All About Antique China,
Fine China (and Modern China Manufacturers)

This is the Complete Antique China, Fine China (and Modern China Manufacturers) free online guide (A to Z listing).

Ever wanted to get a quick grasp of the what, where, when & how of fine china makers? - without having to plough through pages of unnecessary waffle? You are in luck, these listings are brief, accurate, and to the point. Welcome to my 'quick connoisseur' training school (impress your friends, you will get so deeply into this site, they may have to send out a search party!).



"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, or need to know values, you will enjoy the A to Z manufacturers listings.

As well as information on how to get a handle on the value of your antiques by doing your own research and digging, there is also an insight into the online resources which I find the most helpful personally in valuing antiques.

First, for those of you in a hurry, here is a quick link direct to the A to Z guide to the history of the world's leading fine china makers in UK, Europe and USA...

.....but before you go there, I recommend you have a glance at the page below to understand how to get the best out of this site (now over 2000 pages of information). You may also want to use the in-house search function (see top right).


HOW I MADE MONEY FROM BITS & BOBS OF OLD CHINA

antique china values
.....more




OK, here goes... I cover the main well known makers in the A to Z guide, but many of the smaller or lesser known makers (not covered in the main listings) are written about in the public forums which have over 1500 pages of information - mainly guided by your common queries.

So, to find your way around this site, be sure to use one of the in-house search boxes dotted aound (eg top and right of this page). Use a variety of keywords around your topic - don't just try one search and give up.

So What will you find in this section?:

A Quick & Easy (and FREE!) Reference A to Z Guide to notable fine china producers antique and modern.

Visitor Queries and Comments section

OTHER USEFUL SECTIONS OF THIS SITE
china manufacturers

IDENTIFYING POTTERY MARKS ....more

CHINA PATTERN IDENTIFICATION ....more

VALUING YOUR WARES ....more

EXCHANGE (FIND & SELL) ....more



How To Use This Antique China And Fine China Guide

antique china guide

Valuing Your Antique China and Fine Pottery

Scroll down to the link 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.

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.

For my personal referal to an expert antique or vintage china apprasiser online go here.





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.



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 yet - but with visitors help, I am building the list gradually (scroll to bottom of page for visitor queries and contributions).


interactive comments section.


This Site Loves Your Input

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.

Go here to the bottom of the page to read Debbie's contribution or make a contribution.



Last Word On Pottery Marks

pottery marks


This site is 'interactive', write any story or query you like and post it.

I answer some queries myself - if I know the answer (my newsletter subscribers get priority if I am pushed for time).

Knowledgable visitors sometimes help in the public forums too.

For those with the need to get a quick answer I recommend going here to choose which type of china appraisal service you need.



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.



My bimble bumble interest in old bits and bobs of china has been a great little sideline. See how I make money from this hobby...

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

 Coventry Dinnerware

Dansk Tableware

Dunoon Bone China

Franciscan Pottery

 Haviland Dinnerware

 Johnson Brothers China

 Moorcroft Vases

 Portmeirion Tableware

 Rosenthal Dinnerware

 Royal Stanley

 Staffordshire China




VISITORS COMMENTS AND QUERY SECTION

If you are searching for information on a particular pottery mark or looking for some more information on your china wares, please just first put the search term into the the search box below - which will scan this site for other answers on the same topic.

TIP: If a search inadvertently directs you back to the top of one of the main pages just scroll to the bottom to look for your answer. THE LIST OF QUERIES AND ANSWERS ARE ALWAYS LOCATED AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE




The Antique China Public Forum

......where we all help each other out!

Not all submission get chosen for publication. You have to add some value to the site. Read below to find out what is required...

This is a public forum where we all help each other solve our pottery mark mysteries. We do not deal with values in this section, so please don't ask. Click treasure-chest image on the top right of the page to go to the valuations advice.

NOT ALL SUBMISSIONS ARE SELECTED FOR PUBLISHING. CONTRIBUTIONS ARE SELECTED FOR QUALITY (both in photos and content) - SO MAKE SURE YOURS STANDS A GOOD CHANCE BY FOLLOWING THE RULES!! (see below)

NOTE:
I have a backlog of about a month or so to get the pottery mark forum queries online – that is with me and some volunteer helpers (unpaid) working on them. Don’t forget I have about 4000 people come to my site every day. The only way to jump the queue is to use the expert fast-track where I get paid help in. These reports cost $15.67, as these guys are proper experts like you would see on the Antiques Roadshow. Fast track service here

Search this site
e.g. for your mystery pottery marks:

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CHINA PATTERN IDENTIFICATION

VALUING YOUR WARES

The Who's Who A - Z of Fine China Firms


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