British Registered Design numbers
(1842 to World War II)

The lists on the following pages are of Registered Design numbers allocated to glassware, which we hope may be of help in identifying the manufacturers of many marked pieces of glass

Marks appear in the form of either a Registered Design lozenge or just a number, either moulded into pressed glass, or etched (with acid or diamond-point), gilded or enamelled on hand-blown glass. Each entry shows the Registered Design number, the name of the manufacturer (or importer, wholesaler or retailer) who registered the design, and the date of registration

N.B. A design might be in continuous production for many years after being registered, so dates should not be taken as dates of manufacture. Also, our lists only include designs for decorative glassware, and only those by major manufacturers, importers, wholesalers and retailers. They do not contain Registered Designs for much commercial glassware (i.e. items such as bottles, jars and scientific apparatus)

Full details of all Registered Designs are held by: The Public Record Office, Ruskin Avenue, Kew, Surrey TW9 4DU   website

Unfortunately, The Public Record Office no longer accepts either telephoned or written enquiries, so a visit in person is required. And, if you suffer from asthma, be warned that the Registered Design books are enormous, crumbling and dusty!

quick checklist

If you just want to know in which year a particular design number was registered, the table below may be useful. The numbers are for the first known design registration for each year between 1884 and 1945, and then for each decade up to 1990. As you will see, sometimes we only know the first glassware registration, so if the material is, say, pottery or metal, and has a number only slightly lower, it might still have been registered in the same year

Year First registered number Material 1884 1 all 1885 19754 all 1886 40480 all 1887 64520 all 1888 90483 all 1889 116648 all 1890 141273 all 1891 163767 all 1892 185713 all 1893 205240 all 1894 224720 all 1895 246975 all 1896 268392 all 1897 291241 all 1898 311658 all 1899 331707 all 1900 351202 all 1901 368154 all 1902 385541 glass 1903 403012 glass 1904 424157 all 1905 447615 glass 1906 471617 glass

Year First registered number Material 1907 493532 all 1908 518475 all 1909 534978 glass 1910 552000 all 1911 575855 glass 1912 594192 glass 1913 613209 glass 1914 630229 glass 1915 645055 glass 1916 655062 glass 1917 659164 glass 1918 663338 glass 1919 666476 glass 1920 673750 all 1921 680289 glass 1922 687205 glass 1923 695061 glass 1924 702707 glass 1925 710199 glass 1926 718080 glass 1927 726393 glass 1928 734368 glass 1929 742740 glass

Year First registered number Material 1930 751160 all 1931 760589 glass 1932 769675 glass 1933 779292 glass 1934 789035 glass 1935 799152 glass 1936 808793 glass 1937 817284 glass 1938 825246 glass 1939 832642 glass 1940 837520 all 1941 838619 glass 1942 839283 glass 1943 840084 glass 1944 841071 glass 1945 843309 glass 1950 860854 all 1960 895000 all 1970 944932 all 1980 993012 all 1990 2003720 all

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