Pottery Bowl Mark Mystery! Stoke on Trent!

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Have you ever found something OLD, or been gifted an unusual piece--and just had to find where it came from?

Being a potter---I knew this was bowl was OLD---and definitely a piece worth searching for.

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I had received delicious homemade candy in this lovely antique bowl 

from a good friend for my birthday.

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The bowl had deep cobalt blue transfers on an embossed molded body---with a very sketchy and blurred mark. Blurring often happens when the cobalt lifts or floats into the glaze during firing.

This is part of the 'flow-blue" thing.

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This mark was very hard to read. Now, my bowl had become a needle in a haystack. 

This photo is not fuzzy, as you can see from the clear and precise glaze crackles, 

but the mark itself was totally illegible.

 Best I could figure was Uffer H----Y and  all that was really clear was a faint England in the lower center, as well as the coronet crown, 

and semi-porcelain- (a euphemism for a high fire ironstone faking porcelain). At least I knew where to start looking--England.

 I persevered and tried to track a similar mark by the crown in English pottery. First via pinterest, and then this useful marks site, I use so often. OldandSold.com
But, I found no marks that were similar enough. 

So, I googled a half-dozen combination descriptions, circle-coronet-pottery-mark, crown-circle-semi-porcelain- England, etc. until I found a crown that looked similar.

This one had the similar crown, on this mark the top was missing a bit, but I thought it was close. The same-crown styles are often associated with a specific town or region, and then the Stoke on Trent. UH_OH! Stoke on Trent had been a center for pottery industry in England, forever.

Below, all those bottle shaped buildings are kilns or Stokes.

Bottle kilns

 Now, I knew my haystack had just become bigger.  Stoke on Trent (England) was the heart of ceramic manufacturing in England for centuries, and this area alone had over 1500 different potteries through the years. I needed to narrow this more. I knew the clay in this piece wasn't porcelain, it was too heavy. Porcelain is only heavy if very thick. I searched Stoke on Trent ironstone, potteries, marks on search and found this from Hanley, England and that similar crown.

I looked at more Stoke on Trent potteries---one of the best known is above. I tried adding Hanley to my searches and then these popped up

And further down the page, the crown and.....

Here it was MY MARK!----very clear---Uffer H----Y was UPPER HANLEY

Once I had this----I could search for Upper Hanley Pottery-one of the best basic resources for Stokes on Trent Potteries is http://www.thepotteries.org/allpotters/1018.htm. This site has basic information, marks, photos, history, and just lots of Stoke On Trent info. I had used the site before.

This Upper Hanley company was only in business for a few years. Like many potteries, they were bought and sold, absorbed into larger companies or simply closed. 

Here is the basic information I found.

Earthenware manufacturer at the Upper Hanley Works, the High Street, Hanley (from c.1895 - 1902) and then at Brownfield's Works, Cobridge (c.1902 - 1910) from  http://www.thepotteries.org/allpotters/1018.htm. 

Stoke-on-Trent is a unique city in England. 

It made up of six distinct towns: Tunstall, Burslem, Hanley, Stoke, Fenton and Longton - collectively known as "THE POTTERIES". (http://www.thepotteries.org/allpotters)

With all this wonderful information, I now could now find pottery by 

Upper Hanley pottery by its name.

Searching Pinterest (Upper Hanley) showed dozens of pieces---one exactly like mine---which led me to this same exact bowl on Etsy, with a much clearer mark!

courtesy of Etsy (not my site)

OLD Antique Bowl Mystery solved and it's worth a pretty penny, too.

I won't be selling this piece, as it was a gift, but I will add a note on the bottom of what it is,---so my kids won't have to wonder what the heck this needle in a haystack was.

When doing a search: don't give up, but do try many different avenues. You may have to go to many sites to get to the information you want. And, you never know, Granny's old dishes may be worth plenty of pennies.

I will try and respond to every comment and answer every question.

All the opinions and photographs in this blog are my own, unless noted. I have not been paid or reimbursed in anyway for my opinions, posts or any products shown or anywhere I shop.

 Please do not use photos without linking back to this blog without my permission. 

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Junkin' Finds May 2016

Since our house is slowly being put back together from the new floors and the continued plans to move on to the kitchen, I have been only junkin' here and there. 

Here is a sampling of what I found in May 2016.

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My steal of the month, 4 gorgeous plates I originally bought to resell because they were perfect. Set of 4 for $5.99. When I got them home they are two shades darker than the bedroom walls...so they are a keeper at this point.

