Registration Diamonds & Numbers


A simple guide to understanding the basics of the registration diamond marks and dates on the underside of pottery.

 

What is a Diamond Mark?
How to understand the mark
marks 1842-1867
marks 1868-1883
chronological list of year dates 1842-83
numbers 1884 - 1965
register of designs, 1839 - 1964

 

 

What is a Diamond Mark?

During the period 1842-1883 the British Patent Office issued a diamond mark along with the registration number when a design was registered.
As well as showing that the design had been registered, diamond mark offered the buyer the reassurance of knowing an item was of British design. It also assured the person registering the design a degree of protection from copying. The protection was dependent on the type of material and the class in which the product was placed. 
The mark was created to identify the type of material used (known as the class), how many items were included, (sometimes known as bundles or packages, and the date of registration.
Note that the registration number does not form part of the mark.
The centre is occupied by the abbreviation Rd signifying that this is a Patent Office mark standing for Registered Design.

 

 


How to understand the mark?

1) What 'class' is the material?

The Roman numeral at the top of the diamond indicated the 'class' or type of material used - for example III was for glass ware and IV was for clay ware.

 

2) What year range is the mark from?

There are two ranges of year codes; 1842-1867 & 1868-1883. At first glance they look the same but if you look closely you can see that some have a number at the right hand corner and some have a letter.

If there is a number at the right hand corner of the diamond then it is in the 1842-1867 range

If there is a letter at the right hand corner of the diamond then it is in the 1868-1883 range  

 



number at the right hand corner of the diamond
1842-1867 range



letter at the right hand corner of the diamond
1868-1883 range

 


3) Understanding marks 1842-1867

First of all make sure there is a number in the right hand corner as shown below:-
If there is a letter then the mark is 1868-1883


 

You can ignore the number at the bottom of the diamond - this tells us how many items were included in the registration, (sometimes known as bundles or packages).
From the other numbers and letters we can work out the date of the registration.

Day - Right hand corner -  this is self explanatory

Month - Left hand corner -  this is worked out from the code below:-

Month letter Month   Month letter Month
A December   H April
B October   I July
C January   K November
D September   M June
E May   R August
G February   W March

 

 Year - Top of the diamond -  this is worked out from the code below (they are listed in alphabetical order):-

Year codes for 1842 - 1867

Year codes   Year codes   Year codes
A 1845   J 1854   S 1849
B 1858   K 1857   T 1867
C 1844   L 1856   U 1848
D 1852   M 1859   V 1850
E 1855   N 1864   W 1865
F 1847   O 1862   X 1842
G 1863   P 1851   Y 1853
H 1843   Q 1866   Z 1860
I 1846   R 1861

Exception Notes:
In 1857 the letter R was used during 1-19 September, and during 1860 the letter K was used for December.


registration date for this mark:
27th April (H)  1847 (F)


just to prove it works.....!
Jones & Walley put both the date and
the registration diamond to give the following:-
13th May (E)  1843 (H)



4) Understanding marks 1868-1883

First of all make sure there is a letter in the right hand corner as shown below:-
If there is a number then the mark is 1842-1867


 

 

You can ignore the number at the left hand corner of the diamond - this tells us how many items were included in the registration, (sometimes known as bundles or packages).
From the other numbers and letters we can work out the date of the registration.

Day - Top of the diamond -  this is self explanatory

Month - Bottom of the diamond  -  this is worked out from the code below:-

Month letter Month   Month letter Month
A December   H April
B October   I July
C January   K November
D September   M June
E May   R August
G February   W March

 

Year - Right hand corner of the diamond -  this is worked out from the code below (they are listed in alphabetical order):-

Year codes for 1868 - 1883

Year codes   Year codes
A 1871   L 1882
C 1870   P 1877
D 1878   S 1875
E 1881   U 1874
F 1873   V 1876
H 1869   X 1868
I 1872   Y 1879
J 1880      
K 1883      

Exception notes:
From 1-6 March 1878, W was used for the year in place of D; and G was used for the month in place of W.

 


registration date for this mark:
29th September (D)  1879 (Y)



5) This year table is in chronological order -to help in identifying possible exceptions as shown below:

1842 - 1867 and 1868 - 1883

Year codes   Year codes   Year codes   Year codes
1842 X   1855 E   1868 X   1881 E
1843 H   1856 L   1869 H   1882 L
1844 C   1857 K   1870 C   1883 K
1845 A   1858 B   1871 A    
1846 I   1859 M   1872 I    
1847 F   1860 Z   1873 F    
1848 U   1861 R   1874 U    
1849 S   1862 O   1875 S    
1850 V   1863 G   1876 V    
1851 P   1864 N   1877 P    
1852 D   1865 W   1878 D    
1853 Y   1866 Q   1879 Y    
1854 J   1867 T   1880 J    

 

Exception Notes:
In 1857 the letter R was used during 1-19 September, and during 1860 the letter K was used for December. From 1-6 March 1878, W was used for the year in place of D; and G was used for the month in place of W.

REGISTERED NUMBERS - from 1884 

Registered numbers are a consecutive numbering system which started in 1884 of designs which were registered by companies.

The Registered Number, usually written as Rd on the piece of pottery, gives the date when that design was registered to prevent copying, but it could have been made at any time later than that date. 

The table below gives the year and the registration numbers issued during that year
- for example any Rd number from 19756 to 40479 was issued in 1885

1884     1
1885
     19756
1886
     40480
1887
     64520
1888
     90483
1889
     116648

 
1890
     141273
1891
     163767
1892
     185713
1893
     205240
1894
     224720
1895
     246975
1896
     268392
1897
     291241
1898
     311658
1899
     331707

 
1900
     351202
1901
     368154
1902
     385180
1903
     403200
1904
     424400
1905
     447800
1906
     471860
1907
     493900
1908
     518640
1909
     535170

 
1910
     552000
1911
     574817
1912
     594195
1913
     612431
1914
     630190
1915
     644935
1916
     653521
1917
     658988
1918
     662872
1919
     666128

 
1920
     673750
1921
     680147
1922
     687144
1923
     694999
1924
     702671
1925
     710165
1926
     718057
1927     726330
1928
     734370
1929
     742725

 
1930
     751160
1931
     760583
1932
     769670
1933
     779292
1934
     789019
1935
     799097
1936
     808794
1937
     817293
1938
     825231
1939
     832610

 
1940
     837520
1941
     838590
1942
     839230
1943
     839980
1944
     841040
1945
     842670
1946
     845550
1947
     849730
1948
     853260
1949
     856999

 
1950
     860854
1951
     863970
1952
     866280
1953
     869300
1954
     872531
1955
     876067
1956
     879282
1957
     882949
1958     887079
1959
     891665

 
1960
     895000
1961
     899914
1962
     904638
1963
     909364
1964
     914536
1965
     919607

 


Details of the registrations are held at: -  The National Archives, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 4DU. Tel: +44 (0) 20 8876 3444.

Representations and Registers of Designs, 1839 - 1964

A representation is a sample, picture, photograph or sketch of the registered design. The registers of designs include the allocated registered number, usually the name and the address of the owner of the design (who was not necessarily the designer), and the quantity of items registered, known as the bundle or parcel. The National Archives holds the surviving representations and registers of designs between 1839 and 1964. These documents are often very large, unwieldy and very dusty: They also have fairly complicated reference systems.

 

Back to Pottery - Ceramic Trade Marks