Gales Antiques_(tm)
Established 1970

Frequently Asked Questions

The design philosophy of our site is centred around fast loading pages and simple navigation, hence we have kept graphics to a minimum, and hopefully you can find what you are looking for quickly.

We are always looking to improve, any suggestions, please let us know, Thank you

Here are the answers to questions we are asked....

Is your site Ordering secure ?

What Currency are the Prices?

How often do you update the site

Why don't you put "NEW" for the Lastest Additions

The images do not open when I click on them

Do you have Layaway / Layby?

What are your Address & Phone Contact details ?

What is a "Backstamp"

What does {n available} mean?

What is "Glaze Crazing"

What is "Mint Condition"

What is "Lovely Condition"

What is a "Trio"

Why is something not on your site when a Search Engine like Google says it is?

Where is Dunedin, New Zealand

Information about Carlton ware and Royal Albert China

If you have any questions we have not answered, here or on our Ordering page,
or can suggest some new topics
Please eMail Us

Carlton Ware / Carltonware Royal Albert China Ceramics Replacements

Layaway / Layby

Yes, Layaway / Layby is available for purchases totalling $100 or more.

A 25% down payment is required at the time of purchase, with the balance paid in two equal monthly payments. Shipping charges will be added to the final payment.
There are no carrying charges.
Should the customer default, there is a 20% (of total purchase price) Restocking Fee.

Is Your Site Ordering Secure ?

Yes it is, with the best you can get.

We understand that making a purchase online involves a great deal of trust on your part. We take this trust very seriously, and make it our highest priority to ensure the security and confidentiality of the information you provide. We use industry-proven SSL (secure socket layer) technology and military strength PGP encryption to protect you when you use our Secure Order Form. This protects both your credit card and other information from eavesdroppers.

Once we receive your information, we store it off-line, in secure monitored premises.

Furthermore, we will only use the information you provide to serve you better. We do not trade or sell your information to anyone, ever.

With regards to your privacy, we do not collect any details about you while you are browsing our site.

Backstamp's Explained

This is the details on the back or underneath of an item.
The manufacturer added their company mark as a form of advertising which became popular and more common practice after the 1850's.

The Manufacturer's Mark, can be accompanied by other information such as the Pattern Name, Pattern Number, Designers name(rare), together with incised marks such a body Shape Name, Shape Number, Manufactured Date (rare), Design Registration Number(rare). Also usually seen is the decorators Piece Rate mark

Lets look at each of these marks in turn, as they can tell us an enormous about the item.

Manufacturer's Mark

As mentioned these were not in general use until after the 1850's, so here you have the first "Rule of Thumb" as regards to dating the item.

Secondly if the country of origin is mentioned like "England", then that indicates that the item was made after 1891.

Why 1891?, the reason is the Americans passed the McKinlay Act which stated that all goods imported in the U.S. must have the country of origin stamped on them

Thirdly if "Made in" is mentioned then the indication is that the item was made in the 20th Century (i.e 1900 onwards to today)

Lastly, the manufacturers changed their marks from time to time, for reasons such as keeping up with fashion, change of premises, new acquisitions, changed owners, and you can look up these progression of marks in the excellent reference book "Godden's Encyclopaedia of British Pottery & Porcelain Marks", this book often enables you to "zoom in" on the period in which the item was made.

Pattern Name

The trend for including pattern names has developed from the 1890's. Some common misunderstandings here are made with "Burslem" and "Stoke" which are actually places in England, like "New York" is in the U.S.

Pattern Number

Even very early 18th Century early ceramics tended to have pattern numbers, the reason soon becomes obvious when you try to explain a pattern to someone.

Imagine this order to the factory who makes thousands of patterns with hundreds of daisies

Dear Sir,
I would like to order a dozen 10" plates with those pretty blue daisy's? with that lovely gold filigree wavy edging with the pale green background.
Yours in mystery, A.Client

Contrast this with

Dear Sir,
I would like to order a dozen 10" plates with pattern 11234/1.
Yours Clearly, A.Client

It is no mystery who is going to get the right item

Pattern numbers are also very useful for dating purposes, usually they were allocated sequentially, and where factory records or sales brochures have survived dates of introduction can be established.

