but little risk of mistaking Champion’s wäre, though unmarked, it is so essentially different in 
paste and glaze from any other, and even from the Dresden, of which it was avowedly an 
imitation. The Bristol glaze is rieh, and of a creamy white compared with the cold and glassy 
surface of the Dresden, and Bristol specimens, although marked with the crossed swords, 
cannot be mistaken for thedatter.“ 
Selbst Fachleute finden keine Erklärung dafür, warum welche Bristol-Marken miteinander 
kombiniert wurden. F. Severne Mackenna (1947, S. 85) unterscheidet vier Typen von Bri 
stol-Marken, zu denen er auch die Meißener Schwerter zählt: ein Kreuz, ein B, eine Num 
mer, und die Meißener Schwerter (,,At first glance a table of Bristol marks appears fairly 
straightforward, for it contains only four main types, a cross, a B, a numeral, and a Meissen 
crossed-swords; but when it comes to studying the combinations in which these four marks 
occur and an attempt is made to understand their meaning or the rules which governed their 
use, we find ourselves lost in a maze of contradictory conjecture, leading in almost every ca- 
se to no useful conclusion“). 
Angeblich kombinierte Champion die Meißener Schwertermarke mit dem Bristol-Kreuz, um 
Unannehmlichkeiten aus dem Weg zu gehen (Mackena 1947, S. 86), indem er die Meißener 
Marke mit dem blauen Kreuz übermalte. Dieser Annahme widersprechen nach Mackenna 
zwei Tatsachen: einerseits wurden sogar dem Parlamentskommitee einige Porzellane mit 
der Schwertermarke auf Bristol-Porzellan gezeigt, und andererseits steht das aufglasurblau 
angebrachte Bristol-Kreuz oft nicht einmal in der Nähe der unterglasurblauen Schwertermar 
ke. Mackenna glaubt daher, daraus schließen zu können, daß das blaue Kreuz womöglich 
überhaupt keine Fabriksmarke, sondern eher die Marke eines Dekorateurs war („The occur- 
rence of the Meissen crossed-sword mark in conjunction with the over-glaze cross has intri- 
gued some observers, and it is usual to explain it by supposing that Champion was endea- 
vouring to avoid trouble by covering the Meissen mark with the blue cross. This I think 
wrong, for two reasons; first, we know that he marked some of the pieces which were made 
to show to the Parliamentary committee with the Meissen crossed-swords, and secondly, the 
overglaze cross very frequently comes nowhere near the underglaze mark. In fact I consider 
that there is a good deal of evidence to support a Suggestion that the blue cross was not a 
factory mark at all, but was that of a decorator or decorators. This would account for its appea- 
rance in addition to the Meissen mark . . .“). Binns (1906, S. 178-179) stellt zwar fest, daß 
die Meißener Schwerter in ganz England kopiert wurden, daß aber die Verwendung dieser 
Marke auf dem Hartporzellan von Bristol, das in seiner Masse dem Meißener Porzellan sehr 
ähnlich ist, einer Täuschung sehr nahe kommt. Daß dies von Champion jedoch nicht beab 
sichtigt war, geht nach Meinung Binns aus der Art und Weise hervor, wie die Schwertermar 
ke mit anderen Kennzeichen kombiniert worden war („We have already stated that Cham 
pion’s ideal was the Dresden fabric; he carried this even as far as the mark itself. In that he 
was not alone, for the Dresden .crossed swords' was copied all over England; but upon the 
hard porcelain of Bristol, resembling as it does in a wonderful degree the Dresden paste, the 
use of the mark approaches very nearly to deception. That this was not the intention of 
Champion is made evident by the manner in which he frequently disguises the mark. It rarely 
occurs quite by itself; it is either accompanied by a number between the hilts of the swords 
and a spot in the angle formed by the blades above the hilts or by the +. The crossed swords 
mark is always in blue underthe glaze, and generally very pale in colour; the + is often pla- 
ced right over the swords in enamel blue, as if to cross them out and cancel them ... the + 
in these cases is sometimes to be found chipping or peeling off. The numbers which accom- 
pany these marks . . . are said to be, and most probably are, the distinguishing marks of de 
corators . . . The letter B occurs sometimes with a number . . .“ 
Gerade dieses „chipping or peeling off“ (Abblättern, Abreiben) des auf der Glasur ange 
brachten Bristol-Kreuzes ist gefährlich, weil dann als Fabriksmarke nur mehr die gefälschte 
Meißener Schwertermarke in Unterglasurblau übrig bleibt und das Porzellan, vor allem wenn 
110