A mark people nowadays often refer to as "beehive" is actually not the representation of a beehive but a stylized depiction of the Austrian banded shield. Not really vital, but the minute difference can indeed help when evaluating items.
Lore goes that some Austrian Royal lost his banner bearer during a fight, meaning that there was no-one showing ("flying") his colors. This however was very important, especially in brutal man-to-man combat, as flying beforementioned colors allowed allies to easily recognize (and group around) their leader. Unwilling to quit battle the Royal in question cut a portion off of the fallen flag and wrapped it around his shield, thus once again clearly carrying his colors. He then rejoined the fight and led his men to victory.
No matter if that is just a nice story or somewhere near the truth, the distinctive feature in that story is a specific shield: flat on top, with a narrowing or rounded bottom half. Straight out of Austrian heraldry that is precisely the shield type that the Royal Porcelain Factory of Vienna later chose as their base mark: flat top, rounded bottom.
And what has all that got to do with a beehive? Well, in order to produce mead the Vikings kept bees for their honey. To do so, they used coiled domes of straw (so-called skeps) which are the origin of our modern-day beehive image: flat bottom, rounded top.
In short: when it comes to the correct depiction of a mark stating that an item was decorated according to the "Royal Vienna" style (no matter if the claim is correct or not), the correct orientation shows the flat line at the top. Incorrect marks are those with the flat line at the bottom, even if they are placed above Vienna or similar. There are cases in which old (even Austrian) decoration studios screwed up this mark but it's fair to say that everything having a mark with the flat line at the bottom (beehive style) is to be mistrusted. Which does not mean that the other version is automatically true Royal Vienna, it is just that flat-side-up is the correct orientation of this mark.
And always hold in mind that, regardless of what you may believe or may have been told, there are no "Royal Vienna" items out there nowadays. None, period. What you may see as such is nothing more than an item claimed to have been made and decorated in the "Royal Vienna" style, a claim which in itself is often disputable.
© 2004-2024 C.S.Marshall, all rights reserved