Royal Worcester Australian Wildflower Series Plates

• Registered Numbers - Between 1842 and 1883, a diamond- shaped mark was used to identify items as British-made, which classified the item according to the material from which it was manufactured, as well as the date of registration. This system was discontinued in 1884 when a numbering system was introduced.
  
  Design registration is for "what and item looks like", and is not a patent ("how something works") or trade mark ("what it is called").
  
  The registered number is usually on an under-surface of an object (on the base of ceramics) and oftern shown as "Rd. No. 99999", sometimes surrounded by a rectangular box.
  
  The table below lists the year, and the first registered number for that year:
  
  1884 1
  
  1885 18,993
  
  1886 39,547
  
  1887 61,207
  
  1888 87,266
  
  1889 111,664
  
  1890 140,481
  
  1891 160,613
  
  1892 183,259
  
  1893 203,348
  
  1894 223,861
  
  1895 244,726
  
  1896 266,237
  
  1897 288,848
  
  1898 309,956
  
  1899 328,527
  
  1900 349,120
  
  1901 367,628
  
  1902 380,979
  
  1903 401,944
  
  1904 422,489
  
  1905 428,004
  
  1906 469,160
  
  1907 486,464
  
  1908 516,375
  
  1909 533,561
  
  1910 546,084
  
  1911 561,570
  
  1912 585,707
  
  1913 608,541
  
  1914 627,887
  
  1915 642,613
  
  1916 651,079
  
  1917 655,001
  
  1918 662,576
  
  1919 665,728
  
  1920 664,869
  
  1921 676,491
  
  1922 685,412
  
  1923 691,571
  
  1924 695,944
  
  1925 705,943
  
  1926 716,386
  
  1927 723,430
  
  1928 725,899
  
  1929 740,459
  
  1930 741,336
  
  1931 757,945
  
  1932 767,110
• Gilding - Gilding is a method of ornamentation whereby a thin sheet of gold metal is applied to items made of wood, leather, ceramics, glass and silver for decorative purposes.
  
  For furniture including mirrors, the sheet of gold is usually applied over a coating of gesso. Gesso is a mixture of plaster of Paris and gypsum mixed with water and then applied to the carved wooden frames of mirrors and picture frames as a base for applying the gold leaf. After numerous coats of gesso have been applied, allowed to dry and then sanded a coat of "bole", a usually red coloured mixture of clay and glue is brushed on and allowed to dry, after which the gold leaf is applied. Over time parts of the gilding will rub off so the base colour can be seen. In water gilding, this was generally a blue colour, while in oil gilding, the under layer was often yellow. In Victorian times, gilders frequently used red as a pigment beneath the gold leaf.
  
  Metal was often gilded by a process known as fire gilding. Gold mixed with mercury was applied and heated, causing the mercury to evaporate, the long-term effect of which was to kill or disable the craftsman or woman from mercury poisoning. The pursuit of beauty has claimed many victims, not the least of which were the artists who made those pieces so highly sought after today.

This item has been included into following indexes:

• Austin, Reginald (England) - Royal Worcester artists 82
• Hart, W. - Royal Worcester artists 9
• Rowan, Ellis - Royal Worcester artists 26
• Royal Worcester (England), item types
  • other 3,563
  • plates 601
• Shuck, Albert - Royal Worcester artists 45