TLCI Launches Online Identification Guide

The education committee has been working for years to consolidate previously accessible information, gleaned from Tea Leaf Readings, the previously printed Tea Leaf Handbook, Convention educational presentations, and other various sources.  Photos have been sorted and catalogued, checked and rechecked for accurate identification, and formatted for the on-line listing. Then, data for the new Identification Guide and Handbook has been entered piece by piece, page by page.

Access to the new resource is through the Tea Leaf Club’s website, with a link on the home page to the guide and handbook. Being able to view listings by body style, by potter, or by item will be invaluable in identifying specific pieces. Both English and American potters are included, along with the many motifs that are in the Tea Leaf family. Informational input will continue as newly-found styles and makers are discovered.

One of the most positive things about the site is that it is open to the public and completely free. Share information about this new site with your collector friends. If you know someone who owns a piece or two of Tea Leaf, encourage them to visit the Club’s website and search through the wealth of information now available.

The Tea Leaf Club is dedicated to the study and collection of Tea Leaf Ironstone China and its Variants, produced in England and America from the mid-19th century through the early 1900s. The Club boasts hundreds of members from almost every state in the union, as well as from Canada, who collect, study, love, and appreciate the simple beauty and endurance of Tea Leaf Ironstone China.

One of the goals of TLCI is to expand knowledge of the history and popularity of Tea Leaf ironstone throughout the years. The club welcomes new members and enthusiastically shares their appreciation for the sturdy, attractive pottery. 

The Tea Leaf Identification Guide is an educational resource intended to help you identify the maker, body style, decorative motif, approximate dates of manufacture and country of origin of your Tea Leaf, along with other attributes about the potter and the piece. The Identification Guide is not intended to be an appraisal tool. The Tea Leaf Club does not provide appraisal services.