The Most Popular China Pattern In The World (Part one of a five part series)

This Guide will provide a seller or buyer with enough information to determine that the Old Country Roses china pattern or piece in question is genuine, correctly described and from approximately when it was manufactured.

This range of English bone china tableware from Royal Albert is renowned the world over, with more than 100 million pieces produced and sold. The Harold Holdcroft inspired Old Country Roses (OCR) was launched in 1962. Originally planned to be called Treasure Garden, Harold Holdcroft MSIA FRSA NRD, Royal Albert's Art Director, based his design on the 1921 pattern King's Ransom.

King's Ransom                                    Old Country Roses

The design was a result of years of work by Harold Holdcroft who said; We decided to incorporate all the ingredients we knew would be acceptable, richness of colour, softness of colour, good quality and a good value look. All these qualities are incorporated in the pattern. It has lush deep red roses, warmth from the tea roses, delicacy from the bluish pink and an overall softening off of the pattern by using a shade of soft warm green. The rich gold stipple trim gives the sprays continuity and the china good value for money.

Enhanced by the elegant traditional Royal Albert Montrose shape and the attractive scalloped edges finished in 22k gold, from the twist and curl of the teacup handles to the fluted trim on the teapot lid....the attention to detail has contributed to a superb original design.

BACKSTAMPS

Where size allowed, all English produced backstamps consisted of :

Floral Spray.... 3 roses - red, yellow and pink against a green leaf background

Pattern Name.... Old Country Roses in red

Trade Name..... ROYAL ALBERT or ROYAL ALBERT (r)

Type of China... BONE CHINA

Country of Manufacture... ENGLAND or MADE IN ENGLAND

Copyright... (c) ROYAL ALBERT LTD 1962 or (c) 1962 ROYAL ALBERT LTD

as shown below

 Original 1962 - 1973

 C- Royal 1973-1993

 C- 1962 Royal 1973 -1993

 CR - 1962 Royal 1993 - 2002

 CR - 1962 Royal M 1993 - 2002

After checking literally thousands of listings, these five backstamps seem to be the only English manufactured range. The first four were used for tableware and the fifth for specialty and gift items. There is an additional backstamp which mentions "ENGLAND" but also says "MADE UNDER LICENCE" and it is strongly suspected that it would be in Asia, not another company in England.

Maybe in the future, a more standard description of these backstamps could be for example:

Original, C-Royal 1962, C-1962 Royal, CR-1962 Royal and CRM-1962 Royal

or Original, C-ROYAL, C-1962, CR-1962, and CRM-1962 

FACTORY SECONDS

Whenever a product was too good to discard but not good enough to meet the factory's first quality standard, the backstamp was scratched or marked and then either given to staff or sold in staff or retail stores at a discounted price, usually 50% or even more.

The method of marking the underside to indicate a second was varied. It would have depended on what stage the flaw was discovered. The backstamp transfer could be partially cut or pinholed. Common flaws of seconds were; mis-alignment of graphic transfer, size variation, glazing or gilding flaw, a minor impurity or firing pitting, colour variation etc. Please note that gilders often put a test mark on the back/bottom....it does not indicate a flaw, it was simply used to test the gilding or sometimes to identify the production team.

Do not believe a claim that a second quality is as good as a first quality, the seller is just admitting that they cannot see the flaw. The item became a second for a specific reason. It may have been minor but it was enough for the manufacturer not to risk their reputation. You would be surprised just how many seconds were manufactured of this pattern.

Don't be afraid to ask questions such as...

Can you explain in more detail why you have described this item as mint condition and what is your return policy if we do not agree with your claim?

Is this an actual photo of the item and it's backstamp?

For additional photos, see part 5.

 Notice how the rose has been defaced

ASIAN OCR:

Production in Asia started as early as 1998 and by December 20, 2002. most of Royal Albert's production including Old Country Roses, was transferred to Indonesia, and some to China. Indonesian backstamps are mainly detectable by the absence of the word ENGLAND. Apart from that, they look the same as the English one to the untrained or unwary eye.

 Notice that just the word "England" is missing

 "Bone China" is replaced with "Made in China"

For additional photos see part 4.

The four most common mistakes people make when buying Old Country Roses;

• Buying Indonesian or Chinese OCR and thinking it is English
• Buying 1962 backstamps in the belief that it is the year of manufacture
• Buying factory seconds thinking they are first quality
• Not checking descriptions for accurate condition of product

SUMMARY

If you want to get what you paid for, look closely at the photos, the backstamp and the item description. From that and the above information, you will be able to determine where and approximately when it was manufactured, if it is first or second quality and the actual condition of the item.

I will be posting four more guides that contain more photos:

Part 2/5 1973-1993 More Old Country Roses English Backstamps

Part 3/5 1993-2002 More Old Country Roses English Backstamps

Part 4/5 1998+ More Old Country Roses Asian Backstamps

Part 5/5 More Old Country Roses Factory Seconds Backstamps

Good luck and pay attention to what you are buying or selling!