All About Antique China,
Fine China and Modern China Manufacturers

The Complete Antique China, Fine China and Modern China Manufacturers Free Online Guide (A to Z)

antique china guide a to z

"China tableware" and ornamental decorative ware is a fascinating topic and if you need a quick but comprehensive background on a particular fine china maker, you will enjoy this section. You will find below the quick reference A to Z Guide to all the notable or important china producers whether vintage china, fine china or more modern china makers in UK, US or Europe - completely free and easily accessible.

Shortcut to Visitor Queries and Comments section pottery marks and porcelain marks


This Free Online A to Z Guide To Antique China and Fine China Makers is more about the story and history of the china makers than identifying their individual pottery marks. If you need to identify a particular pottery mark or china marks you need to buy a specialist encyclopedia of ceramic or porcelain marks or alternatively, nowadays you can go to a site such as Marks4Ceramics who offer a very reasonably priced service (access to their vast online database for a small fee).



When and How To Use This Antique China And Fine China Guide


antique china guide

Valuing Your Antique China and Fine Pottery

Scroll down to the free A to Z Guide To Antique China and Fine China Makers, and you will see each listing includes an up-to-the-minute link to an online auction valuation for each maker.

Always start your valuation search here whether selling, buying or just looking (use the simple new bookmarking systems Bookmark and Share).

For example, this guide is a great reference point for collectors or those who have inherited antique china tea sets or fine china dinnerware, and want to know more about the makers and the prices their wares fetch.


If you are struggling to identify a pottery mark, use the online china marks service mentioned above.

Conversely, if you are collector of, say, Staffordshire china, Wedgwood china, Royal Doulton china, European porcelain china or English china and want to regularly check out the online market with just one click, you are in the right place.

Just keep this site bookmarked Bookmark and Share and use the links to the live auctions. Not only is it quicker than using the auction sites own navigation, my links use specially coded searches to find bargain items you might otherwise miss. The online auction search facilities leave a lot to be desired - so I have done some engineering to put the odds back in your favor.


If want to get more technical and understand how the online auction price value search works, read this bit - otherwise skip it:

Say, for example, you want to check out 'Paragon china ware' it would be totally impossible for you to use the online auction's own search function and find all the relevant Paragon items with one click.

If you put in 'Paragon china ware' for example, into the search box, you would get only a fraction of the items on offer. This is because the sellers use all sorts of different descriptions in their titles. The only way to get ALL the Paragon china items is to browse down through many layers (and many clicks) to the specialist section OR put many different searches in using several keyword phrases.

In order to get ALL the Paragon items on offer you would need to put the single word "Paragon" into their search box, then fiddle with the category drop down box to find the appropriate category (not a good use of time) - and then there are sellers who place their items in the wrong category! If you didn't fiddle with the category drop-down box, you would certainly get all the Paragon china items, but unfortunately, you would also get all the other many hundreds of items also branded as Paragon.

With my price guide online auction value links, you get almost all the irrelevant items automatically coded out. One or two slip through the net, but not many.

Click here to see how this Paragon China example works.

The point is, you are guaranteed to get all the relevant items you are looking for whether your interest is English china, European porcelain china, Wedgwood china, Royal Doulton china, Staffordshire china or any other famous potters firm.

Using my links will save you time and effort.


Follow The Simple Three-Tier Antique China Guide Structure

antique china and fine china guide

Scroll below to the 'catch all' A - Z list.

It lists in alphabetical order all notable china manufacturers in the UK, US and Europe including links to the two separate guides on bone china ('Antique Bone China' and 'Modern Bone China Manufacturers').



Therefore all the china makers (and "famous potters") are organized into only three sections.

For example, if the china producer is mainly known for producing high quality antique bone china, their entry will be listed in the separate antique bone china section but a convenient link from here will take you directly to the appropriate entry.

Within this general section you will find all the written entries for those antique china producers and potteries not particularly known for bone china - for example most of the famous European porcelain makers and the 'Ironstone' producers.


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Further Notes On Antique China Makers and Fine China Producers

As a general rule, people think of bone china being an English type of ware, which in the main it is. However, there are notable exceptions like Knowles Taylor Knowles of Ohio which won many awards for their fine bone china before their untimely demise and European makers Rosenthal and Villeroy & Bosch who both have significant bone china ware in their modern collections.

The written entries for these bone china makers are therefore in the antique bone china section, but you will find a convenient link to the entry in this hub section which includes links to all notable makers whether antique china dinnerware producers, modern fine china tableware firms or bone china specialists.


antique china guide
My aim is to include all of the notable makers, many of whom are household names, but some of which no longer are.

Note: There are many hundreds of small regional makers who are not included.

The beauty of this website is it is interactive.


This Site Loves Your Input

In other words, if you think a firm should be included and you give a good enough reason for it to be included - it will be.

For example, an avid collector of Fosters 'Honeycomb' Potteries of Redruth, Cornwall, England wrote in on the form below to tell us about her collection of Honeycomb ware. I had never heard of them.

When I looked the firm up in my heavy encyclopedias and tomes I could not find any listing there either. Debbie assured me there was a very active market online in the auctions, and Fosters was very sought after. When I checked sure enough, she was right. So Fosters got included.

Go here to the bottom of the page to read Debbie's contribution or make a contribution or ask a question yourself


Do Not Be Backwards In Coming Forwards

To tell me about my terrible omissions, please take a couple of seconds to fill in the form below. You can upload a picture too. Just follow the simple online instructions. Follow Debbie's example, she is a total non-techie. I really welcome your input and appreciate your time.

I also welcome your stories, so if you want to be a published online author, just write an article about your experiences with antique china - your inheritance, your collection etc, etc and use the simple form below to upload it online.


Last Word On Pottery Marks

pottery marks
Although pottery marks are fascinating to study, as I said before, the subject is too large to include online in this section.

Once you list one pottery mark, where do you stop? There are literally thousands of ceramic and porcelain marks - all of them famous potters in their own regions.

Having said that, this site sets its stall out to be friendly and above all interactive, so if you have a china mark or china marks you want to identify, one of the more obscure English china marks for example, or other pottery markings, we will endeavor to help - provided you have exhausted all other avenues first to no avail (see above link to pottery mark specialist database).


Enjoy This Site

antique china history guide
As I said before, fine china is an intriguing area - it draws you in.

I started my interest from my dealings with the great famous name UK china manufacturers like Royal Worcester, Wedgwood china, Coalport and Royal Doulton China and working with them on their decorative figurine collections. Maybe I see it more from an artist point of view. Hopefully, this site caters for all points of view.


From China tea sets to china dinnerware, from English china to famous potters, from the Staffordshire Potteries to European porcelain china - its all here.

ENJOY!


Using This A to Z Guide To Antique China, Fine China and Modern China Manufacturers:

CONTINUE ON TO . . . . .

China Manufacturers - A to Z Complete Listing

Note:

When I find a story especially interesting the development of a company, I tend to write a separate page (particularly if the company is not so well written about online. For example there are individual pages on the following makers:

Churchill Dinnerware

 Dansk Tableware

Franciscan Pottery

 Haviland Dinnerware

 Johnson Brothers China

 Moorcroft Vases

 Portmeirion Tableware

 Rosenthal Dinnerware

 Royal Stanley

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