Beehive bowls

Hi there - I have a general question. Many ads on Trademe say something is CL but not marked on base. Would all CL have been marked? If not, how do you know it's CL? Thanks

Hi Toodlepip and welcome to the Forum

There are a few ways to tell if something was made by Crown Lynn.
One way to check is to compare the shape with shapes they made.
We have Shape Catalogues in the Galleries that are handy for this.
If anything is marked Made In New Zealand around the inside of the base, this is another way to identify it as Crown Lynn.
If it has a number on the base these can be compared to the shape numbers in the Galleries.
Crown Lynn has a certain 'feel' to it that one gets to know, for example weight for size.
This comes with experience.

Crown Lynn made 6 different sizes in the Ringed Basins which are commonly known as the Beehive Bowls and you can check them out here https://www.newzealandpottery.net/gallery/Crown-Lynn-Shapes-Catalogue-with-Four-Digits/Basins-Earthenware-Vitrified-5000-5899/Basins-Earthenware-Vitrified-5000-5899-cat_c45.htm

Thank you so much - this has been very helpful. Also thank you for the very quick reply! I have not got much CL yet (tulip cups, saucers, 3 sizes of plates, and bowls, all in "Bouquet" and all stamped Crown Lynn in gold - originally there probably were 6 of each but now it's more like a complete 4 person set plus some spares ). I also have a couple of other bowls (same shape, different pattern). That's about it! I use it every day so not a collector in the sense of displaying. I love the beehive bowls, and I love the colourglaze ware too. Trying to figure out where to get more other than on Trademe...

Toodlepip,

More on Beehive bowls here:
https://www.newzealandpottery.net/t1665-my-beehive-bowl-collection#4763
I have given dimensions for at least some of them.

There are six sizes of bowl, but there are also two different series.
The first is numbered 708, 1 to 6, and the second 5031 to 5036, although you won't find the numbers on any of them.
The second series is slightly larger than the first as each has a slightly widened/lengthened top flange.
You may also see some in a quite yellow clay which date from before 1948. They are quite rare but still around and maybe even useable.

Some of the marks used on beehive bowls are a cursive "Crown Lynn" in green ink, a stamp with a tiki and stars, the Kelston one that you will see in the linked topic, and "Fiesta" or "Fiesta Ware" on the earlier striped ones.

If you have specific items you are looking for you can always trying placing a free classified ad on our site here:
https://www.newzealandpottery.net/f134-free-classified-ads

Good luck.