A look at the design, market and legacy of Victorian pottery

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Majolica Pottery Marks: Minton Date Codes

One topic that comes up repeatedly on people's want-to-know list concerning majolica are the marks used by various potters to mark their wares. Those companies that marked their wares, and many of them did, were erratic in sometimes marking pieces and sometimes not marking pieces. This shouldn't come as a surprise when you consider that the production period for many of these wares often covered between 50 to 100 years. Even small potteries like the Phoenix Pottery that operated over a much shorter period of time were erratic. One company though, that was quite fastidious about marking their wares is the inventor of the majolica process, Minton.

Although Minton had been marking their wares since 1805, it wasn't until 1842 that Minton introduced on their earthenwares the series of date code marks that are we are familiar with on majolica today.


Beginning in 1851, around the same time as the introduction of the majolica process, Minton supplemented this mark by using the word MINTON or, after 1873, MINTONS in capital letters. In addition to these Minton often used three other impressed marks: a letter indicating the month of manufacture, a pattern shape number, and a potter's mark, though not all pieces will display all three.


Above is example of a typical Minton mark. If we check the chart above, the cypher impressed into the body indicates this piece was made in 1881. The impressed S tells us it was potted in September. If the English registration mark to the left were legible it would also give us the day of registration as well.
Minton majolica marks are always impressed into the body and always found on the base or underside of the piece. Occasionally a thick glaze will obliterate part of the mark so it may not be seen but it is almost always there. On large pieces the mark can be found on the foot or sometimes even the inside of the piece but considering the consistency the company had in marking its majolica almost all pieces are marked.

The method of marking proved so successful that some smaller companies adapted the use of these date code marks for their own pieces. To guarantee that a piece was made by Minton and not another company it is best to look for the impressed MINTON mark in addition to the date code when trying to determine the pedigree of any particular piece.

19 comments:

  1. this is awesome as the design are like encrypted coded message. now i guess that some of the present pottery designs comes from this awesome symbols.

    purchase facebook likes

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    1. If it is marked "Germany" it was made after 1890.

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  2. I have an old 8 inch plate of grape leaf. Has a symbol of the suns rays but no center. Is this an old 1830's symbol?The number 7 is marked into the clay on back also. Any help appreciated.

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  3. If you’ll send a photograph to my email account I will do my best to help.

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  4. I have a pitcher, a frog strattling a fish, that I would like to know if it is Majolica or not. The mark underneath is of a square inside a hexagon that is attached to a circle. The circle is either under the hexagon or above it, depending on which way you look at mark. My research of the piece keeps saying it is Majolica, but the mark does not match. Please help, I have looked everywhere with no luck. Thank you.

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  5. i have a black and white ginger jar with a cherry tree in blossom there is a raised mark on the inside base it feels like a c shape on top then two dots and a line as long as the two dots underneath them... ive looked and cannot work it out, the pot was bought in 1947 at an antique auction in Germany, apparently for a substantial amount. can you help me figure out what it is? thank you for your time.
    Paul.

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    1. I would need to see it. You can send me photos at the email in my profile.

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  6. i have a pestil with an arrow pointing down to m plus a 4 and a mark i cannt make out

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  7. I have three marks on what I think is a majolica urn - one is an oval with a spanned bridge - also what looks like a baby rattle with the top ball larger............and another that is an X in a circle

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    1. Send me a photo of the object and the marks. I may be able to identify it for you.

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  8. I have a piece of majolica compote with a beehive and 1879

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    1. It doesn’t sound like anything I’m familiar with but if you wish to send me a photograph I will take a look at it for you.

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  9. Could you help me with this? Has a triangle and looks like a backward B1. There are six dots on the bottom of the pitcher that are shaped in a Y

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    1. If it’s Minton you can refer to the date codes posted above. If you would like further assistance send me photos at the address in my profile. Thanks for reading my blog.

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  10. Oh its a pitcher and bowl, small

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  11. I found a rectangle shaped saucer with a matching rectangle shaped cup that has no handle. The "cup" appears to have 2 marks an arrow pointing NE and an •x• . The saucer has an arrow pointing a little down from west angle and a backwards comma. Ill be happy to send pictures.

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    1. Send photos to the email address in the profile. Include photos of the underside.

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  12. German hand painted bowl with a triangle dra with Germany under it l know if is over 150 yrs old

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