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Royal Doulton Markings – Back Stamps and Trademarks



Last updated: April 4, 2018 by Chanel Stone

The Royal Doulton company first began in London during 1815 and has since become a global brand that produces some of the most well known and loved porcelain, dinnerware and collectable pieces. Throughout the ages there have been a variety of different stamps used to mark authentic Royal Doulton ornaments and tableware. In saying this, almost all Royal Doulton items will have either a back stamp or marking that can be found on the bottom of the item beneath the final glaze.

royal-doulton-figurine

Contents

  • 1 Change and Growth of the Company
  • 2 Royal Doulton Backstamp Through the Ages
    • 2.1 1827 until 1882
    • 2.2 1882 until 1901
    • 2.3 1901 until 1922
    • 2.4 1922 until 1927
    • 2.5 1928 until 1936
    • 2.6 1930 until 2000
    • 2.7 2000 until Present
  • 3 Special Royal Doulton Markings
    • 3.1 Special Ware Markings
    • 3.2 Bunnykins
    • 3.3 Morrisian Wares
    • 3.4 Titanium Wares
    • 3.5 Flambe Wares
  • 4 Dating System for Royal Doulton
  • 5 Summary of Royal Doulton Markings

Change and Growth of the Company

John Doulton, a qualified manufacturers joined with John Watts, a foreman and Martha Jones, the Lambeth Pottery owner in 1815. They began producing pottery in a small factory in England trading under the name ‘Jones, Watts and Doulton‘. Their speciality at this time was salt glazed stoneware.

During 1820, Martha broke away from the company although it wasn’t until 1826 the two remaining owners changed the company name to ‘Doulton & Watts‘. The company had increased in popularity and to meet this demand the two men moved the company to a larger factory.

Eventually, John Watts retired from the company in 1854 which was then trading as ‘Doulton & Company‘. In 1873 when John Doulton passed away his son, Henry took complete control of the company.

By 1885, the Doulton company had risen drastically in popularity and was now becoming well known to the British Royal Family. In 1887, Queen Victoria knighted Henry Doulton for his contributions to the ceramic art and then later in 1901 King Edwards VII gave the company a Royal Warrant. From this Royal Warrant the company was then able to trade as ‘Royal Doulton‘, the name we are familiar with today.

The majority of the ornaments and dinnerware are now made in Indonesia. A small percent of higher-quality porcelain pieces are still made in the company’s home town, England. Due to the shift in quality of the Royal Doulton company, older pieces can often be worth a small fortune.

Royal Doulton Backstamp Through the Ages

The earliest Royal Doulton pieces sometimes have backstamps that read ‘Pinder Bourne & Co’ or have simple initials such as P.B or P.B & Co. Later backstamps from 1882 have definite logos and wording which can be found below.

1827 until 1882

During this period a number of simple stamps were impressed into Royal Doulton works of art. These impressed markings would read: ‘Doulton & Watts’, ‘Doulton & Watts Lambeth Pottery London’, ‘Doulton Lambeth’ and ‘Doulton Lambeth England’. Towards the end of this period the impressed words were bordered by an oval shape which slowly turned into the rounded shape in the backstamps to follow.

early-royal-doulton-back-stamp

1882 until 1901

During this period, the simple Doulton Burslem England stamp with four interlocking ‘D’s was common on Royal Doulton pieces. The word ‘England’ that appears below this stamp was not added until 1891. A royal crown was added above the initial logo to mark the meeting between the company and the Prince of Wales. The logo with the royal crown was used especially on bone china and expensive earth wares. Both of these logos were used until 1901.

1882-royal-doulton-back-stamp until-1902-royal-doulton-back-stamp

1901 until 1922

During this time periods, the recognisable Doulton logo was introduced. This logo consisted of the lion, crown and roundel. All three of these symbols are often associated with the company.  This backstamp still included the four interlocking ‘D’s although the crown appeared less detailed than the one used in previous stamps.

royal-doulton-1901-1922

1922 until 1927

In this 5 year period, a backstamp was used that is similar to the previous stamp although is missing the crown. It is thought this stamp was introduced as it was smaller in height and could fit the wares that were being produced during that period. This mark was not widely used.

1928 until 1936

The marking that appeared on pieces until1922 was used again. This marking included the lion, crown and roundel.  A year of production was also included in this new stamp. To find the year of production, you would need to add 1927 to the number that appears next to the backstamp.

1930 until 2000

From approximately 1930 the words ‘Made in England’ appear just below the crown. The date numbers were included until 1936. The words ‘Bone China’ are also part of the backstamp for those pieces created from Bone China.  ‘Fine China’ was the wording used from 1973 and can be found on Royal Doulton ornaments that are produced today.

1930-2000

2000 until Present

The exact date when this new backstamp was introduced cannot be confirmed although it is believed it first appeared between 1993 and 2000. This new stamp can be found on tableware’s produced in the present time. This backstamp has the lion logo, although also has the words ‘Fine China Made in Indonesia’ or ‘Bangladesh’ along with a copyright date. This backstamp is a modernised version of the previous stamps used by the company.

royal-doulton-recent-backstamp

Special Royal Doulton Markings

Special marking and backstamps can be found on specific collections produced by the Royal Doulton Company.

Special Ware Markings

Special Royal Doulton series ware marks are present on a number of collections. These are designed specifically for that collection and the logo represents that directly. Some collections a speciality ware marking is apparent include ‘Under the Greenwood Tree’, ‘The Gallant Fishers’ and ‘Home Waters’.

