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 is 'good' or not (with exception of the last one listed), it simply shows one must learn how to use the information that is provided: as you can see, the Danckert book contains more flaws than the Roentgen book of marks, even though not only I claim that the latter is worse. The reason is simple as one has to take the amount of information into account given in each; Danckert includes much more text and goes through more history, thus his book 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 (Handbuch des Europäischen Porzellans)

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

• Zell am Harmersbach (Baden-Württemberg):
  History of the Vereinigte Zeller Fabriken Georg Schmider partially incorrect.

• Schorndorf (Baden-Württemberg):
  Entry on Württembergische Porzellanmanufaktur Bauer & Pfeiffer partially incorrect.

• Elsterwerda (Brandenburg):
  No entry for the facility in Elsterwerda.

• 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.

• Rudolstadt-Volkstedt (Thuringia):
  Entry on business of Rudolf Kämmer incorrectly states his name as Kämmner.

• Bodenbach (Bohemia):
  Info on some Schiller & Gerbing marks is wrong and there never was a tie to the Isleworth Pottery.

• Teplitz-Turn (Bohemia):
  No entry on Josef Strnact directly but the book instead indicates a decoration studio in Greising (Saxony) which is wrong as there is no such town other than either Greising in Bavaria or Austria but the Strnact facility was actually located in 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.

• Isleworth (England):
  Information explaining business relationship with Schiller & Gerbing is wrong.

Book Errata:

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

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

• Kronach (Bavaria):
  Mark shown as Martha Budich is actually that of Karl Klette.

• 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.

• Reichmannsdorf (Thuringia):
  The Porzellanfabrik Hermann Leube was founded in 1881 and not in 1945.

• 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' but many sources like Zühlsdorff state that it was used 1886-1910.

• Bodenbach (Bohemia):
  Info on some Schiller & Gerbing marks is wrong and there never was a tie to the Isleworth Pottery.

• 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'.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

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

(e.g. Collector Books U.S., October 1997, ISBN: 1-5743-2023-8)

Winner of the PM&M Worst Book Available award:

• 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 facility of Hermann Ohme was located in Niedersalzbrunn and had a decoration studio in Waldenburg. Both towns are located in former Silesia, which of course was German (Prussian Empire, later Third Reich) until the end of WWII. Every history book clearly shows that it was Bohemia that formerly belonged to Austria (Austrian-Hungarian Empire) - and not 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. The whole book is based on soddy research and the conclusions they come up with are easily undermined by anybody who uses his own common sense and a map.