In the case of early 18th century ceramics the pattern number can (along with other factors) indicate which pottery may have manufactured the item. Some potteries used for instance fractional pattern numbers (i.e. 2/345), and others were prefixed with letters (i.e B4561), others only reached a certain number (i.e.2453), so a higher pattern number would indicate it was made by someone else.

Designers Name

Names like Clarice Cliff have become famous, enables collectors to follow a designer rather than a manufacturer, a good example would be Charlotte Rhead who worked for several different firms.

Shape Name / Number

Nice to know but maybe not a vital as some of the other information, and once again useful for dating if the factory records or sales brochures are available.

Manufactured Date

This is "the" most confused item in backstamps, the inexperienced tend to identify the pattern number as the date, or some puffery in the Manufacturer' Mark where dates like 1850 or earlier may appear.

Only a few manufacturers use a dating system, like Worcester, (star & dots codes system) Wedgwood, (alphabetic code, then two number date), Minton (symbol system, up to 1942), and Doulton sometimes (incised number MM over YY).

Registration Number

An uncommon item, dates an item late 20th Century and onwards, can be the early "diamond" mark or the later RegNo., was used for design protection against competitors by registering a design at the British Patents Office. Can be looked up in tables to establish year registration was granted

Care must taken when dating, as the year is the year the Registration was granted NOT the date the item was manufactured, this still trips up many "experts".

Piece Rate mark

There can be several of these in the same piece, from the decorators involved such as enameller, gilder etc.

The decorators were paid by their output, at so many pence per item. They had Tally Sheets where they marked down their output, but if the supervisor wished to check their actual production they were able to go back and count the marked wares.

Hence each decorator had a personal mark.

Some potteries like Worcester, Doulton, and Poole have detailed histories of their decorators, who they were when they started, when they finished and sometimes with the odd little bit of personal information.

Glaze Crazing

These are the little cobweb-like lines that criss-cross the item, that look somewhat like cracked ice.

They are NOT hairlines, and only run through the surface glaze and not the body of the item itself.

There are several ways this can happen

Firstly, for example, when a plate is manufactured a clear glaze called "glost" is often applied as a finish to the body, this enhances the shades and depths of the colours used in the decoration, and gives the item a more appealing finish, much like varnish does to wood.

This practice is common with earthenware, stoneware and bone china bodies, but not so common with porcelain.

If the plate is then subjected to temperature or humidity changes, then the body expands and contracts at a different rate than the glost glaze, and hence little cracks appear.

This is why it is not a good idea to display your ceramics on window sills as the temperature changes in this area can be quite extreme.

Secondly, crazing also occurs through the use of unstable glazes, Royal Doulton in particular tends to suffer from this affliction.

Lastly, crazing is usually part of the natural ageing process and most very old ceramics have it.

How does it affect value?
Obviously the closer an item is to new condition the better, and when it was made there would have been no glaze crazing.

Realistically though, items without glaze crazing are rare.

Although not classed as a fault like a chip, hairline or restoration, heavy glaze crazing can detract from an items appearance, and therefore should noted in the condition statement by any reputable dealer.

We note different levels of glaze crazing, from "very slight", "slight", "some", "glaze crazing", "heavily".

It may be taken that when we say "mint" or "lovely" condition that there would be no glaze crazing.

It is only at the "heavily" crazed level would we class the crazing sufficient to visually detract from the item, and even then only within a distance of about 2-3 metres.

The Trio, (Cup, Saucer & Plate)

The idea of a Trio is an English one, the Cup was used for one's Tea, the Saucer was to stop drips and spills, and to act a partial insulation should someone happen to put it down on a polished wood surface.

The Tea [Side] Plate, usually around 7" in diameter was used for the bite-size cucumber sandwiches or biscuit or indeed sponge cake. The plate also enables one to catch the crumbs when eating without having to juggle a cup of hot tea at the same time or indeed the crumbs ending up in the Tea, which is never very satisfactory, or elegant.

Today, the side plate is most often used to go besides the dinner or luncheon plate for bread & butter, bread roll, side salads & the like.

