Q: I bought two blue and white porcelain pieces at an estate sale. They’re marked on the bottom and inside the lids. I’m confused because there appear to be markings that are English and that also say Dresden. What can you tell me about them?
A: The marks on your porcelain include the pattern name, “Dresden,” and the English design registry mark, but not a maker’s mark. The English registry mark indicates the pattern was registered in 1871. The design is often called “Blue Onion,” a pattern that originated in China. It was made in Germany by Meissen in the 1700s, and was copied by many other potteries in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Without a maker’s mark we can’t be sure who made your dishes, but we found similar Dresden pieces marked with an English registry mark and the letters “B.W. & Co.,” indicating the pattern was made by Bates Walker & Co., in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England. It operated as Bates, Elliot & Co. from 1870 to 1875, when the design was registered. It became Bates Walker & Co. in 1875 and continued to make the pattern. To learn how to read an English registry mark, go to our “Look for your mark” section on Kovels.com.
Demitasse Set
Q: I have a demitasse set, never used, that was my mother’s. When she died, my sister and I split it up. It consists of a teapot, coffeepot, creamer and sugar, 10 little cups and saucers, and 10 plates about 7 1/2 inches in diameter. Each item has a different painted scene. My Mom was told the set was made for royalty. Some pieces are marked with a lamb and “Dresden, Made in Saxony,” and most have a gold rose over the writing. Another piece says, “Made in Germany, Guaranteed hand painted,” another piece says, “special order, painted at Lambs studio.” What can you tell me about this set? Is it worth anything?
A: The mark of a lamb above the word “Dresden” was used by Ambrosius Lamm. He opened a decorating studio in Dresden, Germany, in 1887 and decorated white blanks made by porcelain manufacturers in Meissen. The gold rose was used to cover the maker’s mark. After Lamm retired in 1934, his daughter, Clara, and Rudolf Pitschke, a former employee, took over the business. This mark with “Made in Saxony” was used after 1934. The road where the studio was located was destroyed during the bombing of Dresden in 1944 but the studio may have been in business until 1949. Porcelain decorated by Lamm’s studio, with gilt trim, sells for high prices. Sets sell for over $2,000.
Dresden Globe Mark
Q: Can you tell me what company used this mark? It pictures a globe with the word “Dresden” on it.
A: The Potters’ Co-Operative Co. of East Liverpool, Ohio, used this mark. The co-operative started in 1882 and included eight potteries from the East Liverpool area. One of those potteries was The Dresden Pottery Works, which was started by Brunt, Bloor, Martin and Company in 1875 or 1876. Whiteware, hotel ware, toilet ware, and some decorative wares were made. The pottery was renamed Dresden Pottery Company in 1925 and went out of business in 1927.