The standard printed Royal Worcester factory marks, included the number 51 in the centre that refers to the year 1751 when the Worcester Porcelain Company was founded by Dr John Wall. The mark can appear in any colour, and on a variety of materials.
The marks almost always included a code to indicate the year of manufacture.
Between 1862 and 1875 specific indications of the year of manufacture are rare but may sometimes be found in the form of the last two figures of the date, eg 75 for 1875, printed below the standard mark.
From 1867 a letter system was also used to indicate the year of manufacture. From 1876 the crown sits down to fit the circle.
| A = 1867 | B = 1868 | C = 1869 | D = 1870 |
| E = 1871 | G = 1872 | H = 1873 | I = 1874 |
| K = 1875 | L = 1876 | M = 1877 | N = 1878 |
| P = 1879 | R = 1880 | S = 1881 | T = 1882 |
| U = 1883 | V = 1884 | W = 1885 | X = 1886 |
| Y = 1887 | Z = 1888 | O = 1889 | a = 1890 |
From 1891 pieces were coded with a system of dots and/or symbols with the addition of the words ‘Royal Worcester England’.
| 1891 = | ‘Royal Worcester England’ added |
| 1892 = | One dot |
| 1893 = | Two dots |
| 1894 = | Three dots |
This system continued until 1915 when 24 dots are arranged around the standard printed mark. From 1916 a small star or asterisk appears below the mark.
| 1916 = | * below the mark |
| 1917 = | * and one dot |
| 1918 = | * and two dots |
An extra dot was added each year until 1927 when 11 dots are arranged around the standard printed mark.
| 1928 = | Oblong shape and the words ‘Made in England’ added |
| 1929 = | Diamond shape and Made in England |
| 1930 = | Division mark and Made in England |
| 1931 = | Two circles and Made in England |
| 1932 = | Three circles and Made in England |
| 1933 = | Three circles and one dot and Made in England |
| 1934 = | Three circles and two dots and Made in England |
| 1935 = | Three circles and three dots and Made in England |
This continued until 1941 when there were 9 dots and the triple circle mark. Between 1942 and 1948 no date code was used in the mark.
| 1949 = | the letter V was introduced, ENGLAND added |
| 1950 = | the letter W |
| 1951 = | the letter W .(with one dot) |
| 1952 = | the letter W ..(with two dots) |
| 1953 = | the letter W …(with three dots) |
| 1954 = | the letter W ….(with four dots) |
| 1955 = | the letter W …..(with five dots) |
| 1956 = | the letter W or R in a circle ……(with six dots) |
This series of codes on the Royal Worcester factory marks continued until the 1960s when the dots are arranged around the R (signifying registered) in a circle. From 1966 the date coding system was rarely used and from the mid 1960s, a different format of factory stamp was also adopted for bone china tableware. The date included is the year of introduction of the design, not the date of manufacture.
In April 1988 a system of year of manufacture identification that fitted with that used by Spode was introduced and an M within a diamond was incorporated below the factory mark. In January 1989 new factory stamps were used with an N in a diamond under the mark. Soon afterward black numbers were introduced to identify the lithographer. These numbers were replaced with grey ones in August to reduce their visual impact.
In 1990 all factory stamps reverted to the R in a circle under the mark. A printed grey lithographer identification number (eg 39) was used, plus a suffix to signify the year of manufacture.
| Printed in grey | Printed in white |
| 39-0 = 1990 | 39-00 = 2000 |
| 39-1 = 1991 | 39-01 = 2001 |
| 39-2 = 1992 | 39-02 = 2002 |
| 39-3 = 1993 | 39–03 = 2003 |
| 39-4 = 1994 | 39–04 = 2004 |
| 39-5 = 1995 | 39-05 = 2005 |
| 39-6 = 1996 | 39–06 = 2006 |
| 39–7 = 1997 | |
| 39–8 = 1998 | |
| 39–9 = 1999 |
In the 1980s and 1990s some ranges of decorative pieces such as collectors plates and figurines were printed with very elaborate marks that include designers names, issue numbers and series names. A huge variety of marks were used and most are self explanatory.
Other materials – Since the 1880s separate systems of marks have been used for items made of earthenware (crownware) and Royal Worcester Vitreous. These sometimes follow the same dot code system, but hard porcelain rarely has any code and is therefore much more difficult to identify.
Dating porcelain