DUMFRIES ANTIQUE BOTTLES

Home

Dating Victorian Items

There are several characteristic mould marks found on some antique bottles which can be used to assist in the dating of the bottle. These mould marks include the use of the Registered Design Number (Rd No ......) and the Diamond Registration Mark.

 

Diamond Registration Mark
 

The diamond registration number system was employed between the years 1842 and 1883. During this time, manufacturers of bottles could register their original designs with the patents office. Besides indicating that the design had been registered, the diamond mark offered the buyer the reassurance of knowing an item was of British design. The use of the diamond registration mark gave the person who registered the design some protection from imitations and copies made by other manufacturers.

The protection was dependent on the type of material and the class in which the product was placed. The mark was created to identify the type of material used (known as the class), how many items were included (known as either bundles or packages), and the date of registration. Note that the registration number does not form part of the mark. In the centre of the diamond is the abbreviation Rd signifying that this is a Patent Office mark standing for Registered Design.

The diamond registration mark bears a diamond with a number or letter contained within each of its four corners. The four letters / numbers represent the year, month, day of the month, and bundle number of each day (entry). The same configuration of letters / numbers was used from the years 1842-1867 when its configuration was changed. The new configuration of letters / numbers was used between the years 1868-1883. After this date the "REGISTERED DESIGN NUMBER (Rd ....)" system was employed.
 

Tony Hayter has developed an automatic translator for the Victorian lozenge shaped design registration marks that are found on all English antique glass items registered between 1842
 and 1883. Click on the following registration mark to view his site -

 

Month Registration Letters

Diamond Registration Marks

Year Registration Letters

Diamond Registration Marks

Exception Notes
 

In 1857 the month letter R was used during 1-19 September.

In 1860 the month letter K was used for December.

In 1878 the letter W was used for the year in place of D between 1-6 March, and G
was used for the month instead of W.