For some reason the American market was developed without the Side Plate, and indeed most modern sets Worldwide are now sold without a Side Plate, these being seen as an "extra".

NB: Confusingly the term "Trio" is also used to describe a set where there is a Tea Cup, Coffee Cup/Can, and a Saucer, these sets usually date from the 18th and early 19th Century, being essentially two cups & one saucer, once seen, these cannot be mistaken for what has been described above.

Mint Condition

This is a commonly used expression to say the condition of the item is excellent, so good in fact that it is the same as when it was made in the factory.

It would have no crazing, scuffing, chips, hairlines or repairs (restorations).

Lovely Condition

This is a commonly used expression to say the condition of the item is excellent, so good in fact that it is the same as when it was made in the factory.

It would have no crazing, scuffing, chips, hairlines or repairs (restorations).

Updating the Site

We update the site nearly every day with items sold.

Any SOLD's will have happened within the last 14 days or so, after that they are removed.

Many pages have a Last Additions Date, this is the date when we last added some new items for sale.

We usually change the image at the top of the page as well, so this will also show you that we have updated the site.

We add new items to the site as often as we can.

We usually aim for new updates every fortnight or so. Sometimes it is more often, like twice in a week, sometimes less, we can never tell what is coming in next, that is part of the fun :-)

Why Don't you put "NEW" for the Lastest Additions?

The question is "New" to who, and how "new" is New ?

If we have had two updates since you last looked, then you would miss the items that are in fact new to you, because the earlier update items would no longer be highlighted.

Most people are looking for specific items for their collections or replacements, and so the issue is really whether we have those items in stock, or not.

If you do not want to check our site all the time, then please send us an an with details of what you are looking for, or use our requests form.

Where is Dunedin, New Zealand?

New Zealand is located in the Pacific Ocean just below Australia, about 3 hours flying time South from Sydney, Australia.

New Zealand has a population of about 3.4 million, with 1/3rd of them living in the city of Auckland.

New Zealand is quite different from Australia in topography and climate.

We live in the city of Dunedin, [Gaelic for Edinburgh], which as you can see is about 2/3rds the way down the South Island on the East Coast.

Dunedin has a population of around 100,000 and a lot more when there is All Black Rugby match on.

What Currency are the Prices?

All prices are in US Dollars.

We mention this at the top of each page just below the heading, and on our Orders page.

What does {n available} mean?

Some items for sale have the description, and then at the end {n available}, where "n" is a number.

This means there is more than just that one for sale, there are a further "n" more exactly the same for sale.

For example Royal Albert Old English Rose Trio [Cup, Saucer & Plate], $24 {3 available}

You have the option to buy 1 Trio for $24, 2 for $48, or 3 for $72

i.e 1 cup, 1 saucer, 1 plate for $24, or 2 cups, 2 saucers, 2 plates for $48 etc.

Why is something not on the site when the a Search Engine like Google says it is ?

The item would have been in stock when the Search Engine did its indexing, but it has since Sold, and 14 days after that we remove it from our website. Hence it is no longer there.

Our site is indexed every 35 days by the major search engines, and new things are added and sales removed everyday, so keep an eye on our site as things are always changing.

The Images do not open when I click on them

When you click on the thumbnail to see a larger size picture, it opens the picture in a new browser window.

The reason for opening a new window rather than using the current one is that when you had finished viewing the full size image and went Back,
the whole original page has to re-load again, and that takes a lot of time especially if you are using a modem.

So now you should have 2 windows open, one with the original page, and another with the enlarged thumbnail picture.

If you cannot see this new window,

It may be because you have some anti "pop-up" software running on your PC.
We have been wondering if the anti "pop-up" software affects our site, please let us know if you experience this problem.

If you are using Windows XP, the default is to "group" the windows on your toolbar.
So if the toolbar is full and you add another window, it slips the new one in behind the original one.
You can change this behavior by right-clicking on a clear bit of the toolbar, select Properties, and uncheck "Group similar taskbar buttons"

There may be other reasons which we are not aware of, please let us know if you are experiencing problems as we will look at changing it.

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Royal Albert, Carlton Ware, Chintz