Contact the society

Please use the e-mail address below to contact us with any queries, information, comments etc.

Before submitting any correspondence
please read the following FAQs:

Can you tell me how much my Maling is worth?
NO! The society is purely a research organisation. We do not buy, sell or act as an intermediary. Don't ask - you will be blacklisted and ignored.

Can you identify my Maling?
Possibly, but only if you SEND PHOTOGRAPHS of the piece and the marks. A verbal description isn't enough to go on. If you want to know about pattern names, numbers and dates, most of what we know is on this site, so use the search engine and learn to HELP YOURSELF! Our search engine will answer most of your queries. Please use it before contacting us.

Send pics in JPEG (.jpg) format only and please keep the total of your attachments to less than 1 Mb! Otherwise you will be blacklisted and ignored. Photo resizing programs are available online or as free downloads.

What are all these numbers and letters on the bottom of my Maling?
A hand-painted number (usually up to 4 digits) is the pattern number. It will almost certainly be accompanied by the initial or monogram of the paintress beneath it. (That should tell you whether a number is 6116 or 9119 - you have to know which way round you should hold your pot.)
Small impressed numbers are dates in mm.yy form - thus 11.29 would be November 1929. Big impressed numbers (e.g. on vases) are usually the shape number, but may occa.sionally relate to the size in inches.
An impressed "C.C." is the ordinary cream coloured body, "S.S." is superior semi-porcelain.

Can you tell me about other British potteries?
No. We only claim to know something about Maling - not other potteries.

What can you tell me about my marmalade jar?
There is information about Keiller's and Cooper's marmalade in the History section. Maling produced these jars from the 1850s to the 1930s, and Keiller's exported them all over the globe. As the jars changed little in appearance over this period, dating them is problematic

What is Maling "thumbprint"?
It is an erroneous description of a distinctive form of background decoration. The correct term is "waving". It was a skilled technique by which a swirled design was applied using a brush - not a thumb!

My grandfather worked at Maling. What can you tell me about him?
Probably nothing. Most records were sold off as scrap paper when the pottery closed in 1963. We have contact with workers from the 50s and 60s, but cannot go further back in time.

Which page of the History section do I need?
Have a look at our Summary page. It should get you started

Where can I get more information?
Suggested books are on our Links page.

AND PLEASE KEEP YOUR TOTAL ATTACHMENTS UNDER 1Mb! We automatically filter out oversized attachments and dump them as spam. So you won't get a reply. Requests for valuations get the same treatment.

Our team is good, but sometimes we can't add to what's already on this site or in the books listed on our Links page. There are huge gaps in the list of pattern numbers and names, and dates can often only be approximations. Generations of paintresss can't be identified because we don't do seances! Enjoy your Maling, but don't get too obsessed with detail.