Symbol guide
B pottery mark
With a B pottery mark, a separate painted B outside a printed backstamp can identify a decorator or pattern series rather than the factory.
Separating the recorded variants
A complete B & Co or paired-initial stamp is more specific than a lone B. Retain ampersands and dots. A separate painted B outside a printed backstamp can identify a decorator or pattern series rather than the factory.
What to check next
Compare the complete maker examples below, including the mark technique and the position of every letter. A painted decorator initial outside a factory emblem and a letter inside the emblem can have different owners and purposes.
Related marks
1,007 marks
Undated
Van Briggle Pottery
Abbreviated VBPC die occurs on tiles rather than the full incised vase signature.
c. 1972–1979
W. Goebel, used on M. I. Hummel figurines
Company name is prominent and retains the V-and-bee between upper letter strokes.
Undated
Fratelli Mari
Full Fratelli Mari wording with a separate customer name and number; 1223 is not a year.
Undated
Bitossi / related Flavia production
B accompanies the model code; the country word alone is less specific.
c. From 1900
L. Bernardaud & Cie
Initials factory stamp paired with full-name Bernardaud decorating stamp.
c. 1800–1999
Volkstedt
Bauer & Bode factory mark, placed at the end of the 19th or beginning of the 20th century.
1950
Pisgah Forest Pottery / Walter B. Stephen
Painted full surname and year distinguish this from the impressed production stamps.
Undated
Bernard Leach
Personal BL square distinguishes Bernard’s seal from the circular St Ives workshop seal.
c. 1841–1873
Minton & Co
Byzantine pattern registered 6 June 1870; the printed-mark style is dated approximately 1841–1873.
c. 1700–1899
Derby
Dated from the second half of the eighteenth century to the beginning of the nineteenth; an imitation of the Sèvres mark.
Compare the maker’s other marks
MeissenBybee PotteryVan BriggleM. I. Hummel figurinesDeruta, ItalyDelftBitossiLimoges FranceVolkstedtBurgess & LeighWalter Benjamin StephenSèvresEichwaldBing & GrondahlBernard LeachCaughleyRosenthalMinton & CoDerbyCoalportGrimwades LtdBeswickS BridgwoodBernardaudNymphenburgFaenzaBowMoustiersCopenhagenEtruria PotteryBooths LtdNew Wharf Pottery CoViennaHollinshead & Kirkham (Ltd)Powell & BishopChelseaBishop & StonierLate MayersWorcesterSt. AmandNaplesRouenVilleroy & BochLilleFrankenthalParisKaiser-Porzellanmanufaktur Staffelstein GmbH & Co. KGUrbinoMarseillesVeniceG.M. Thurnauer Co. Inc.AmsterdamBonn Villeroy & BochKuznetsov plantGubbioBeatrice WoodGermanyPorzellanfabrik Mitterteich AGPorzellanfabrik und -malerei Erdmann SchlegelmilchVincennesDunn, Bennett & CoBirks, Rawlins & Co (Ltd)Empire Porcelain CoGibson & Sons (Ltd)J Sadler & SonsNeversRoyal BonnEisenbergJ H Weatherby & Sons (Ltd)John Tams & Son LtdOrleansPrimavesi & Son, earthenware, china, glass retailersBoch Freres, Keramis, Royal BochJohn BrittLimogesPorzellanmanufaktur Scheibe-Alsbach GmbHSavonaBristolBritish Anchor Pottery Co LtdFriedlander Buying ServiceGeorge BowesPorzellanfabrik F. WesselT HughesW Baker & CoApreyDr. George Gladstone Clayton George BaileyErdmann SchlegelmilchFord & SonsGiesche BoguciceSincenyLe NoveNurembergPalermoT & R BooteBarratt's of Staffordshire LtdBayreuth