Just to make life difficult for the collector, some items do and others do not have, a backstamp. The golden rule of thumb here is - does it feel right, does it have raised bandings, do I want to part with my hard earned cash for something without 100% credibility?
To complicate things further, some of the earlier pieces did not always have raised bandings - examples being tureen dish lids etc with hand painted stripes, early cheese/butter dishes and the very early rolling pins (contrary to popular public belief, the ridged rolling pins were in production until approximately 1960 and then became unridged plain white barrels with blue painted handles or unridged blue banded barrels. The unridged blue and white ones are nearly all earlier than the ridged ones as far as we have been able to ascertain, after seeing many examples over the years.
Additionally there are genuine earlier pieces that have only 'Made in England' printed on them - this should usually be in GREEN and is usually (but is not always!) shaped in a half moon or semi-circle. These date primarily from the 1930’s/40's and are often found on plates, bowls, rolling pins etc and also on some Caddy Storage.
Another exception to the rule is generally smaller or difficult pieces to apply a stamp to, e.g. salt & pepper pots. Quite often these will have a green or black inked ‘ENGLAND’ or ‘MADE IN ENGLAND’ to the inside of the piece underneath the shaker holes - this applies from early pieces right up to modern 1980’s pieces. Occasionally also on egg cups. Also in the 1990’s when Cloverleaf owned T.G. Green they did not always apply a backstamp to many small pieces and these are often found with just a printed date stamp e.g. ‘02:92’
Don't be confused with other Staffordshire potteries that often have an indented 'Made in England' or 'Chefware' etc stamp - this is NOT genuine Cornish ware.
Earliest recorded backstamp
This backstamp has been recorded on at least two blue banded Cornish ware dreadnought jugs and the consensus of opinion is it predates the general accepted start of manufacture for Cornish Kitchen Ware as we know it - the mark was used by TG Green from the early 1900’s and from the style of the dreadnought jugs it has been seen on we would estimate a date of c. 1925 or thereabouts.
Recently seven pieces of Early Church with Green painted bands have been unearthed. These all appear to be genuine and we are lucky enough to have 3 pieces here in our private collection. They are possibly an early trial or possibly somebody in the factory making some pieces in a different colour for themselves.
The vast majority of older Cornish Ware has either a black or a green. Most storage jars with lettered names have the black shield - be VARY WARY of named jars with a Green Shield which have been known to be plain jars that have been "faked". This does not apply to all jars but is worth noting!
You will find genuine green shields on some of the named pieces such as oil, vinegar and sauce bottles and butter dishes, so do not be afraid of these! It is just the storage jars to be careful of. Both of the normal shield markings occasionally have a letter in the same ink directly above the shield - the letter 'O' seems to crop up a reasonable amount of times. We are not sure of exactly what this means.
In the late 1950’s the Swedish designer Berit Ternell designed some new ovenware pieces, the first major ‘contemporary’ change to the Cornish Ware range since its launch in the 1920’s. All of these pieces have the Green Shield backstamp and unglazed bases.
Virtually all 'old' Yellow and White has a green shield rather than a black shield, and the earlier pre Judith Onions redesign Gold and White Cornishware also bears the Green Shield. If you find a piece of Red & White Cornish ware with a shield backstamp it is either a) an extremely rare test piece or b) a deliberate fake attempt (red painted over blue for example).
Judith Onions (JO) restyled the Cornish Ware range in 1967, with most of the redesigned shapes remaining in production until well after Cloverleaf purchased T.G. Green in the late 1980’s. Generally most pieces were 'straightened out' in line with the modernism of the time. So curves were generally replaced with clean lines. The main exception was a redesign of some small pudding bowls and large batter bowls into a globe shape, and the wonderfully kidney shaped cruet set base tray.
Most Gold and White Cornishware has a JO target mark. Additionally there were several non commercial 'tests' done in varying banded colours and these are very desirable due to their rarity. Examples are brown, orange, lilac or black bands on white.
The target mark without JO reference is found on the trial colours and also on some of the commercially available pieces, e.g. a special range designed for Habitat in Navy blue & white (which did not last very long before being discontinued).
Cloverleaf realised the potential of trying out other colours, and the 1990’s saw the introduction of Teal Green, Country Road Green, Lime & White, the first commercially available Black & White and the reintroduction of Yellow & White and a brief reintroduction of a specially commissioned Navy & White for Marks & Spencer. The new colours did not get produced for very long before the decision was made to cease and stick to the traditional blue & white, so these pieces are now becoming quite collectible in their own right.
Towards the late 1990’s Cloverleaf once again changed the shape of much of the traditional blue & white Cornishware (e.g. conical shaped jars) - and added a twist with many pieces having beech lids or attachments. Also the now very popular wall clock was introduced briefly c. 1998 – do not be surprised to find one which purports to be ‘Microwave & Dishwasher Safe’ according to its backstamp, but please do not try it(!). Cloverleaf did stamp some of their later items with an ‘S’ meaning a “second” - there is usually very little to fault them however.
The Cornish Collectors Club ran a series of limited editions only available to Club members during the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. Several variations exist using Cloverleaf’s backstamp and also a Blue Shield very similar to the original Black & Green shield. Some of the pieces also have printed limited edition numbers and many were accompanied with limited edition ‘authenticity’ cards showing their individual number. Unfortunately the club is no longer in existence.
Now branded as 'The Original Cornish Blue', Mason Cash & Co bought T.G. Green from Cloverleaf in 2001.
Mason Cash continued to use a lot of Cloverleaf period redesigns and gradually brought in some new ones and began a regular run of ‘limited availibilty’ pieces. Unfortunately the company soon faced financial hardship and declared voluntary liquidation.
In April 2004 Mason Cash & Co were purchased by the Table Top Co.(TTC) Items are still produced under TTC’s ownership with Mason Cash/T.G. Green backstamps.
Mid-2004 - some new ‘Gold & White’ cornishware was being produced with impressed Mason Cash markings and no reference to T G Green whatsover.
Spring 2005 - saw the launch of ‘Cornish Colours’ - a limited availbility run of certain pieces (boxed breakfast sets, mugs etc) in some interesting colours: Yellow & White, Baby Blue & White, Pink & White, Black & White. These have a Cornish Colours backstamp (not pictured).
August 2005 - Cornish Sage launched along with the relaunch of Blue Domino! Another new colour to add to the list and another new backstamp.
Quick GuideThe following chart gives a quick quide to approx dates for backstamps and colours that were available - its not a precise science but a good approximation:
