Royal Copenhagen porcelain is collected for its tableware, decorative pieces and animal figurines. This guide introduces the factory’s history and explains how marks, model numbers and condition help collectors assess a piece.
A Brief History
The factory was founded in Copenhagen in 1775 by Frantz Henrich Müller under the patronage of Dowager Queen Juliane Marie. Blue Fluted Plain, its first pattern, became a lasting part of the company’s identity.
Collecting interests range from blue-and-white tableware and Flora Danica to naturalistically modelled birds and animals. Identify the particular pattern or model rather than relying on the Royal Copenhagen name alone.
Identifying Figurines
Compare the subject, pose, dimensions and model number with a documented example. Similar-looking owls or other animals may be different models, with different designers and production histories.
Record the maker’s mark, model number and any painter’s initials or incised markings. A designer’s association with a model does not establish when an individual example was made.
Factory Marks and Dating
Examine the complete underside. Royal Copenhagen’s marks can include the crown, factory wording, three blue waves and painter’s marks. The waves represent Denmark’s three waterways: the Øresund, Great Belt and Little Belt.
The illustrated base belongs to the Barn Owl, model 273. It shows the Royal Copenhagen crown and Denmark wording, three blue waves and model number. Use it as one documented example rather than a template for every Royal Copenhagen mark.
Match the complete backstamp against an established dating reference. Changes in lettering and date-mark placement can help narrow a production period; the model number itself is not a manufacturing date. Avoid assigning an exact year from the figurine’s appearance alone.
Condition and Collecting
Inspect beaks, ears, tails, feet and other projecting parts for losses or repairs. Check the body and base for chips, hairline cracks, glaze wear and restoration. Distinguish manufacturing characteristics from later damage.
On hand-painted pieces, brushwork and colour can vary. Compare genuinely similar examples, allowing for size, model, production period, condition and documented designer. Keep dealer asking prices separate from achieved sale prices.
Choose pieces whose modelling and decoration appeal to you, and retain photographs of the base, measurements and purchase records.
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