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Thomas Webb patterns

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Frank:
Busily digitising a Thomas Webb / EC catalogue from 1977 and was wondering if anyone can shed light on Webb's dating system of cut glass pattern numbers. Most of the items in this catalogue are 5 digit numbers with the lowest starting 31 and the highest starting 53...

One 4 digit pattern number and one 3 digit with a B prefix.

Edinburgh Crystal used a 5 digit code from 1968 and presumably Webb started this system at the same time? But whereas I have confirmed the EC numbers include the year, Webbs do not appear to do so.

Both companies (or divisions) used the same descriptions of shapes and within the services the same sub-number for the shapes.

krsilber:
I have a catalogue from the Thomas Webb Museum that shows a lot of the numbers and dates.  The vast majority are 5 digits, the one 4 digit item I've seen so far was from 1860, but there are several that are 3 digits with a letter prefix.  The highest ones I've seen in a brief peruse were 53XXX, dated 1965.

What specific questions do you have?

Frank:
Dates for the designs in the 77 catalogue, showing in the Glass catalogue.... another 100 or so items to go. 53xxx is the highest so far. If 53 was in use in '65 then it will probably need access to the pattern books themselves. Others are B170 (Wellington), 9433 (Normandy), 31xxx, 32xxx. So it is unlikely that just 2 digits give the year, more likely ranges were assigned in a consecutive order - though EC used their lettered pattern books in random order with the A book dating from 1924 and the B book the 1880s - so their is no particular reason to assume logical uses of pattern numbers.

krsilber:
I took 26 numbers at random and plotted them vs. dates designed.  They fall more or less along a straightish line.  I'll send you the Excel file via email.

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