Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
How do you know when an antique print was popular? The brown transfer Columbia print is the most abundant in the museum. Mrs. Bjorn Garnaas of Sheyenne donated two soup plates, five dinner plates and a serving platter. The matching tureen was donated by the family of Dorothy Beardsley.
The backmark on this blue floral print platter reads "Elsmere" and "J.F.Wileman." By researching these two leads, I found this platter was produced by J.F. Wileman between 1866 and 1872. After 1872, the backmark would have read "Wileman & Co."
This soup plate was one of two donated in memory of Art and Elizabeth DuVall. "The last of my parents' first set of dishes." The lovely pattern was known as "Bramble" and was made in Tungstall, England by Alfred Meakin in the 1890s.
This decorative plate was among several mismatched dishes donated by Mrs. Bjorn Garnaas of Sheyenne. The "Sweet Pea" pattern was produced by J&C Meakin in Hanley, England in 1898.
A piece of authentic fine china will carry a backmark that indicates it was produced in China and display a distinctive luster. This particular "Geisha" print plate was donated by the Axel Fagerlund family.
During the holiday season, it is quite possible that you will find yourself dining upon fine china or other heirloom porcelain. If you do, then you have a great opportunity to take a look back in history.
First a little clarification on terminology. In American English, we often use the word china to refer to high-quality dishes. However, for historians and collectors, fine china has specific thin texture resulting from white kaolin clay and was primarily produced in China.
Porcelain has a similar sheen, but is fired at a higher temperature, resulting in a more durable product.
Semi-porcelain, or ironstone, was popularized in the late 1890s, as American pottery companies sought to make durable and aesthetic tableware.
Regardless of their origins, every fine platter or plate should have a back mark that denotes the maker, location and even the pattern name.
If you want to know more than that, you might want to photograph or sketch the back mark in question. Also be sure to consider imperfections in the marks.
Serious dinnerware enthusiasts might find it worthwhile to invest in a resource guide that displays these marks for easy reference. However, the internet is filled with resources regarding historic histories regarding pottery factories, factory location and ownership, and pattern trends. I made great progress by simply searching the maker's name, location and pattern, along with the words history and dinnerware.
Fine dinnerware could be found on the frontier just as well as the city. It was something people of the late 19th century valued enough to invest in and cherish.
Not every plate or platter will offer a spectacular story... but then again, you never know. There may be many other stories for these dishes to contain.
