A Diamond (Mark) in the Rough: Decoding British Registry Marks

Blog by Moog

An experienced hunter of antiques or vintage pieces always knows to look for marks - signatures, stamps, numbers, manufacturer’s name plates or even stickers and scribbles left by previous owners can be the ticket to a wealth of information on the piece itself and its provenance. The way the mark was made, what variations it has, and when it was used helps determine so much about a piece, even sometimes providing us a five or ten year window in which something was made.

One recurring mark you might see on British Made pieces is a printed diamond, topped with a little bulbous circle, containing an ‘R’ to the center and surrounded by various codes - such as ‘IV’, ‘12’ or ‘A’. Sometimes mistaken for a makers’ mark, this compact little ensign is the key to a huge amount of information but can be difficult to unravel - we hope this quick guide will help you jump down a rabbit hole of information about your heirlooms and auction finds!

[To Right: The base of a ceramic pitcher, featuring a British Diamond Registry Mark.]

Diamond Registration Marks were first introduced as a method of recording design patents between 1842 and 1883, when the 1842 Ornamental Designs Act was superseded by the 1883 Act. With the goal of recording a design’s rightful owner and preventing unscrupulous copies from being made, the Diamond Mark is a clever way to record plenty of information in one simple cypher. 

There are two iterations of the diamond mark: the first, used between 1842 to 1867, and the second, between 1868 to 1883. The ‘first’ and ‘second’ diamond marks have slight differences between the placement of certain marks and their associated meanings.

[Above: A Diagram, featuring two Examples of British Diamond Registration Marks, including the first type and second type, and meanings of those marks. Made by The Auction Barn.]

Let’s break it down!

Material Class

The very fIrst aspect of the mark to look at is the class mark. This part of the mark, indicated by roman numerals, denotes the material used. 

Class I: Metal

Class II: Wood

Class III: Glass

Class IV: Ceramic & Earthenware

Class V: Wallpapers

Class VI: Carpets

Classes VII - XIII: Textiles

Year

For all diamond marks, the year is represented by a letter code, with different meanings depending on the placement of the code (aka, whether it is a c.1842 - 1867 code, or a c. 1868-1883 code). On earlier marks, the year is below the material class mark, and on later marks, to the right of the diamond. Some letters were not used in the second diamond period, so are left blank.

*For second period diamond marks registered on the 1st to the 6th of March, 1878, W was used instead of D.

Month & Date

Date, recorded on the furthest right of the first iteration of the diamond mark, or below the class mark on the second version of the diamond mark, is what exact day the design, shape, or use of the item was registered. Unlike the month or year, date numbers are directly representing the day registered - in our examples above, the 27th and the 21st respectively.

For months, there is another letter cypher; however this time the meaning of the month doesn’t vary across the two different versions, although its placement does.

*There are some slight variations to look out for. Between the 1st and 19th of September, 1857, R was used; for December 1860, K was used, and for the 1st to 6th of March, 1878, G was used.

Bundles

A minor mark, the ‘bundle’ also called a package, indicates the amount of ‘items’ - the number of pieces entered that day - in a single document.

With all the information above, you should now have a good idea of when your item was registered. But it doesn’t stop there - the fun part is now using this registration date to find out who might have made it!

Research

As all registry marks are for British designed and (and usually, manufactured) items, the first port of call for research is the National Archives of the United Kingdom. Their excellent research guide goes deep in-depth into the various types of designs registered in the UK, how they were recorded, and how to find the documentation pertaining to 200 years of design history. The National Archives patent office records regarding designs and patents are kept under ‘BT43’, as records of the patent office: head there, and start your research journey. When searching, the National Archives suggests searching by Class and Year.

 [To Left: The base of an Antique Imari Moustache cup, featuring an array of marks in blue and gold.]