Bunnykins

A range designed for young children features its own unique mark. All Bunnykins ware has a logo that features three bunnies and the words “Bunnykins”.

bunnykins-back-stamp-royal-doulton

Morrisian Wares

A special marking for Morrisian Wares used between 1901 until 1924.

morrisian-wares-royal-doulton

Titanium Wares

Titanium wares produced between 1916 until 1933 have their own special marking that reads ‘Royal Doulton Titanium England’.

Flambe Wares

The words ‘Royal Doulton Flambe’ appeared on early Flambe works of art.

royal-doulton-flambe

Dating System for Royal Doulton

If you are lucky, your Royal Doulton piece may have an impressed date next to the trademark stamp. These impressed dates can come in the form of year, month and year and day, month and year. Sometimes these impressed dates are hard to see so insure you inspect your Royal Doulton item with a fine tooth-comb.

Code numbers were printed on the base of Royal Doulton produced between 1928 until 1954. These numbers appear next to the right of the crown. The rule of thumb with these numbers is to add 1927. For example, if your inked number is ‘1’ the year your item was manufactured in 1928. Until 1930 roman numerals were used to display this number and from 1930 until 1954 Arabic numerals were used.

Some Royal Doulton items have a latte number impressed in their base. These numbers were when the mould was created not the particular piece. Although not an exact date, a round about date can be worked out from this year considering most moulds would deteriorate quickly.

The copyright date of a Royal Doulton piece is not the best indication of age. A piece that has a copyright date of 1937 can be produced until 2004. The production of the figurine generally begins one year after the copy right date but that isn’t to say that is the year your piece was produced in.

Another marking that can be found on a Royal Doulton ornament is the artist’s mark. There have been hundred of artists that have worked for Royal Doulton over its lifespan. Each artist has a unique signature that usually represents their initials. For example, the artist Louisa Ayling uses a simple ‘a’ as her mark while Mary M Arding marks pieces created by her with ‘M.M.A’.

Summary of Royal Doulton Markings

royal-doulton-table-summary



Related posts:

  1. The History of Royal Doulton
  2. How to Find the Age of Your Royal Doulton
  3. Wedgwood Markings
  4. Lladro Identification Marks – A History of Lladro Markings

Filed Under: Royal Doulton Tagged With: Age of Antique, Antique, Collectible Figurines, Collectibles, Date Stamps, markings, Royal Doulton

Comments

  1. Paula says:

    Hi there ! I bought a Royal Doulton Porcelain Figurine “Going Home”- two flying geese, but the figurine doesn’t have any mark on the bottom. Is that a sign that it is fake? I look online and it looks exactly the same that the ones with the marks. Can you help me with this?
    Thanks!

    Reply
    • Tom Power says:

      No, it’s not a fake. It just happens to be a figure made by Royal Doulton that was missed in the labelling process. As a Royal Doulton Specialist Dealer for over 40 years I’ve had many pieces by Royal Doulton without a backstamp.

      Reply
  2. Emka says:

    Hi,

    I have two items with “Doulton Burslem” stamp (1882-1901) (a little jug-and-bowl set). Is it worth to have them valued and auctioned, or would you rather recommend eBay/other website to sell them?

    Reply
  3. J. Andrews says:

    Hello I’ve got a blue case with large yellow pears that stand out can you shed any light on this piece please

    Reply
  4. Yvette says:

    I have a set of 5 small cups with saucers and I have looked everywhere for the pattern and cannot find it they have a star printed under the royal doulton marking and a GR entwined on cup and saucer can anyone help?

    Reply
    • Philip Nahrgang says:

      The GR is probably the painter. I have those initials on the bottom of a Royal Doulton figurine.

      Reply
  5. Christine Thornton says:

    Hi I have an Images Story of Christmas set and each one has a top hat on the base, why is that?

    Reply
  6. Alice says:

    Hi I have a jardinere. It has the following initials MVM P 200 but no RD mark at all. I cant find anything like it anywhere on anything remotely RD. Any ideas?

    Reply
  7. stephanie says:

    I have the Pretty Ladies figurine Jasmine/long black dress with darker skin. The re is no oficial back stamp but the bottom is stamped “sample by casday” Does that mean anything significant?

    Reply
  8. Rich says:

    It may be a piece of Doulton Lambeth stoneware. Mark V Marshall signed his pieces with his initials. He was a very well regarded artist. Lambeth ware sometimes has a model number etched in its base but usually does not. HN numbers were only used at their Burslem factory

    Reply
  9. Mark Kelleher says:

    What does a red X on the bottom of a Toby Mug indicate?

    Reply
    • Ivy says:

      @Mark, I have looked into this and I have not found anything about a red x on toby jugs. I also looked at images from different time periods and found none with a x mark. a few had a red check mark but it looks like in most cases these were added to the figurine post production by a owner or shop keeper.

      Reply
  10. Sharon Heyne says:

    I have a “Paisley Shawl” lady that is marked:RN 753120 and hand marked HN1392 with artist initials BM. I know its old and original, it belonged to my Grandmother and I’ve looked at it all my life – I’m 74. Thank you for any help to identify the year, etc.

    Reply
    • Ivy says:

      @ Sharon this figurine was issued between 1930 – 1949.

      Reply
    • Ivy says:

      @Sharon, You are looking at $50 – $120 USD depending ont he condition of the figurine.

      Reply

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