Little Green Cup by Adderley - Antique Bone China Query

by Sue
(Coogee)

Little Green Cup by Adderley - Antique Bone China Query:- Can someone help me I have curious little apple green coloured teacup with gold trim on the outside and what appears to be a mix of a print banner pattern and hand coloured roses in yellows and purples on the inside.

The base of the cup has apple green handwritten letters m166 with a brown crown over 1789 above the words adderley bone china and a gold v. This doesn't seem to match up with dates on your site because according to you the company was started in 1859. the cup is a single and I don't care about value , my curiosity was tweaked when your info didn't appear to match the dates on my cup.

thanks

Sue


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Reply to "Little Green Cup by Adderley - Antique Bone China Query" by Peter (admin)

Dear Sue

Thanks for flagging up an interesting query about Adderley. Yes there are sometimes discrepancies on the dates of the pottery marks of china manufacturers.

The reason for this generally is that they are up to mischief and being 'economical' with the truth. In some cases they just plain lie about the age of the founding out of desperation to survive (the older the company, the more prestigious). In other cases, their claims do actually have an inkling of the truth.

In the case of Adderley (later known as 'Royal' Adderley not because they held an official Royal Warrant or patronage - that I know of), but because they were taken over by Ridgways who had all of the above in the glorious Victorian days of John Ridgway, potter to the Queen.

The 1789 date began to be shown on Adderley wares pottery marks only after 1947 when Ridgway first took control of the company. This date could either be a reference to when Ridgway started (sometime in the 18th Century - some say 1744, some say 1792). It is hard to get an accurate date for the beginnings of this very old established family of potters. The Ridgway dynasty had many branches and the many and varied Ridgway companies fill several pages of Godden's encyclopedia.

However, I am not aware of a claim of 1789, so it must mean, I presume, that the Adderleys, like the Ridgways were a family of Stoke-on-Trent Staffordshire potters going back into the mists of time. W.A.A. Adderley actually began in 1876 according to official records, but someone at Ridgway in 1947 must have found a reference to one of the Adderley forebears going back to 1789 and so stuck it on the pottery marks after 1947.

You would have to confirm that theory with a museum, or an encyclopedia or an expert appraiser.

Best regards
Peter (admin)

p.s. The following page is a 'must see' if you are researching fine china - for value and identification:-

Researching the identity and value of antique and vintage fine china.