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I totally loved all the raised white pattern on these "Rhapsody" luncheon plates by George Jones & Sons, England. The mark on the back suggests these pieces were made sometime in-between 1891-1921. The mark, which is in black, includes "England" not "Made in England" which was a requirement in 1921. They were made in plain white, black background, yellow, and green. I really couldn't find any made in blue???

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Lovely ironstone transfer ware pitcher. Medium size about 8-9" in the Aesthetic  style popular at the turn of the the 19th century.

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There were at least three USA "Ironstone" makers using this Royal Ironstone china and Warranted marking. One was the Weheeling Pottery of West Virginia circa 1880-1886, while another was Steubenville in Ohio, around 1900 and another the East End Pottery co in East Liverpool, Ohio using the mark from 1894 to 1907. These bedroom wares were mass produced and sold through catalogs also.

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Cache pot with lid, tiniest ding on the inside of the rim...but a lovely piece, no mark, but very close to the same style as the pitcher. I paid less than $5 for each piece. There was a sale at the thrift store that day.

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Porcelain dish with 'moriage' applied decoration marked Japan--stylistically would figure this for the 1930-40s but post 1921 from the 'Japan' mark. This piece has design elements of Nippon but should not be confused with that. I paid a pittance for this piece in a thrift store.

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This is an unusually shaped porcelain plate...with some gold application over the brown tone transfer design with gilding. The mark is half missing and is unclear...a little sleuthing and this is Victoria pattern probably by Hanley circa 1890-1900. Just was a very pretty dish I paid 99 cents for, will keep maybe.

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Part of the mark is missing, the pattern is Victoria and England

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 A bag of game pieces for 25 cents, a soap dish, marked Germany in starburst oval, and one of my favorites, a bowl with a chip---Indian Tree---which I will use for mosaics.

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Funky chrome tray---going to be used for a bird feeder, 99cents on top of a rattan storage/picnic basket, I plan to use in the craft room for $3.99.

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This is a magazine rack for on the wall, elaborately cutout and engraved wood and the original finish. Probably circa 1880-90. I think it will look adorable painted and used for towels. This piece was $6.00

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More storage pieces---I'm planning a redo of the craft room (hellhole) in the basement and have been collecting vintage storage anything to utilize. Basket was $6.00 and in primo condition, tins are always under $1.00.

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Grandma's pretend stash continues to grow---a cute purse for the grand with a bamboo handle, 99cents. She loves purses and is getting quite a collection at Grandma's house for dress-up. The little bird dish I have had for awhile, has a ding in it, but the Grand thinks it's special.

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Can't help but pick up vintage Barbie anything in good condition. The grand used this to pack up Grandmas' Barbie and Ken for a trip to see Great-grandma in Wisconsin. It worked like a charm and the new picture on the front was  a hit.

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Circa 2002 Barbie case...inside needed nothing to be functional, held three dolls and their entire weekends wardrobe. Perfect for a 4 hour car ride.

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Not my style---but in such good condition I couldn't pass it up---a master jewelry box circa 1950-60's for $5.00 with some jewelry in it. I see a redo in it's future---and will probably use this for storage and for a show---if I every do one again.

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I know this isn't vintage...but the hysterical photo on both sides is a STITCH, fully dressed/suits English sunbathers from the 1940-50's. And it is such a great purse with leather handles,  its labeled inside and out Anya Hindmarch, London. I paid $3.00, similar bags on secondary markets are listed for $150-$450 dollars...who knew? Apparently Anya is hot stuff in the 'Label' market. I may have to consider a resell on this item.

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Two sweet pins, the enameled bird $4.00 and the black white cloisonné at $1.00

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On the right I picked up two lengths of unused rayon/barkcloth lightweight in this charming Oriental print on a natural background. I can't help but think of Anna and the King of Siam first a book, play and then the musical, King and I.  The two pieces are perfect---$3.00 each.

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The lace piece is the finest of linen with such beautiful work done in open cutouts. This is a squared piece perfect for a tea table. It will have to be ironed, but I think I can find my board. $2.00.

I really love the corners.

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And last 5 assorted larger than placemat sized crocheted pieces, in the rayon silky thread---in ivory, white and ecru. These were all perfect and unstained, an $.25 cents each.

So tucked away for projects-- these are my finds for May---Happy hunting! And as always, I appreciate your comments and questions.


All the opinions and photographs in this blog are my own, I have not been paid or reimbursed in anyway for my opinions or posts. Please do not use photos without linking back to this blog. Thank you for your cooperation, Sandi Magle

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