royal derby/Imari. Vent hole going through mark. Is this a factory reject?

NOTE: also there's an X scratched through the mark. Is this a concern?

 

Your pictures are GREAT and it's a LOVELY Pitcher, but I can't help with your questions!!

 

If your pics aren't distorted, it looks like it warped in the final gilt firing, so maybe it is a second/reject.
Usually the factories don't bother gilding the seconds so you'll see lots of pieces with "missing" sections. In this case though it looks finished, so I'm guessing this piece warped during the last process.

 

Blooey which part is warped? I may be able to get another pic if you tel where to look. It seems to me that the "X" is a dead giveaway that something went wrong. Thanks for adding to the evidence...

 

Yes, I believe the cross indicates a reject.

 

I'd say "sagged" rather than "warped" - looks a tad off-kilter.

And agree that the mark is cancelled. Pretty extreme, rendering the piece unusable.

 

It looks like it's leaning. I think that's what they mean by off-kilter. Stand it next to something vertical.

 

I used to work for Royal Doulton in an outlet mall. On many occasions we received 1st run overstock with instructions to strike the items. The RD strike was a slight grind to the crown dot with a pointed Dremel tool. They had to justify the markdown. I of course employee-bought what I wanted before I struck the unfortunate items. Manufacturer strikes, like RCD, can be be brutal but I tend to ignore them. If the piece is misfired and off shape, I give it a pass. However, in this case, as with decoration flaws, a piece of china that is used only a few times, usually has enough wear to qualify as a second if it were unused. I would buy this ewer without hesitation. Put an inventory/owner sticker over it. If you are the kind of person who has friends over for dinner and they flip your china, get rid of the friend and not the china.

My 2c.

 

@blooey and @moreotherstuff
are you talking about how it appears tipped back a little bit?

 

Yes. Picture #4 shows the neck out of vertical and leaning over toward the handle. If that is the case, It would be a reject.