Love the grading system !! That really helps even if I rarely find any form of Dresden here in my area of Texas !!

The only way to hold them all apart is to know the producers and studios, knowing who was located where. Studio located *in* Dresden is good as its nearly always hand painted. Everything outside Dresden city (exception: [i]Carl Thieme[/i], who was located just outside Dresden city but in the suburb of Potschappel) often decorated only in “Dresden style”, and then mostly per transfer. There were good and lesser talented decorators, this also has to be taken into account. So when grading German “Dresden” I simply use these grading steps together with terms like “good”, “mediocre” or “bad”:

– decorated in Dresden & handpainted florals = grade 1a
– decorated in Dresden & handpainted patterns = grade 1b
– decorated in Dresden & transfer florals = grade 1c
– decorated in Dresden & transfer non-floral = grade 1d

– decorated in Germany but not in Dresden & handpainted florals = grade 2a
– decorated in Germany but not in Dresden & handpainted patterns = grade 2b
– decorated in Germany but not in Dresden & transfer florals = grade 2c
– decorated in Germany but not in Dresden & transfer non-floral = grade 2d

Everything else, be it “Irish Dresden” or the US Dresden Pottery items, can not be deemed real Dresden. Irish Dresden collectors will of course object, but an item made in Thuringia or Bavaria (or Ireland, in this case) and not even including an original Dresden floral decoration can hardly be termed “Dresden”, no exceptions or excuses accepted.

Always learn from your posts Friedrich !! I know Dresden was similar to Capo di Monte in that it was a style of decoration and not a brand as such !! So how does one tell the quality from the mediocre ??

Thank you for the pictures, these really help.

Before we get started some general info on “Dresden” items. Real “Dresden” is a certain floral decoration taught at the Dresden School of Art and all decoration studios in Dresden. Due to the fire hazard of larger kilns there were no porcelain producers in Dresden, only decorators and decoration studios. Required whiteware therefore had to be purchased elsewhere, often from producers in Bavaria or Thuringia. Porcelain lace items were of course produced in Bavaria but most laced items were purchased from producers in Thuringia. The term “Dresden lace” is therefore misleading as it has nothing to do with Dresden itself or the typical Dresden decoration, nor was it even produced there.

The producer of these shown items is [b]Höffner & Co.[/b] (non-Umlaut spelling [b]Hoeffner & Co.[/b]) located in the city of Sandizell, Bavaria, and therefore not located near or in Dresden city (which is in Saxony). All marks are based on one general mark type which was (next to another mark) valid 1951-1960; those with WESTERN GERMANY addition were used 1956-1960.

Thank you all for your comments and helpful input. I have attached some photos (obviously not the photos I would use if selling online)