Aynsley China - buyers and sellers guide

Founded in 1775, and still in production, Aynsley China is an ideal target for collectors because of its high quality and low incidence of crazing and chipping. However, there is limited information on design identificationand ageing, so this guide provides much of the information I have been able to accumulate over years of collecting and research.The only dedicated reference on Aynsley China is a Shire Publishing book by Frank Ashworth, named "Aynsley China" which is usually available on eBay as a "buy it now" item from sellers in the UK, or can be ordered online from Shirebooks. However, thereare still a lot of questions not answered by the book.What is this design called?Many Aynsley patterns do not have names, but are generally known by a number. If there is a name, often only the large pieces have the name included in the backstamp, but sometimes no pieceswill have the name added. Usually, there will be a design number - generally hand-written near the backstamp. Often there will be a letter added after the number (eg 8013A). You will generally find these letters correspond with the use for the item, such as A for afternoon tea, B for breakfast, C for coffee, D for dinner, etc. Not very scientific, but I'm led to believe that's what the letters are for.The quickest (and it's free!) method I have found for finding pattern names is to look on the website of Replacements Ltd, a US-based reseller. They catalogue a huge range of patterns and have names added to many. Click on the "China" tab, then on "Aynsley