Pair vintage Royal Crown Derby serving dishes gilded cobalt…
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Pair vintage Royal Crown Derby serving dishes gilded cobalt blue decoration, marked to bases and reg no 710700, width 26 cm each.

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  • 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.

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