Let’s take one of our examples, which is illustrated above as our c.1868-1883 mark, seen to the left. This English moustache cup with blue and red gilt Imari (a region in Japan, famous for its blue and red pottery and porcelain) style pattern has several marks to the base. A maker’s mark in blue with the initials ‘W C’ beneath an crown, a registry mark in blue, and a handwritten number, ‘3425’.

The registry mark indicates a registry date of 21st - or perhaps 31st, considering how small and obscured the mark is - of August, 1883. This lets us know we’re looking for something registered on either of those dates that matches our piece. Putting ‘Class 4’ in and 1883 in the date box, we get over a thousand results! Don’t be intimidated though, as we head straight to late August registrations, where we can start looking for our date. Under Class 4 items, there appears to be no records for the 21st - but on the 31st, there are two different earthenware designs registered: a William and Edward Corn item, and a James F. Wileman & Co. item. Each are unspecified earthenwares, and each of these could be represented by a ‘W C’ mark! But we’ve narrowed it down.

From here, we have two candidates. Luckily, we’ve also got another point for comparison - the other mark in blue present on our piece. W & E Corn of Burslem and Stoke-on-Trent have a variety of marks, none of which are a match. However, Wileman & Co have several marks which are almost identical to our piece, also used in the c.1883-1884 period! We’ve got a match!

But what about that little golden number, 3425? Sometimes these are design, pattern, or inventory numbers, and are difficult to track down. But Wileman & Co. were avid record keepers, as evidenced from their many registration marks, and collected widely - and if we type up a quick google search, we find that the number ‘3425’ is often found on early Wileman & Co. pieces and indicates the ‘Japan’ pattern (a nod to the Imari inspiration) - and additionally, Wileman & Co. famously went on to become the beloved Shelley Fine China. This information all matches perfectly with our registration mark, and suddenly this little and unassuming cup becomes a treasure trove of information.

Don’t give up if you aren’t lucky enough to have multiple marks to refer to. Sometimes, someone else will have done the research, or perhaps listed another similar piece with more information, and a quick google can be all you need to confirm. Searching ‘W & E Corn Imari’ brings up barely any results, but ‘Wileman Imari’ brings up plenty very similar - suggesting that this was a company that often made pieces in that colour scheme. 

[To Right: A Small Diamond Registry Mark on the Base of a Decanter Caddy.] 
 

But sometimes we aren’t so successful. This silver tone metal caddy - featuring a beautiful set of three decanters - had a very crisp Class I (Metal) diamond registry mark to its base, for the 22nd of January, 1862. Looking in the archives, there are four records for that date - two separate cast iron fireplace mantels, a finial, and a chandelier.  Of the makers represented, it could be possible that the finial - registered by Cartwright & Woodward - was at one point part of the decanter set; perhaps the bottles are not original, and previously the bottles had metallic finials or stoppers. That being said, it does provide a great approximation of the date in which our decanter set was made, and lets us know it’s definitely English. For an excellent resource where you can peruse some of the various designs that have been registered - from a container for ‘Bear’s Grease’, a supposed cure for baldness, to a Royal Worcester ceramic inkstand - see The National Archives ‘Design Registers’ digital exhibition.

We hope the Auction Barn Guide to diamond registration marks helps equip you with the knowledge to go out and do some sleuthing! Bookmark us just in case - and let us know if there’s any other marks you’d like to see a guide on in the future!

References

Keating, Carolyn (2020), ‘Wileman and Shelley Japan Ware Patterns on Fine Bone China, 1882 - 1917’, via. Shelley China Club [website], <https://shelleychinaclub.com/Japan/Japan%20Ware%20Spreadsheet.pdf>

Shelley Group, ‘Researching Shelley - Backstamps’ [website], c.2021, <https://www.shelley.co.uk/X_Backstamps.html>

The National Archives (United Kingdom), ‘How to Look for Records of Intellectual Property: Registered Designs 1839-1991’ [website], no date (accessed 2021), <https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/registered-designs-1839-1991/>

The National Archives (United Kingdom), ‘Design Registers’ [Digital Exhibition], c. 2006, <https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/designregisters/>