http://restaurant-china.home.comcast.com/chinamarkreflist.htm

On site links:

China Manufacturer Mark Books
(Backstamp References)

and Distributor Marks

During five years of extensive research while writing Restaurant China Volume 1 and Volume 2, I contacted many companies worldwide to obtain mark (backstamp) information and also used several existing books of marks for reference (list follows). By the processes of comparison and deduction using these books, as well as thousands of samples of china and information obtained directly from manufacturers, I include in Restaurant China Volume 2 what I believe are accurate usage dates* for 950+ marks associated in particular with commercial tableware, but sometimes also found on household china. (Note: occasionally the period of commercial china mark usage differs from that of household china. The date ranges in the restaurant china book reflect use on commercial china only unless noted.)

Other China Manufacturer Mark Books

(content and purchase information on many of the following books can be found on the Miscellaneous Recommended Books page; simply click this link and scroll down to the China and Silver Mark Books group.

Encyclopedia of British Pottery and Porcelain Marks
by Geoffrey A. Godden F.R.S.A.
© 1964, reprinted with corrections in 1991
ISBN 0257657827

Marks on German, Bohemian and Austrian Porcelain 1710 to the Present
by Robert E. Rontgen
© 1981 Schiffer Publishing, Ltd.
ISBN 0916838382

East Liverpool, Ohio, Pottery District - Identification of Manufacturers and Marks
by Will C. Gates, Jr., and Dan E. Ormerod
© 1982 by the Society for Historical Archaeology
Historical Archaeology Volume 16, Number 1-2, 1982

Debolt's Dictionary of American Pottery Marks * Whiteware and Porcelain
by C. Gerald DeBolt
© 1994
Collector Books
ISBN 0891455396

Lehner's Encyclopedia of U.S. Marks on Pottery, Porcelain & Clay
by Lois Lehner
© 1988
Collector Books
ISBN 0891453652

Marks of American Potters
by Edwin Atlee Barber
© 1904
Patternson and White Co.

A Book of Marks
by W. Percival Jervis
© 1897

Godden's and Rontgen's are extraordinary, but limited in scope. The others are all quite worthwhile and when used together this small library of marks is very helpful.

For information on purchasing these books, see Miscellaneous Recommended
Books with Source Links and scroll down to China and Silver Mark Books

Like so many other people, I also used Kovels' New Dictionary of Marks. However, after learning accurate information directly from manufacturers and comparing date codes on the china itself, I was most disappointed to learn that a number (perhaps many) of the backstamps illustrated in Kovels' mark book include inaccurate information .........a situation which I have been told is common knowledge among very experienced collectors and dealers. Unfortunately these mark dates are often quoted by eBay sellers. If buyers believe the dates, they may buy an item based on incorrect data. Thus I felt obligated to share a few inaccurate dates with potential Kovel book buyers (see reviews below).

* Without exception, if the date code on a piece of china does not agree with the backstamp usage date range listed in any reference book, the date code must take precedence. Because many date codes are poorly stamped on ware (portions of letters or numbers are missing), it is always wise to recheck the code with a strong magnifying glass. Please see errata page at this site for an update on mark usage periods in Restaurant China Volume 2.

Reviews of Kovels' New Dictionary of Marks:
Pottery and Porcelain, 1850-Present
by Ralph M. Kovel, Terry H. Kovel (Contributor)

Review by Barbara Conroy, June 23, 1999:
While the layout, date code information, and index are very well done, many marks are dated incorrectly.... some off by decades. This is very misleading and frustrating. Due to the Kovels' apparent vast experience, collectors and dealers tend to believe whatever they write... right or wrong! As an author and china mark historian, I hope the Kovels remove any unverified mark usage dates in a future edition. To list a few examples, they say mark #195L is semiporcelain, 1886-1898. The correct information according to the manufacturer (then Onondaga Pottery; now Syracuse China) is vitrified china, 1897-1946. Also Kovels indicates mark 127J is a current mark, but this backstamp was actually used 1930s - early 1950s. Then there is mark #105N listed in Kovels as faience, 1891+, which should be porcelain, 1959-1969, according to the company. Other knowledgeable and observant collectors and dealers have noticed similar discrepancies.

Additional comments by Conroy:
When sellers on eBay say with authority that an item is pre-1900 citing erroneous information in Kovels' book (see Syracuse example noted in Conroy's review above) and the piece could be as late as 1946, it is very misleading to many buyers. Age is generally an important factor in determining value and no information at all is better than what appears to be a guess in Kovels' book. It seems as if dates and materials were entered arbitrarily when facts were unknown. Yet this book continues to sell extremely well! While it does occasionally serve as a first step before further research for those well educated in the field of pottery and porcelain, how useful is it if some and possibly many of the periods of manufacture are way off base and one cannot differentiate between the correct and the incorrect?????? All books contain errors: typos or instances where in-depth historical data gathered during thorough research supports the information offered, but later new facts are revealed. However, most authors make an effort to correct errors in subsequent editions. Unfortunately we have no reason to think the Kovels have ever made an attempt to do so with this book.

Interestingly enough, another person noted a similar problem in his review of:
Kovels' Dictionary of Marks : Pottery and Porcelain,1650-1850
by Ralph M. Kovel, Terry H. Kovel (Contributor)
in his November 21, 1999 review quoted here in its entirety:
"Too many mistakes.
Reviewer: Mr. Evgueni GOLOUBEV from France.
Rather complete book but-alas-full of mistakes in entries concerning German and Austrian porcelain. Take for example the Meissen porcelain: the authors put together in one large pile Meissen proper, Thieme factory, Fr.Hirsch, Helena Wolfsohn and other factories, though these are absolutely different things. The authors should make a bit of research before starting the project: What amazes me is that this is the 46th year in print and nobody ever corrected those mistakes."

Distributor Marks

A distributor is a middleman: he orders china from a manufacturer and supplies it to a customer. Distributor backstamps are non-standard marks, applied at the request of the supplier for advertising purposes. They almost always include both the manufacturer's and supplier's name. Tracking more than a few down is virtually an impossibility, because the companies have gone out of business, the employees are dead, and most of these marks were never registered. Distributor backstamps were commonly applied from the 1920s through the 1940s. After the 1960s very little commercial china was marked with the name of the distributor, though nearly all commercial tableware continues to be purchased through a distributor. See Restaurant China Volume 2, page 609, for additional information.