Guides...and blogs
Registered Design Numbers
Sunday 28th September 2014
The system for registering decorative designs started in 1839 and this was shown on products from 1842 with the introduction of the Design Registration Mark (Diamond Mark. At the start of 1884 the Diamond Mark was replaced with a Registered Number. This can be a very useful way of dating when a design was first registered, though products made using that design could be made years later and the precise allocation of numbers to years varies between sources
Registered Numbers are often abbreviated to "Rd No" or similar. In the photo the base is stamped "REG DES NO 945535", which would date the design to 1970.
1884.........1
1885.........19756
1886.........40480
1887.........64520
1888.........90483
1889.........116648
1890.........141273
1891.........163767
1892.........185713
1893.........205240
1894.........224720
1895.........246975
1896.........268392
1897.........291241
1898.........311658
1899.........331707
1900.........351202
1901.........368154
1902.........385180
1903.........403200
1904.........424400
1905.........447800
1906.........471860
1907.........493900
1908.........518640
1909.........535170
1910.........552000
1911.........574817
1912.........594195
1913.........612431
1914.........630190
1915.........644935
1916.........653521
1917.........658988
1918.........662872
1919.........666128
1920.........673750
1921.........680147
1922.........687144
1923.........694999
1924.........702671
1925.........710165
1926.........718057
1927.........726330
1928.........734370
1929.........742725
1930.........751160
1931.........760583
1932.........769670
1933.........779292
1934.........789019
1935.........799097
1936.........808794
1937.........817293
1938.........825231
1939.........832610
1940.........837520
1941.........838590
1942.........839230
1943.........839980
1944.........841040
1945.........842670
1946.........845550
1947.........849730
1948.........853260
1949.........856999
1950.........860854
1951.........863970
1952.........866280
1953.........869300
1954.........872531
1955.........876067
1956.........879282
1957.........882949
1958.........887079
1959.........891665
1960.........895000
1961.........899914
1962.........904638
1963.........909364
1964.........914536
1965.........919607
1966.........924510
1967.........929355
1968.........934515
1969.........939875
1970.........944932
1971.........950046
Not only is the Registered Number useful for dating, it can also be used to find the name and address of the copyright owner and sometimes a description of the design together with supporting documentation, all held in registers at the National Archives in Kew. Unfortunately much of this information is not digitised so records may need to be physically consulted