Makers Marks of A. T Finney & Sons - Duchess China

MOORCROFT
We have a good showing of Moorcroft including old designs


Since 1888 Duchess made China - there are some great patterns - and we're going to seek out the older ones - check these pages regularly

PATTERNS
Below are some sample patterns from Duchess China to December 1999 - Just click one to take a look

OLD ENGLAND   COVENT GARDEN
THISTLE
GREEN SLEEVES
JUNE BOUQUET
IVY
FRESH FIELDS
INDIAN TREE
TRANQUILITY  

OLD NAMES
What's behind some old and sometimes forgotten pottery names of  Stoke on Trent


Most manufacturers use a system to show who has been involved with each stage of the manufacturing process. This is important in case a bad batch is found as well as part of a quality control system. 

The pottery industry of Stoke on Trent often utilises a convoluted way of paying employees based on throughput of work and it is useful for the manufacturer to determine who has contributed to the production of each piece.

In the case of A. T. Finney & Sons - Duchess China, the issue of a number to each employee and applied to the product at a particular stage was the preferred method - check the example below...

    Back Stamp with Lithographer Number 24 Identifier 

Careful examination of the above back stamp area confirms that this particular piece was Lithographed by number 24. It is a simple matter to trace the product back in production to this Lithographer should there be a problem with the work. 

Moorcroft Publicise this fact - they use special markings for each pipe liner or colour way artist and educate customers how to read the markings.

 

 

Hare Bell Design  

 See some great examples of china

There are some great examples of Duchess China and other makers on this site - take a look around

Stoke Pottery - Leading the World
Pottery From Stoke on Trent
Pottery from this area continues to lead the world