During the Victorian Era in Great Britain, in addition to their hallmarking conventions, a diamond-shaped (or lozenge-shaped) Design Registration Mark (1842-1883), known as a "kitemark" was used on jewelry and other decorative arts. These marks were stamped to indicate the date a particular design was registered, similar to a patent mark. Since kitemarks simply register designs they cannot be relied on to provide an accurate date of manufacture.
Kitemarks from 1842-1867 consisted of the "Class" at the top within a circle, the "Year" at the top, the "Month" at the left point, "Day" at the right and "Bundle" number at the bottom. From 1868-1883 the "Day" was at the top, "Bundle" on the left, "Year" on the right and "Month" at the bottom.
These marks can be helpful in circa dating a piece but do little, if anything, to identify the maker. Kitemarks were replaced by Registration Serial Numbers in 1884.
Kitemark Month Codes | ||
---|---|---|
C
January |
G
February |
W
March |
H
April |
E
May |
M
June |
I
July |
R
August |
D
September |
B
October |
K
November |
A
December |
Kitemark Year Codes | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
V
1850 |
Z
1860 |
O
1870 |
J
1880 | |
P
1851 |
R
1861 |
A
1871 |
E
1881 | |
X
1842 |
D
1852 |
O
1862 |
I
1872 |
L
1882 |
H
1843 |
Y
1853 |
G
1863 |
F
1873 |
K
1883 |
C
1844 |
J
1854 |
N
1864 |
U
1874 | |
A
1845 |
E
1855 |
W
1865 |
S
1875 | |
I
1846 |
L
1856 |
Q
1866 |
N
1876 | |
F
1847 |
K
1857 |
T
1867 |
V
1877 | |
U
1848 |
B
1858 |
X
1868 |
D
1878 | |
S
1849 |
M
1859 |
H
1869 |
Y
1879 |