Type 255 |
Snow Glaze
Tableware patterns that used the snow glaze usually have their own backstamp style, particularly the earliest productions from 1936-1938. This is type 261.
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| Type 261 |
That is enough for now! Part 3 will cover another period of change around 1938-1939, and then the restrictions on decorated pottery, (and their markings), are implemented in 1941-1942 forcing more changes. The rules are relaxed in 1952, allowing new base marks, but despite 1952 to 1974 being the youngest period in the Crown Ducal history it is also the least documented so the uncertainties are just as great.
