Antique Meissen Marks

Not all blue crossed swords marks are genuine Meissen marks.
Knowing what to look for and the dates that are relevant to each Meissen mark can help you avoid buying
imitation Meissen porcelain.
You should remember that the marks detailed below are mostly drawn by hand and that slight variations in
the format occur and the mark only supports the source and doesnt testify to it.
The true test of an antique Meissen porcelain piece is always the overall quality of the object and the
quality of the decoration.

The Meissen Blue Crossed Swords and Augustus Rex marks.

1723-1725 Original kpm

mark with blue crossed swords beneath.

1825-1924
blue crossed swords mark with
curved handles

1725-1732 Original
blue crossed swords mark with curved
crosspieces and handles.

1924-1934
blue crossed swords mark with dot
between top of blades.

1732-1773 Dot
period blue crossed swords mark with dot
between crosspieces.

1945-1947
blue crossed swords mark with
crescent below.

1773-1814
Marcolini period blue crossed swords
mark with asterix below or between
crosspieces.

1947-1973
blue crossed swords mark with
straight crosspieces.

1814-1824 blue
crossed swords mark with straight hilts
and vertical bar below

1974 blue
crossed swords mark with meissen
name in logotype script below.

Meissen incised marks, rather than underglaze, used on biscuit porcelain and
white glazed porcelain:

1774-1814 incised mark on biscuit porcelain.

1900 incised mark on white glazed porcelain.

1814 incised mark on biscuit porcelain.

Samples of actual meissen marks

The Meissen Augustus Rex Mark.

The augustus rex mark or monogram (AR) was introduced by Meissen in the first half of the 18th century
when the crossed swords were introduced.

The Meissen AR monogram was a special mark reserved for objects

used by the court of Elector August the Strong, founder of the
Meissen factory and later reigning monarch of Poland, King August
II.

It was also added to pieces produced for the court of his son, August III, who succeeded him in 1733.

All court pieces were marked with the AR monogram, and occasionally the mark was added to
gifts produced for royal visitors.

The mark was always applied by hand, in underglaze blue, and some variations exist.
However pieces marked with the AR monogram were produced in the very early days of the meissen
factory and are mostly decorated with oriental motifs, in the Bottger chinoiserie or the kakiemon style.
It goes without saying that surviving pieces are very rare and very expensive and that there are almost
none available on the open market. Most if not all of the existing pieces are part of Royal or museum
collections.

You do see AR marked porcelain for sale at auctions on internet auction sites and at
fairs and markets
And buyers should be aware that they are probably all imitations, most having been produced in the
second half of the 19th century.
Most imitations will be colourful and completely different in style from the original early 18th century
meissen pieces.

In the 1880s Meissen did take legal steps and attempt to stop the imitations (as they have also
done with their crossed swords mark), but as with todays modern market, the general public are quite
willing to accept imitations at the right price and the copies continue to be produced throughout europe.
Read on for a selection of the imitators, including the almost perfect and very popular imitator, Helena
Wolfsohn.

The Meissen blue crossed sword mark IMITATORS.

Anspach (Germany Nassau)

Founded c1860
Used From: 1860 onwards

Arnstadt (Germany Thuringia)

Founded in 1790
Used From: 1790 onwards
A small factory in production for a very short time.

Berlin (Germany Prussia)

Founded in 1751 By: Wilhelm Caspar Wegely

Used From: 1751-1757
The Wegely factory (Manufacture de Porcelaine de Berlin) produced mainly figurines in the
Meissen and Vienna style. Wegely was forced to close his factory in 1757 due to financial
problems.

Bristol (England Gloucester)

Founded in 1770 By William Cookworthy Richard Champion

Used From: 1772-1782
William Cookworthy set up a porcelain factory at Plymouth in 1768, which he moved to
Bristol around 1770. In 1772 he sold his patent to make porcelain to Richard Champion, who
then sold it due to financial problems; to a consortium of Staffordshire potteries in 1782. The
factory in Bristol was closed not long after.

Bristol (England Gloucester)

Founded in 1749 By: William Miller and Benjamin Lund

Used From: 1749-1752
Already operating as a glass making company in 1749 when they began manufacturing softpaste porcelain. In 1752 William Lund sold the porcelain department to theWorcester factory.

Buschbad (Germany)

Founded in 1886 By: L. Schleich

Period: 1886 ca. 1927. Produced mainly household porcelain, with some decorative wares.
Factory closed in 1927.

Dresden (Germany Saxony)

Founded in 1894 By Franziska Hirsch

Used from: 1894 1896
In 1894 Franziska Hirsch founded a painting studio located in Struwestrasse 19 where
porcelain was decorated in the Meissen style.
In 1896 the Meissen factory submitted an official complaint against Hirsch for the imitation
of their patented factory mark. The complaint was upheld and Hirsch was forbidden any
further use of the mark.

Caughley (England Shropshire)

Founded in 1755 By: Gallimore Thomas Turner

Used From: 1772-1799
Thomas Turner, a porcelain-painter from Worcester married the daughter of Gallimore and
introduced soft-paste porcelain to the production around 1772. In 1799 the factory was

bought by John Rose, the owner of the Coalport factory. Rose transferred production and
used factory as a warehouse. Factory closed in 1814.

