Keswick School of Industrial Arts

a Keswick Staybrite pin dish

I understand that the use of stainless steel at Keswick began in 1931. By 1933 it accounted for half of the sales and continued to be a large part of their production until the School closed in 1984.

I believe that it was sold through Heals in London in the 1930s.

I'm guessing this is Keswick Staybrite

Sorry about pix...its very shiny...would you say Mid Century ?

Two bowls...

Nice recent find, a set of six Keswick Coasters with bird design in their original box.

I was more excited about having the original box!

Do you know what the numbering is? I'm guessing it's a pattern code?

The X is the year cypher and the numbers are the job number....Keswick used a dating system using the alphabet A through to Z then back to A again....year and job numbers started in November 1905....the next A would be in 1930 and so on 1956 and 1981....

I picked this up in a local charity shop yesterday. I presume it is a genuine item?? wear marks to base.

It’s a Keswick school stainless steel Tudor rose dish….The markings are correct …..It looks like a C prefix for the year date which will make that piece dated 1958….The number after the C denote the job number which was the number allocated to the work in the works job book…

Thanks for the info. It is a letter G, not C. It measures 8 inches across and is in excellent condition. It is marked Firth Staybrite G1010 Keswick 113.

1962 then…..

Thanks for the year. The knowledge on the forum always amazes me. Experts in every field use this forum!

Any idea what W1019 on one of the ubiquitous Tudor Rose dishes would signify?


It's very shiny!

Looks like a year and job number

Potteryman wrote:The X is the year cypher and the numbers are the job number....Keswick used a dating system using the alphabet A through to Z then back to A again....year and job numbers started in November 1905....the next A would be in 1930 and so on 1956 and 1981....

I'm guessing most likely 1978 then, rather than 1952!

Almost certainly a very late example so 78 is most likely….notice the design is almost cut in to the steel…..by this point they had stopped repousse decoration……and the writing was likely already on the wall for closure which happened in 1984….

Thank you for the extra info. I have a Keswick copper brooch and the collector in me was drawn to it. But you are right, it's not got the same depth of skill as the others.