CHINA
AND
POTTERY
MARKS
15 EAST 56th STREET
NEW YORK
Traditions and Old China
Copyright, 1920, Gilman Collamore & Company, Inc.
Traditions and Old China
From early days when the ancients showed their appreciation of fine pottery and old glassware by burying “these most esteemed possessions” with the dead, fine china has been synonymous with culture and breeding. With our ancestors for generations we share the tradition that, just as first editions give prestige to one’s book shelves, old china or the finest work of the modern kilns express readily that good taste and discrimination that is characteristic of our old families.
A wealth of association and historic data is to be acquired from the study of the “fabrique marks” and periods of the master craftsmen. If in America there was a general tendency toward acquiring, even a smattering, of this knowledge, there would be less of these drawing-room atrocities which Arthur Hayden in his “Chats on English Earthenware” points out, “To have a modern set of vases adorning a Georgian cabinet is like putting new wine in old bottles.”
For the convenience of the seasoned collector, as well as the beginner, in this book is a representative list of better known marks by which china can be identified. While it is not possible to include a complete list, particularly those of extremely rare specimens, those compiled have particular reference to the marks of English china which is greatly in demand by collectors. These will suffice to enable the reader to identify pieces whenever encountered.
The signatures or mark which the master craftsmen in earth or clay signed their products, just as a painter signs his work, were often specially designed devices of various kinds, often a combination of initials and dates. Each “fabrique mark” stands for a certain potter’s art just as the modern trade-mark.
Beginning more than a half century ago in the old La Farge House in lower Broadway (where John La Farge was born) the house of Gilman Collamore and Company has done much to develop an appreciation of fine china in America. It was one of the first houses to bring over from England and France china, both modern and old, for its American clients. At this time many fine specimens of old china are on view as well as complete stocks from the modern English and Continental manufacture.
GILMAN COLLAMORE & COMPANY, Inc.
15 East 56th Street
New York
Germany and Austria
Russia and Poland
 | KORZEC |
| Established about 1803. Hard paste. | |
 | Moscow |
| Established in 1787. Hard paste. | |
 | ST. PETERSBURG |
| Mark in blue. Hard paste. | |
 | ST. PETERSBURG |
| Mark of Empress Catherine II. 1762 to 1796. Mark in blue. Hard paste. | |
 | ST. PETERSBURG |
| Monogram of Nicholas I. 1825 to 1855. | |
 | ST. PETERSBURG |
| Established 1744. Mark in blue. |
Denmark
 | COPENHAGEN |
| Established in 1772. Mark in blue. Hard paste. |
Holland and Belgium
Switzerland
 | NYON |
| Established in 1790. Hard paste. | |
 | ZURICH |
| Established about 1759. Mark in blue. Hard paste. |
Italy and Spain
England
France
Sevres
| Established at Vincennes in 1740. |
| Removed from there to Sevres in 1756. |
| King Louis XV. became sole proprietor in 1760. |
| Soft paste was made until 1805. Since then only hard paste. |
The Sevres Marks
Unknown Marks
Chronological Table
Used in the Manufactory of Sevres
| A | (Vincennes) | 1753 |
| B | (ditto) | 1754 |
| C | (ditto) | 1755 |
| D | 1756 | |
| E | 1757 | |
| F | 1758 | |
| G | 1759 | |
| H | 1760 | |
| I | 1761 | |
| J | 1762 | |
| K | 1763 | |
| L | 1764 | |
| M | 1765 | |
| N | 1766 | |
| O | 1767 | |
| P | 1768 | |
| Q | [1]1769 | |
| R | 1770 | |
| S | 1771 | |
| T | 1772 | |
| U | 1773 | |
| V | 1774 | |
| X | 1775 | |
| Y | 1776 | |
| Z | 1777 | |
| AA | 1778 | |
| BB | 1779 | |
| CC | 1780 | |
| DD | 1781 | |
| EE | 1782 | |
| FF | 1783 | |
| GG | 1784 | |
| HH | 1785 | |
| II | 1786 | |
| JJ | 1787 | |
| KK | 1788 | |
| LL | 1789 | |
| MM | 1790 | |
| NN | 1791 | |
| OO | 1792 | |
| PP | 1793 | |
| 1794 | ||
| RR | 1795 |
| Year | IX | 1801 | T9 | ||
| " | X | 1802 | X | ||
| " | XI | 1803 | 11 | ||
| " | XII | 1804 | |||
| " | XIII | 1805 | |||
| " | XIV | 1806 |
| 1807 | 7 | |||
| 1808 | 8 | |||
| 1809 | 9 | |||
| 1810 | 10 | |||
| 1811 | (onze) | o.z. | ||
| 1812 | (douze) | d.z. | ||
| 1813 | (treize) | t.z. | ||
| 1814 | (quatorze) | q.z. | ||
| 1815 | (quinze) | q.n. | ||
| 1816 | (seize) | s.z. | ||
| 1817 | (dix sept) | d.s. | ||
From this date the year is expressed by the last two figures only.—thus, 18 for 1818, etc.,—up to the present time.
Footnote:
[1] This comet was sometimes substituted for the ordinary mark of the letter Q.
