Reverse ID'ing?

I am often at a loss as to how I should start to ID my pieces.

Even if I have a country to start with, I have to go through each different possible manufacturer to see if I can see a similar shape and style number. It takes a long time.

What I am wondering is if anyone has started a reverse ID'ing system, where a person could look at the 3 or 4 digit style number, and see which manufacturer(s) used that style number, and a drawing or picture of the actual piece that the manufacturer(s) produced.

Sorry if i'm not making any sense!

for example "W. Germany 000-00"

in a list "000" might have written next to it the name of the manufacturer(s) that used that number. If there is more than one manufacturer, then a graphic clarification showing each manufacturer and the specific shape they produced that was marked "000"

Regarding the west german numbering there is a book available , try googling german pottery marks or something like that , as with all pottery the more you see and handle the more acquainted you get with various styles and glazes , numbering on it's own isn't enough as some companies used the same numbers as others and sometimes many times over , clay colour is a good way of helping to discarding some companies IE , red clay = Roth , Kreutz, Carstens ( in the main ) , there were hundreds of companies operating at the same time and if you multiply all other countries you can see how difficult it is sometimestrying to get a positive ID " so called experts, get it wrong quite a lot "

Hi anisa,

Here is a link to some videos and other info that might help you underderstand the marks, clay colour, etc. with WGP.
http://ginforsodditiques.com/a.videos.html

Big Ed, thanks for the info on the book.

PeterC, haha that's the site that started me down this slippery slope!

I agree,there are a few books on German pottery from the 'fat lava' era but not enough information is available to write a definitive guide,no doubt mistakes have been made by all of the authors which will come to light if the interest in this type of pottery continues for a sustained period but I have always found it best to talk to other collectors when I need information as well as reading books and trawling the internet.