Mason's Ironstone "Regency" Advertising Plaque - Rare Collectible Item

• Regency Period - The Regency period in English furniture design refers to the period when King George III, was declared unfit to rule in 1811, and his son ruled as proxy as Prince Regent, until 1820, and then, after the death of his father as George IV until his death in 1830. The Regency period was preceded by the Georgian period (George I, George II, and George III: 1714 - 1811), and was followed by the William IV period, which only lasted until 1837 when William IV died as was succeeded by Queen Victoria.
• 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
• Ironstone China - Credit for the invention of ironstone china is generally accorded to Charles Mason in 1813. Charles Mason was one of the two sons of Miles Mason who founded the Mason works in 1802, and ran the business with his brother George Mason.
  
  Ironstone was a heavy hard earthenware which was slightly translucent, its strength supposedly coming from a very small quantity of iron slag added to the mixture. The additional strength enabled the company to make larger objects that were not susceptible to breakage.
  
  The company manufactured dinner wares, toilet sets, tureens, jugs and so on, and the most popular patterns were blue and white, floral and Oriental Imari style colours.
  
  The trade name "Patent Ironstone China" was registered by the company in 1813, but the patent was only valid for 14 years and was not renewed, enabling other potteries to use the word "ironstone" in describing their wares.
  
  Mason wares are generally well marked with "Mason's Patent Ironstone China" .

This item has been included into following indexes:

• Mason's Ironstone China (England) - other items 112
• plaques - ceramic, various makers 403