Pottery Mark Query - G H with Crown

by Todd
(Burton, UK)

Pottery Mark Query - G H with Crown:- hi there,

i have two porcelain fighting cock figures that i am trying to identify and wondered if you could help. i inherited the figures some time ago and thought it nice to try and find out where my late granddad purchased these from.

on the base the word foreign is inscribed along with the mark which is in the photo i enclose.

i initially thought it may be German but am unsure.

i would appreciate any help you may be able to give.

thanks

Todd.

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Reply from Peter (admin) below - just scroll down

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Reply by Peter (admin)

To:- Pottery Mark Query - G H with Crown

Hello Todd

This 'G' stands for Gräfenthal, a town in Thuringia, East Germany.

But at first I thought this mark might be Greiner & Herda, which is the only G H mark I could find in my books - but the mark was not quite the same as the most recorded mark of GH which has only three prongs and the G and H are either side of the crown, not underneath. The crown was the same graphic style apart from the number of the prongs. Greiner & Herda are a Bavarian firm from Oberkotzau, Greiner & Herda were founded in 1898 (some records state 1886). At first they were just decorators, but success led to making their own stuff. They mainly offered a range of highly decorated household items especially coffee and tea sets. The company was taken over in 1943 by Hans Neuerer and renamed Porzellanfabrik Neuerer. You can contact them as I think they still operate - www.porzellan-selb.de.

.......But! After further research, I found that this mark does not, in fact, say G H at all. It says 'G' for Gräfenthal, a town in Thuringia, East Germany. The two down-strokes are just graphic lines or arrows. Not at all confusing.

The company was started out as 'Porzellanfabrik Unger, Schneider & Cie' factory in 1859. It went through various mergers and changes of ownership.

In 1885 it became owned in part by Hermann Hutschenreuther, a relation of the famous name porcelain makers.

In 1886 it became the Carl Schneiders Erben factory.

In the 20th Century it became nationalized during the Soviet era.

In 1951 it was merged with the Carl Scheidig factory to form Porzellanfiguren Gräfenthal.

Porzellanfiguren Gräfenthal was dissolved in 1972 and Carl Schneiders Erben closed. Carl Scheidig Erben, however continued with the Gräfenthal name and still trades today.

The blue mark shown has been around from 1889 to 1972, so it is very hard to date.

Hope this helps.

Best regards,

Peter (admin)

p.s. The following page is a 'must see' if you are researching fine china - for value and identification:-

Researching the identity and value of antique and vintage fine china.

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