Welcome

This Website has been created as an informational source for collectors and those interested in the color lithograph on tin decorative advertising plates commonly called Vienna Art Plates that were produced between approximately 1904 and 1915.  They were made by six manufacturers or under six maker names:

H. D. Beach Co.  - Vienna Art Plates
The Meek Co. - Dresden Art Plates
Charles W. Shonk Co. - Royal Saxony Art Plates
Meek & Beach Co.
Kaufmann & Strauss
Bachrach & Co

The Beach Co, Meek Co. and Shonk Co. were by far the largest makers having produced nearly all of the plates that are found today. The Beach-Vienna plates were marked with heavy and conspicuous printed logos or marks that have remained clear and intact over the years. The Meek-Dresden and Shonk-Royal Saxony logos were very lightly printed on the underside of the lower border and many of these logos are now partially or completely gone.  Over time, since the Beach-Vienna plates have the only resilient and conspicuous logos, “Vienna Art Plates” has become the generic or common name used to refer to all of these plates.

While all of these plates are similar in shape and are all about 10” in diameter, there are identifiable differences in each maker’s plates that can help identify the specific maker when a logo or mark is obscured or is missing.  When examined closely, there are different diameters and border shapes that can be noted in order to help identify a specific maker.  (See Plate Identification for additional information)

All of these plates were intended to have some form of an advertising purpose.  Some of the plates contain advertising printed on the front while many are found with advertising printed only on the back, including some with paper advertising labels that were applied to the back. Very few paper labels are found today due to their age, deterioration or prior removal.

Many of the portraits or subjects on these tin plates are close likenesses or virtual copies of the quality hand painted portraits found on porcelain plates produced by Royal Vienna and other manufacturers of quality plate artwork. These tin plates were created as a form of inexpensive give-away advertising that the recipient would hopefully retain and display. They fall into the general categories of – Portraits (virtually all of women) – Scenes – Souvenirs – Advertising.

For purposes of definition on this website, a portrait plate is one that contains a posed full or partial body image of a person(s) or of thing(s). An advertising plate is one with advertising printed on the front. A separate section addresses advertising found printed solely on the backs of any plates. Some plates may fall into more than one category and therefore may appear under more than one tab of this website.

Hazelcorn’s Price Guide to Tin Vienna Art Plates is the only book that has been produced about these plates. While first released in 1987, and is long out of print, it remains the primary reference source for collectors.  References may be made herein to “Hazelcorn” (or “Haz”) plate codes and/or pages to assist collectors.  This website is not intended to incorporate or replace the Hazelcorn book, but rather, is primarily intended to expand on information contained in the book, to add new information and to provide color photographs of these plates using current technology.

The values of these plates are based upon many factors such as economic conditions, supply, demand, scarcity and, most importantly, their individual condition. These are all economic or subjective factors. Accordingly, no opinions as to scarcity, values or prices are included.

Few if any factory records are known to exist today in order to help identify the portrait or border designs that were originally produced or to identify the various advertising that appeared on these plates. Accordingly, the information contained on this website likely will never be totally accurate or complete and will simply contain the best information available at this time.

Further, the photographs displayed on this website have come from an array of sources. They include photos of items in personal collections, on internet websites, in auction listing and records, including from eBay. Accordingly, the quality and resolution of some photos may be poor or only fair at best.  As new or better quality photographs are obtained, the site will be updated to contain the best photographs that are currently available.

This website is a “work in progress” which will change and hopefully expand and improve over time as new information and photographs are obtained and added.  The contribution of information, documents and high quality photographs, are welcomed.