Book Errata:

Introduction

The following is a list of errors or omissions found in various editions of reference books; it will expand as I dig up more. Hold in mind that these books have been around in different editions quite a while and that the translated versions differ from the originals so some errors may or may not be found in your edition. These errors may be relatively harmless but have been around for years, resulting in many misrepresentations and false conclusions which regulary confuse collectors.

This list does not really indicate if a book in its total is 'good' or not, it simply shows that one must learn how to use the information provided: for example the Danckert book may contain more single flaws than the Roentgen book of marks even though not only I claim that the latter is much worse. The reason is simple as one just has to take the amount of information into account that is given in each; Danckert includes much more text and goes through more history, thus his book is more prone to error and each error 'weighs less' in total.

J.P. Cushion (Pocket Book of German Ceramic Marks)

(e.g. Boston Book & Art Shop, Boston 1962)

• Kahla (Thuringia):
  'C.A. Lehmann & Sohn' was founded in 1895 and not in 1899 as claimed.

Ludwig Danckert (*1915, +1998): Handbuch des Europäischen Porzellans

(e.g. Prestel Books, Munich 1992, ISBN 3-7913-1173-5)

• Bodenbach (Bohemia):
  Info on some Schiller & Gerbing marks is wrong and there never was a tie to the Isleworth Pottery.
• Elsterwerda (Brandenburg):
  No entry for the facility in Elsterwerda.
• Gießhübel (Bohemia):
  One entry for that town shows information on a small factory founded 1891; the mark however can not be correct as it reads 'BAVARIAN CHINA' over 'GERMANY'.
• Gräfenthal (Thuringia):
  Entry on Porzellanfabrik Unger, Schneider & Cie. contains lot of errors. First, the comments on the awards received are correct from the dating, but note the wrong location in two cases as it was in Paris (not Melbourne) in 1878 and in Sydney (not Brussels) in 1879. Referring to the nationalized Porzellanfabrik Carl Schneiders Erben, the 1992 edition of this book shows a crowned '1877' claiming it to be the anniversary mark used 1934. Actually, the comments on the last two marks are totally wrong as the mark shown as 'anniversary' mark is that of the Porzellanmanufaktur Wagner & Apel during the period as 'V.E.B. Vereinigte Zierporzellanwerke Lichte' and the 'V.E.B. Gräfenthaler Porzellanfiguren' did not use a centralized 'V.E.B.' mark but let the facilities continue to use their own marks even if the text 'V.E.B. Gräfenthaler Porzellanfiguren' was sometimes used as standalone addition. Last but not least the first four marks shown are incorrectly attributed. These marks belong to the facility of Gotthelf Greiner from Großbreitenbach, as is shown by Dr. Rudi Greiner-Adam in his book 'Der Schwabenhans' (a great documentation on his anchestors).
• Hüttensteinach (Thuringia):
  Listed founding date of the 'Gebrüder Schoenau' factory wrong (was 1817, not 1865).
• Ilmenau (Thuringia):
  Entry on Porzellanfabrik Henneberg partially incorrect.
• Isleworth (England):
  Information explaining business relationship with Schiller & Gerbing is wrong.
• Lichte (Thuringia):
  The shown square doll mark number '61' is wrong, it's actually (as correctly noted in the text) number '161'.
• Neuhaldensleben (Saxony-Anhalt):
  The entry of Hugo Lonitz & Co. shows two marks, the one on the right (anchor and P S F) is incorrectly placed as it actually belongs to the following entry of Georg Bennewitz.
• Neuhaldensleben (Saxony-Anhalt):
  The entry of Gebrüder Hubbe shows no marks but at least one of them is listed in the appendix (section 'G'), it shows an anchor flanked by the initials 'G' and 'H' and is correctly attributed to 'Neuhaldensleben'.
• Rudolstadt-Volkstedt (Thuringia):
  Entry on Rudolf Kämmer incorrectly states his name as being Kämmner.
• Schorndorf (Baden-Württemberg):
  Entry on Württembergische Porzellanmanufaktur Bauer & Pfeiffer partially incorrect, especially when it comes to founding date; also the people initiating the founding were not 'Bauer & Rosenthal' as Bauer had quit that partnership a year before.
• Teplitz-Turn (Bohemia):
  No entry on Josef Strnact directly but the book instead indicates a decoration studio in 'Greising, Saxony' which is completely wrong - there evidently is no such town. The only towns named 'Greising' can be found in Bavaria or Austria but that's irrelevant as the Strnact decoration studio was actually located in the town of Geisingen (Baden-Wuerttemberg).
• Waldenburg (Silesia):
  Dating of Krister Porzellan-Manufaktur marks contains many obvious flaws, some marks are missing completely and the starting period history is wrong.
• Zell am Harmersbach (Baden-Württemberg):
  History of the Vereinigte Zeller Fabriken Georg Schmider partially incorrect.

