Hi,

I was wondering if anyone could shed some light on pattern longevity. In studying a number of mid 19th century transferware patterns, I've noticed that some seemed to be produced for quite a long period of time, which seems unusual given the number of patterns produced at that time. For example, "Roselle" was registered in Aug 26, 1848 by J. Meir & Son. One example has the diamond registry mark for the pattern but also has an impressed back mark that registered the shape "Memnon" on Feb 4, 1857. Another example is marked "Roselle" by J M & Son and also includes "England" suggesting it was made after 1891/2. Did some manufacturers churn out the same pattern, in this case, for nearly 50 years (keeping in mind that there were many, many other patterns to compete with) or did they simply pull the pattern out of the 'archives' after a couple of decades? Is it possible that they were making old patterns to be sold as replacement items for broken dishes in a set purchased years ago by consumers? This is not to be confused with some of the late 19th/early 20th century 'turn back the clock' patterns produced by Spode and others. Unfortunately, I'm told that bills of lading from importers & country stores do not give a description of the pattern names so are there other resources to investigate that might shed light on this? Thanks for any comments or information.