Hello HISTARCH subscribers,

I am looking for information for a colleague who is working on a book on Staffordshire ceramics, and I wondered if any of you knew about the  following:

The "nicks" that were cut into the footrings of (for example) creamware plates as identifying marks - sometimes one, sometimes, two, and perhaps more. In my friend's reference collection, he has one from Hereford (one nick) and he just obtained a plate with a rash of them (a dozen or more!), which may be something quite different. Still, his concern is to find a reference to the recovery of sherds with these marks on military sites in North America. He had seen references to them, but can't remember where. He was thinking creamware and pre-Revolution or thereabouts.

Do you know of any published references to these nicks as identifying marks that I could pass along? We would both be very grateful.

Hope to hear from you soon! Please reply to me off-list at [log in to unmask]

Thanks!

Terry Majewski