Rare Louis Wain Futurist Cat Ceramic, C. 1914
A very rare Louis Wain ceramic cat, C. 1914, 'Futurist Cat' the cubist style in green, with yellow and red accents. With printed mark to underside made in England, moulded manufacturer's marks rd no. 1637 (indistinct) and glaze mark Louis Wain. Impressed marks 'Futurist Cat' and 'Louis Wain' on opposite sides, height 10.87 in., width 9.65 in., depth 4.29 in., some minor paint flakes and small hairline restoration to back right foot. Louis Wain took the idea for his pottery cats from the new Cubist movement which had been embraced by painters of the time such as Pablo Picasso. Initially, he designed a set of nine small cats and an unknown amount of larger ones and initially used a factory by the name of Max Emmanuel to have them made. They were then shown at an exhibition in 1914. However, the pottery cats were not received well in the UK but stores in America was interested and placed an order. Sadly, the ship carrying the cats to the States was hit by a torpedo from a German U-boat and Wain's entire investment was lost, thus he did not receive any money as the goods had not been delivered. Later a Czechoslovakia pottery Company 'Amphora' placed the cats back into production but it is also unknown whether Wain himself sold the designs to 'Amphora' or whether it was the original pottery, Max Emmanuel. However, Louis Wain's name does appear on the later geometric angular cat designs, so he must have been involved somewhere along the line.
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- Registered Numbers - Between 1842 and 1883, a diamond- shaped mark was used to identify items as British-made, which classified the item according to the material from which it was manufactured, as well as the date of registration. This system was discontinued in 1884 when a numbering system was introduced.
Design registration is for "what and item looks like", and is not a patent ("how something works") or trade mark ("what it is called").
The registered number is usually on an under-surface of an object (on the base of ceramics) and oftern shown as "Rd. No. 99999", sometimes surrounded by a rectangular box.
The table below lists the year, and the first registered number for that year:
1884 1
1885 18,993
1886 39,547
1887 61,207
1888 87,266
1889 111,664
1890 140,481
1891 160,613
1892 183,259
1893 203,348
1894 223,861
1895 244,726
1896 266,237
1897 288,848
1898 309,956
1899 328,527
1900 349,120
1901 367,628
1902 380,979
1903 401,944
1904 422,489
1905 428,004
1906 469,160
1907 486,464
1908 516,375
1909 533,561
1910 546,084
1911 561,570
1912 585,707
1913 608,541
1914 627,887
1915 642,613
1916 651,079
1917 655,001
1918 662,576
1919 665,728
1920 664,869
1921 676,491
1922 685,412
1923 691,571
1924 695,944
1925 705,943
1926 716,386
1927 723,430
1928 725,899
1929 740,459
1930 741,336
1931 757,945
1932 767,110 - Dating English Ceramics - Excellent detailed reference books such as Godden's Encyclopaedia of British Pottery and Porcelain Marks will help to identify and date specific manufacturer's marks.
However, there are a few simple guidelines which may also help.
The inclusion of the word 'England' on an item ensured compliance with the American McKinley Tariff Act 1891, which was important for British exporters. An item so marked would have been made after 1891.
In 1921 the act was revised to require the phrase 'Made in' followed by the country. So if an item is marked 'Made in England', it is generally considered to be made after that date, although some manufacturers were using this phrase pior to the act being changed.
The use of the word 'Ltd' of 'Limited' after a company's name indicates a date after 1860, though with ceramic manufacturers this did not become general practice until the 1880's.
This item has been included into following indexes:
