# Dating English Porcelain

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dating-english-porcelain/179592>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 4, 2003, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dating-english-porcelain/179592 "2003-06-04T13:59:41Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\
**Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dating-english-porcelain/179592/1 "2003-06-04T13:59:41Z")

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On Bargain Hunt, a BBC TV show, a certain piece of English porcelain was discovered to have a trademark with the word “England” on the underside. The host of the show made a comment that you know that it therefore must have been produced after 1881 (possibly he said 1891). How do we know this?

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**Author:** ![NutMagnet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea5d25/32.png) [@NutMagnet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NutMagnet)\
**Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dating-english-porcelain/179592/2 "2003-06-04T14:06:00Z")

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**[sub]Dating English Porcelain[/sub]**  
I’d prefer to date English **Girls**

Because the English porcelain industry, or that particular maker, wasn’t establish until then?

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**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\
**Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dating-english-porcelain/179592/3 "2003-06-04T14:20:44Z")

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This [page](http://www.thepotteries.org/mark/general.htm) explains the general principles. It would appear the date you heard was 1891, with those particular marks having been introduced as a result of the 1890 McKinley Tariff Act.