Although it may sometimes seem that I have done nothing else in my life, porcelain and its marks never really interested me until I was more or less forced to take a second look. To cut a long story short, my ex-girlfriend's mother lost her mother in the last few months of 2003, leaving a house full of things that had to be valued and sold so that we could rent the house.
Around Christmas 2003 we got help from a friend who sold things via eBay, alas we still had a few problems with some of the porcelain plates that were intended for sale. Which was understandable as all three of us previously had nothing to do with porcelain at all. Looking at the plates, I faintly remembered something my mother had mentioned a long time ago, and after further research on the internet, we were able to confirm that the mystery pieces were among the first items produced by Rosenthal. A few beers later I promised to put together something like an easy reference guide for future sales, but soon afterwards discovered that it would not be so easy after stumbling over various sites that had opened my eyes to the complexity of the matter.
After checking dozens of pages just listing marks or manufacturers, I came to the conclusion that it would only make sense to write about marks if I knew the complete history of the manufacturer behind them as many questions could simply be answered just by checking the timeline. As I had to start somewhere, I took all data on the facility in the town of Blankenhain in Thuringia and listed everything I could find elsewhere in chronological order. During that process I also found out that the Weimar Porzellan company still existed. Being born in England and living in Germany for over thirty years clearly paid out as I took my compiled work and mailed it to the company, asking them to verify it. They where pleased to help and after a few days all the data was verified and my first real porcelain mark page was ready.
Participating in various discussion boards I was confronted with frequently asked questions about Max Roesler and as information was scarce I started to dig up data which resulted in the complete history of this manufacturer up to the bitter end, which was very interesting as it actually showed me that even as an absolute beginner one can find answers to questions which had stumped other people for quite a long time. By scanning websites and making phone calls, I was able to help a lot of people with questions about marks and manufacturers, but the real breakthrough came after visiting eBay's own "Pottery, Glass & Porcelain" board.
Not only did I find many answers (and even more questions), I also found many new challenges and one or two friends. And it should not go unmentioned that some of them are responsible for the fact that this site is still here, as they have helped me through some major (non-site related) problems. So this site is also a big thank you to all the great people out there :)
I have learnt so much about porcelain marks that you could say it has become an obsession and as you read this you can see where my crazy idea has ended up. My former girlfriend and I have long since split up, but the site itself continues to grow and help hundreds of people every month. But there are still things that baffle me - just have a look at my ever-growing section of unidentified marks, maybe you have a book or site reference that could help.
And no, I neither collect nor trade. Which helps me to keep an objective attitude towards items.
Have fun,
Christopher S. Marshall
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