Q I’ve got a Shelley butter dish with a number stamped on the back that begins with Rd and then 424619. The dish is marked ”Late Foley Shelley England.” I’m assuming it’s at least 100 years old. Can you tell me how old it is and what it’s worth?
A Foley China Works started in 1860. Joseph Ball Shelley joined the company in 1862 and Percy Shelley joined the firm in 1881. After a series of name changes, the company became Shelley China in 1910. The name was changed to Shelley Potteries in 1929. The company was sold to Allied English Potteries in 1966 and merged with the Doulton group in 1971. Shelley is no longer being made. The Rd number is the English registry number and indicates the design was registered in 1904. The ”Late Foley Shelley England” mark was used from 1910-1916, so your dish was made during that period. Value of your butter dish, under $40.