China Patterns ...
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China Patterns - The Best Way To Identify Yours Online



china patterns


If you need to identify your tableware china pattern, there is one free online resource which stands head and shoulders above all others. In fact, it is the only free one I know of and the most comprehensive I have found online.


However, like most free resources, it takes a bit of leg work on your part, so I will take you through how it works on this page and explain how to use it in clear and easy terms.





First, I just wanted to check you knew about the two specialist books covering the identification of china patterns. It is surprisingly easy to use an online search facility to track down the nearest library which holds these great reference books and in the blink of an eye you can go there to research your obscure pattern like an expert.

Again, getting hold of one of these books specialising in identifying china patterns is yet another easy and free method of doing your own research on tableware transfer patterns.

These are two books which lead the transfer china patterns field (if you know of others, please write in tell me!). Both are available in the US & UK, both in libraries or to purchase.

  1. English Transferware: Popular 20th Century Patterns (Schiffer Book for Collectors) by Joe Keller and Mark Gibbs

    2. and

  2. Miller's Encyclopedia of British Transfer-Printed Pottery Patterns 1790-1930 by Gillian Neale




....Using Google in conjunction with WorldCat.org, enables you to track down the nearest libraries to you which hold copies of each book.

Instructions:-

  1. Go to Google search and click the 'Books' search (under the 'more' category) - you can put in the book title into the search, then click on the link. Under the image of the book you will see the option of 'find in a library'.

  2. Click this link and Google link you should be referred to a library cataloging website called WorldCat.org who then ask where your location is and within seconds they tell you where the book is and how far away it it. Amazing!

  3. If, for some reason Google doesn't send you to WorldCat.org, go there direct and search using their search box.

Results:-

For me, located in the UK, it tells me the first title 'English Transferware: Popular 20th Century Patterns' is located in the Library of the Victoria & Albert Museum. In the US, this book is located in several different local libraries.

The second book - 'Miller's Encyclopedia of British Transfer-Printed Pottery Patterns 1790-1930' according to WorldCat.org a copy is located in my local main library as well as about a dozen or so other main libraries throughout the UK and more in the US.

Before deciding which book to locate, I would read the book review supplied by Google which is normally very in depth and revealing.




Online Resources

Now, getting back to the best free online resources to help you identify your pattern.

Replacements.com holds details of over 300,000 tableware patterns. They offer a completely free china pattern identification service. (Note:- I am in no way affiliated with them or get anything from this link - I am just telling it like it is!)

However, the only restriction is if you want multiple patterns identified, they reserve the right to limit this service to their customers and suppliers.

The way round this is to go to their site yourself and have a poke around their online database.

  • Go to their china section
  • Go to the name of your china manufacturer
  • Look out for the vertical blue image bars on the far left of the page
  • Click, then scroll down the images looking for your pattern

If you decide to send them a query, you must:-

  1. Take digital photos. Save them in JPEG format. Make sure at the same time they are changed to 72-100 DPI resolution (low). Make them between 6 inches to 7 inches wide (500 to 600 pixels).

    All this can be done on most common computer photo software.

    TIP:_ If in doubt just download a free bit of kit called IrfanView here.

    Otherwise you can use our own photo-merge service... it's quick and cheap.



  2. Photograph both the item and the pottery mark.

  3. Send the images by email to yourself first! This ensures they are clear and that the mark details can be easily read. Blurry photos are or no use to anyone.

    You would be amazed by the number of useless photos are sent for identification. This wastes every-bodies time, not least yours.

  4. Send your images, along with your name, email and mailing address to research@replacements.com

  5. They will identify your pattern and send you a price listing of the pieces they have in your pattern.

  6. If they can't identify your pattern, they will let you know promtly. However, you must allow a reasonable time - say two to three weeks to look into your query.


..... Still Not Found Your Pattern?

Try The Free Museum Email Services

china patterns There is a great free service for all china queries offered by the leading UK Staffordshire museum. If Replacements.com can't find your pattern, maybe the Potteries Museum could help.

They have a mountain of reference books on ALL china, not just Staffordshire, so if yours is a foreign pattern it is still worth asking them.

I know this from first hand experience because I have met the research staff (our first figurine from the UK Figurine Collective is on permanent exhibition at the museum) and I have seen them in action on their 'drop-by' query afternoons - .....more on the 'drop-by' afternoons here.

Just copy and paste the museum's contact address into your email recipient window and send them a friendly request:-

ceramics@stoke.gov.uk

Happy china pattern hunting!!


OTHER TYPES OF QUERIES

NOTE:- On this website, the following queries are dealt with separately than 'china pattern identification'.

VALUING YOUR WARES ....more

IDENTIFYING POTTERY MARKS ....more

EXCHANGE (FIND & SELL) ....more

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