Ken Curry with a teacup from his grandmother's dinner service. Trying to find missing pieces inspired him to set up the business.

The phone has rarely stopped ringing since Ken Curry combined his love of old china with his computer expertise and established a worldwide china matching service.

I started China Finders two and a half years ago and have more than 12,000 buyers and sellers and 25,000 items of china.'' he says. "The computer allows me to keep track of who wants what and match up customers with the china.

Ken set up the service after trying to trace pieces of a dinner service he inherited from his grandmother. "She loved that set so much she even chose wallpaper, light fittings and door knobs to match the pattern," he says. He finds that many of his clients have a similar emotional attachment to their china.

"China often reminds people of happy times and they want that to carry on," he says. "Others want to sell treasured items knowing it will be matched up and find a good home."

China Finders now covers the range from discontinued tableware dating from the turn of the century to pieces only a few years old. Top quality 12-place dinner sets bought in the 70s or 80s can now have a replacement value of more than $15,000, so people are very keen to find missing pieces.

In addition to the finest bone china from manufacturers such as Royal Doulton and Wedgwood there is a high demand for brands such as Noritake and many popular stoneware patterns.

China Finders trades in china from all over the world, recently importing a large shipment of hard-to-find patterns from the UK. Now with the assistance of online trading these needed pieces will complete quality dinnerware sets in a various homes across the world.

Listing your requests on the database is a free service. As items become available all those wanting that particular pattern are notified simultaneously. Prices are based on the rarity and quality of the china. "Teacups average around AUD$44 each, stoneware cups sell for about AUD$22, while one from Wedgwood's top-of-the-range Gold Florentine pattern would be AUD$100."

Despite his many contacts and satisfied customers, Managing Director Ken Curry wryly admits that he still hasn't been able to find the missing pieces for his grandmother's dinner service. "So if anyone has a Royal Doulton French Provincial dinner set, pattern number H4945, I'd really love to hear from you."

Ken Curry pictured above scouring
an English countryside boot sale for
oddments of English China.