Robert E. Roentgen: Marks on German, Bohemian and Austrian Porcelain

(e.g. Schiffer Publishing, Exton, Pa. 1981)

• Bodenbach (Bohemia):
  Info on some Schiller & Gerbing marks is wrong and there never was a tie to the Isleworth Pottery.
• Kahla (Thuringia):
  'C.A. Lehmann & Sohn' was founded 1895 and not in 1910 and did also not exist until 'circa 1935' but was officially closed in 1937.
• Kronach (Bavaria):
  Mark shown as Martha Budich is actually long proven to be that of Karl Klette.
• Mildeneichen & Raspenau (Bohemia):
  The 'Porzellanfabriken Robert Persch' (by then owned by 'G. Robrecht') did not close "some time in the 1920s" but closed 1930 as can be seen in the 'Adressbuch der Keramikindustrie'.
• Meissen (Saxony):
  Notes on 'Carl Thieme' and the complete proceedings regarding sales of licenses/rights/molds to Lorenz Hutschenreuther (Selb/Bavaria), Stockhardt & Schmidt-Eckert (Kronach/Bavaria) as well as Bloch in Czechoslovakia are incorrect and sometimes contradict in themselves.
• Plaue (Thuringia):
  The info on the 'von Schierholz' factory is full of errors and it is also claimed that the factory was bought by the 'Porzellanmanufaktur Tettau' in 1996 which is total codswallop as is was bought by 'Seltmann Weiden' and then put under control of mentioned subsidiary which Seltmann owned since 1957.
• Reichmannsdorf (Thuringia):
  The Porzellanfabrik Hermann Leube was founded in 1881 and not in 1945.
• Schweidnitz (Silesia):
  The 'decorating studio R.M. Krause' listed with 'ca. 1882-ca. 1929' actually is the the 'Majolica- und Steingut-Fabrik R.M. Krause' which definately existed from 1882 until 1930.
• Selb (Bavaria):
  The 'Hutschenreuther' green encircled 'LHR' mark was not introduced 1887 but used by the 'Kunstabteilung' between 1955 and 1968; the earlier normal production versions were impressed.
• Suhl (Thuringia):
  The 'Swallow' mark for Erdmann Schlegelmilch is wrongly dated 'ca. 1896-1938' even if many more reliable sources like Zühlsdorff state that it was used between 1886 and 1910.
• Waldenburg (Silesia):
  The info on the Krister company shows a stylized crown over 'KPM'; this mark is *NOT* (as claimed) a Krister mark but was actually registered to Arnart Creations, known importer of mainly Japanese wares. The mark is also frequently found with gold foil stickers which clearly state the copyright of Arnart.
• Mark shown as "unknown Bavarian decoration studio" is Burley & Tyrrell in Chicago (USA).
• Mark shown as "probably Jena, Bareuther & Co." is an unknown import company from the USA.
• New York importer/distributor L. Straus & Sons is incorrectly named Lewis when in fact his first name was Lazarus.

Robert E. Roentgen: Deutsche Porzellanmarken von 1710 bis heute

(e.g. Battenberg 2007, ISBN 978-3-86646-013-3) PM & M 2009 'Worst Book Available' Award Winner

