Crown Pottery Mark With an 'M' Above Query

[?] Subscribe To This Site

Crown Pottery Mark With an 'M' Above Query

Crown Pottery Mark With an 'M' Above Query:- hi, can you identify this pottery mark backstamp which is on the bottom of a tea pot? thank you

Reply from Peter (admin) below - just scroll down

HOW I MADE MONEY FROM BITS & BOBS OF OLD CHINA
antique china values

.....more

Reply by Peter (admin)

To:- Crown Pottery Mark With an 'M' Above Query

Dear Visitor

Many thanks for re-photographing your crown mark with a nice clear close up shot. Great work! Now we can get on with the business of trying to identify the maker.

The bad news is the crown mark is the most commonly used mark in the history of fine china making. There are literally hundreds and hundreds of makers in my reference books and your particular very distinctive crown is not a pottery mark shown in any of them, I'm afraid.

It is therefore very unusual for the maker not to give initials or further identification, because they must have been aware it makes identification of the maker almost impossible.

This leads me to think the maker is either an insignificant company trying to blend in and be mistaken for someone better, or a maker so famous as to need no introduction - a pearl amongst the masses, as it were.

So let's see which firm might be so magnificent as to think itself instantly recognisable.

Here is a list of all the English makers I could find whose name begins with 'M' and who are known to have used a crown device on their pottery mark.

John Maddock

Frederick Malkin

Ralph Malkin

Mason's Ironstone

Mayer & Sherratt (Melba China)

Meakins

John Meir & Son

Mellor, Taylor & Co

J H Middleton

Midwinter

Minton

Moore Brothers

Moore, Leason & Co

Francis Morely & Co

Thomas Morris

John Mortlock (retailer)

Musselburgh Pottery

Myott, Son & Co (Ltd)

Possibly Minton's, Mason's, Midwinter, and Meakin's I would also put into the 'big head' league.

None of the crowns matched these makers though.

The other very well known firm in their day was John Mortlock - a retailer said to match Harrods in their heyday. It would not surprise me if the mark was that of Mortlocks, because the type of crowns shown in my books were similar, but not the same. However, normally, at least in all the examples I have seen, the backstamp shows the John Mortlock name in full as well as other devices (often a globe). However, your mark may have been a less used variation. Only a specialist would know.

At this point, I'm sorry to say I've run out of ideas. So you have three options: you can continue with your own pottery marks research, you can hope that someone knowledgable stumbles across this thread and leaves a reply, or you can use a professional appraisal service to save time and effort.

If you'd like a professional opinion, feel free to use my ‘fast track to an expert’ page. Here, you can get in touch with an appraiser (checked out by me personally) who can tell you if your mark is identifiable by experts without you having to pay any money upfront:

www.figurines-sculpture.com/id-pottery-mark.html

This service is unique online and is designed to protect my site visitors from wasting their time and money online.

Hope this information has been of some use to you.

Best regards,

Peter (admin)
www.figurinecollect.com (These pages show our new English made bone china figurine collection)
www.figurines-sculpture.com (This is my bigger site covering all aspects of fine china making)

"Did you know?... the most popular pages on the site are..."
china manufacturers

VALUING YOUR WARES ....more

IDENTIFYING POTTERY MARKS ....more

CHINA PATTERN IDENTIFICATION ....more

HOW I BUILT THIS WEBSITE ....more

Comments for
Crown Pottery Mark With an 'M' Above Query

Click here to add your own comments

i too have china with this mark
by: Anonymous

Hi,
just trying to get a easy fix with this mark, i have just inherited a tea service bearing this mark and know nothing about it , has anyone uncovered the identity yet please,

thanks

Andy

Crown with an M above it
by: Lorraine

Hi there i have too a tea set with this mark so would be grateful if anyone knows anything about it? have been researching and cant find anything.

many thanks

Post from Similar M & Crown Thread
by: Peter (admin)

Extract from similar thread on this mark where we have got further with our reseach:-

www.figurines-sculpture.com/pottery-mark-query-teapot-with-crown-with-letter-m-above-it.html

Crown Pottery Mark with an 'M' above
by: David

We have a tea set with the same mark as in the photograph.
One piece only (in the same hand painted design as the rest of the set) has no crown and 'M' but is inscribed in gold with 'Dorio (Doria, maybe)China England. Does this help in the identification of the maker?

======================

Peter (admin) says:-

Many thanks for the useful comment above. I looked up Doria or Doria China, but could find nothing. Anyone else have any ideas?

Crown Potteries Company saucer
by: Sandy

I have a Crown Potteries white saucer with decorative trim..on back below Made in USA are the numbers "2 46"....what do these mean?

Thanks.

SENSE AND SENSIBILITY
by: john

I have a beautiful tea service with this very mark .
The BBC are well known for historical correctness and this same service was used in an afternoon tea scene in the programme.
The answer may be here.

Crown with an M above it
by: Rog

This mark is from Doric China Co. High St., Longton, Staffordshire Potteries (later taken over by Royal Albion China Co.). It dates from 1926-1935.
We recently acquired a few cups, saucers & plates and found their 'Crown with an M above' mark in Godden's Encyclopdia of British Pottery and Porcelain Marks.
http://s36.photobucket.com/albums/e20/rogcol2005/?action=view¤t=DSCF6212.jpg

Small 'M' Crown Query - THE ANSWER!!!!!!!!!!
by: Peter (admin)

A brilliant assist by Rog to one of the most long standing queries on this site. Thanks to Rog.

Rog's photo:-

M with Crown Pottery mark - Doric china

The small 'M' in the top jewel of the crown device is a mark of Doric China Co 1924 - 1935 - later Royal Albion

One of the biggest problems with solving this mark (apart from why the 'M'?) was firstly the sheer volume of crown marks used by Staffordshire pottery makers. There are many hundreds, if not thousands to plough through.

The second problem is the obscurity of Doric China Co., a tiny very short-lived firm sandwiched between around 70 other Longton makers most of whom were bigger and better known.

However, the third and most difficult problem is how Godden's Guide (the no 1 authority on English marks) lists their marks. They don't have sections for different types of marks. Instead they list by name alphabetically. So to find a crown mark maker means you have to go dutifully through this very thick volume page by page, which is clearly what our hero, Rog, must have done. Well done Rog!

Kovel's guide is a good resource, and it lists by type of mark (i.e. there is a crown section), however, it does not list this particular Doric China mark (it list two others which use the name 'Doric china').

As I say above, Doric China was a very short-lived firm, particularly in comparison to some of its neighbours (Aynsley founded in 1780 and one of the few still remaining - standing proud - I saw them with my own eyes when I was in Longton the other day - May 2011 - my latest piece, a Staffordshire flatback of the Royal Wedding is being made nearby).

Doric China operated from the dates of 1924 to 1935. They used the Crown with M shown above from 1926 - 1935. In 1935, nearby firm Royal Albion took over the orders of Doric china and continued with their marks including the M Crown until 1948. The Royal Albion version of this mark had an M in a rectangle added below. I have no idea what the M stands for - which is another reason why it has taken so long to solve this mystery mark.

They abutted onto the same building as Hammersley & Co. (Longton), Ltd although Doric China Co frontage was on the High Street to the north, whereas Hammersley's entrance was to the South on Sutherland Road. Nearby on Sutherland Road were John Aynsley & Sons and Paragon China. Opposite on the High Street were Gladstone China, Roslyn China and New Park Potteries. Hudson & Middleton's Delphine Pottery had a unit nearby off the High Street, Longton and a frontage off Normacot Road, with their associated unit of Chapmans the next unit down from Doric China. As you can see, the Longton potter fraternity was very close knit with many intertwining associations, not to mention rivalries.

Well done Rog...

Peter (admin)

Is there any way to then determine the pattern?
by: Sarah

I was given a tea set similar to this for my 21st birthday with the same mark. The colours are very similar, and the handle on the cups, etc, look the same.

987 is written on the bottom of one of the tea cups. It is a rose pattern on rust rectangle alternating with a blue rectangle with a gold swirl.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I have the same set as Rog
by: Lester

I just acquired a 6 cup and saucer set and stumbled upon this page trying to identify it. thanks so much! I am wondering what the approximate value is for the set. It also includes 6 desert plates, a sugar bowl, cream bow and large plate.

Click here to add your own comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How?
Simply click here to return to Pottery Marks