Charlottenbrunn (Germany Silesia)

Founded in 1859 By: Joseph Schachtel

Used From: ca. 1866
The Charlottenbrunn factory specialised in the production of porcelain pipes. WIth some
general household porcelain and a few decorative wares. Factory closed in 1920.

Chelsea (England London)

Founded in 1743 By: Charles Gouyn Nicholas Sprimont

Used From: 1755-1758
The first English porcelain factory. Nicholas Sprimont, sole owner from 1749 put the factory
up for sale in 1763 due to illness. In 1769 it was purchased by James Cox, who resold it in
1770 to William Duesbury, the owner of the Derby factory. Both companies merged
afterwards (Chelsea-Derby period).

Choisy-le-Roy (France Seine)

Founded in 1786 By: M. Clment

Used From: 1786 1886
In 1886, after an official complaint by Meissen, Choisy-le-Roy was forbidden to make further
use of the crossed swords mark.

Derby (England Derbyshire)

Founded in 1756 By Planch, John Heath and William Duesbury

Used From: Last quarter of the 18th century
The first factory was set up in 1745 by Thomas Briand and James Marchand, but lasted for
only a short period. The second attempt, by William Duesbury in 1756, was more succesful:
the Derby factory is still operational today.
Its products were advertised using the slogan "Derby the second Dresden", directly relating
it to Meissen and high quality porcelain. In 1784 Derby merged with the Chelsea factory.

Dresden (Germany Saxony)

Founded at the end of the 19thcentury By Meyers.

Used From: End of the 19thcentury
This was not a porcelain factory but a company and eventually a selection of companies and
decorators who decorated porcelain in the Meissen style.

The Meissen Augustus Rex mark imitators.

The Augustus Rex monogram (AR) was introduced by Meissen in the first half of the 18th century and
other manufacturers quickly saw the advantage of including a pseudo AR mark on their own porcelain
wares.

The list below details the best of these and includes English and
European makers marks.

Helena Wolfsohn Dresden (Germany Saxony)

Founded in 1843 by Helena Wolfsohn

Used: c1880s
Helena Wolfsohn wasnt a porcelain manufacturer but rather a painting studio that decorated externally
bought porcelain.
However, the AR monogram on early wares is often under the glaze and its safe to assume pieces were
ordered with the mark applied before firing. The Wolfsohn mark is one of the best examples of the
Augustus Rex mark you will find.

Bauscher Brothers Weiden (Germany Pfaltz)

Founded in 1881 by the Bauscher Brothers

Used : c1882

The Bauscher Brothers founded their Porcelain factory in 1881 producing table wares for railroad and
shipping companies. In 1927 the company was taken over by the Lorenz Hutschenreuter AG from Selb.
The mark shown was registered in the RWZR (Weiden district) on the 7th of November 1882 and is
actually AB and not AR but the style is intended to mirror the Augustus Rex mark.

Blot Mehun-sur-Yvre (France)

Founded in 1920 by Albert Blot

Used from: 1930 1941
Although this is clearly a monogram depicting "AB" (after the founder), it cannot be denied that the style is
clearly influenced by the Augustus Rex monogram of the Meissen factory. The factory of Albert Blot
started already as a quite large company and employed more than 100 workers. The factory did not
produce real art porcelain but was more focussed on table wares.

Boussomaert Arras (France)

Founded in 1770 by Joseph Franois Boussomaert

Used from: 1770 1790
The Arras porcelain factory was founded in 1770 by Joseph Franois Boussomaert under the protection
of M. de Calonne, the governor of Flanders and Artois. However, the Arras factory only produced soft
paste porcelain which was painted in the style of the Tournai and Chantilly factories.
The factory was closed in 1790.

Anton Richter Dresden (Germany Saxony)

Founded in 1887 by : Anton Richter

Used: from 1887
Anton Richter did not manufacture porcelain and the speciality of the studio was decorating porcelain in
the Vienna and Meissen styles. Richters studio of Richter did win the Dresden silver medal award for
porcelain decoration in 1891 and in 1896. The AR was probably used to add credibility and as it matched
Richters initials.

Hutschenreuther Hohenberg (Germany Hohenberg)

Founded in 1822 by Carl Magnus Hutschenreuther

Used : c1882
Set up by Carl Magnus Hutschenreuther, a porcelain painter who once worked at the Wallendorf factory.
The mark is actually HR and not AR however the form displays a clear intention to fool the uneducated
buyer. The "Porzellanfabrik C.M. Hutschenreuter is still one of the biggest porcelain factories in Germany.

Tinelli Milano (Italy)

Founded in 1833 by Luigi Tinelli

Used : c1850
Originally Tinelli imitated wares from the Wedgwood factory and marked them with his own mark. In
1841 the factory was taken over by his brother Carlo Tinelli and Giulio Richard, then in 1870 Giulio
Richard gained full control and in 1873 renamed it to "Societ Ceramica Richard". The mark would never
fool a knowledgeable collector but is clearly designed to imitate the Augustus Rex Mark.

Its always worth repeating that the Meissen marks detailed above only support the source
as Meissen Porcelain and that the mark doesnt always testify to the authenticity of a piece.