• My eyes are still bleeding from this one as the 2007 Battenberg edition is really rubbish. There are tons of errors repeated over and over again and I could not list them all here without having to copy a fair portion of the 320 pages, no kidding!
• Kronach (Bavaria):
  Mark shown as Martha Budich is actually long proven to be that of Karl Klette.
• Bruchmühlbach (Rhineland Palatinate):
  The marks for Winterling Feinkeramik are all listed as 'from 1972 onwards or 'from 1972 until today', thus indicating use until 2007 (book release year) but the Bruchmühlbach factory already closed in 1995.
• Landstuhl (Rhineland Palatinate):
  Krister marks all show '19xx until today', thus indicating use until 2007 (book release year) but the Landstuhl factory already closed down in 1971.
• Marktleuthen (Bavaria):
  The two marks of 'Drechsel & Strobel' are claimed to have been used until 1908 and 1910 respectively. However Winterling had already taken over in 1903 and it is highly doubtable that the new owners should keep the old marks for so long, especially as they evidently used their own marks right from 1903 onwards.
• Marktredwitz (Bavaria):
  Many of the shown 'Kerafina GmbH' marks state '19xx until today', thus indicating use until 2007 (book release year) but the Kerafina GmbH already closed down in 2002.
• Ilmenau (Thuringia):
  Mark 1031 Henneberg entry has a typo error, '1977-1900' should of course read '1977-1980'.
• Ilmenau (Thuringia):
  Mark 1033 is of course not a Henneberg mark but quite obviously one from Zeh, Scherzer & Co..
• Tiefenfurt (Silesia):
  A mark claimed to be Tuppack shows a 'P' in front of a sunburst even if the company never used or was related with anything containing 'P'. Needless to say Roentgen is the only known source that claims this obvious nonsense.
• Tiefenfurt (Silesia):
  Mark 2715 shows 'TUPPACK' above crowned 'S' and 'TIEFENFURT' and is claimed to have been used 1922-1935 which is wrong as the shown mark is the earlier 1919-1922 version, the real 1922-1935 version had the 'ECHT' addition.
• Unterweißbach (Thuringia):
  Mark 2775 (the 'AVP' in an 'U') is stated to have been used between 1881 and 1891. Roentgen is known for his flaws but this dating is even worse than usual: original company information states that the first company incarnations did not mark their items. The first mark used at all was indeed the 'AVP' in 'U' mark but that was introduced by the successors of Mann & Porzelius in 1901 and remained in use until 1936.
• Waldenburg / Niedersalzbrunn (Silesia):
  Roentgen still has not realized that the factory of Hermann Ohme was located in Niedersalzbrunn and the small shack in Waldenburg only was his decoration studio. Hence the place of operation is Niedersalzbrunn and not Waldenburg as is incorrectly claimed by Roentgen.
• Many marks with 'West Germany' or such are listed as '19xx until today' or similar. German reunification was TWENTY YEARS AGO and this book states that marks with East/West designator are still in use ? Pull the other one ...

Hillman, Goldschmitt & Szynkiewicz (Collector's Encyclopedia of Old Ivory China)

(e.g. Collector Books U.S., October 1997, ISBN: 1-5743-2023-8) PM & M 2005 'Worst Book Available' Award Winner

• Throughout the book the state of Thuringia is constantly wrongly named as Thuringer. Perhaps not a big thing, but how much would you trust a tourist guide that constantly claims that the town you are just visiting is called 'Newjorg' instead of 'New York'?
• It is also claimed that Thuringia was 'Germany/Austria' and that the "area of Thuringer changed from Austria to Germany during the period of operation of the factory" which is of course total nonsense as Thuringia has always been German and is located so far away from Austria that even the border corrections after wars can not account for the statement in this book.
• Most conclusions mentioned in this book can be proven wrong by simply looking at a map. The authors claim that the facility of Hermann Ohme was responsible for some pieces showing 'Austria' as country of origin. The factory of Hermann Ohme was located in Niedersalzbrunn while the decoration studio was in Waldenburg. Both towns are located in former Upper Silesia which of course was German (Prussian Empire, later Third Reich) until the end of WWII. Every history book and map clearly shows that it was Bohemia which formerly belonged to Austria (Austrian-Hungarian Empire) and not the area of Upper Silesia.
• They should have at least mentioned that the often quoted 'J.H.R. & Co.' was the company of 'John H. Roth Co.', a major US importer which was located in South Bend (Indiana). The company is sometimes better known simply under their trade name 'Jonroth' and was founded in 1909 (Mr. Roth worked as a clerk for Wheelock before that).
• Taking all this into mind, the book by Hillman, Goldschmitt & Szynkiewicz is the worst example of a 'Collector Book' I have found so far. Most of the content is based on shoddy research and the conclusions they come up with are easily undermined by anybody who uses his own common sense and a map.