The Numbering System
The numbering system is fairly straight forward: two digits for the year followed by an arbitrary three digit designation number, then four digits for the month and day of completion of the work. Works from the years 2000 to 2007 start with 20 to 27 for the years.
The three arbitrary designation digits follow the year to group works of the same type and to preserve chronology when completion dates are missing. So ascending estate numbers order the works chronologically. There are two exceptions to this principle. The obvious first one is the years after 2000 starting with 20-27, numerically less than 58-99 but later. The second and also immediately obvious exception is the use of the third digit to gather works of secondary types - drawings, ink works, Sploores - done during each year.
Where Bloore numbered works himself, those numbers have been integrated into the designation digits. Occasionally Bloore would add finishing touches to works after subsequent pieces had already been completed. The result of this is designation digits being chronological while seeming to contradict the final four completion date digits. The same thing happens sometimes when the last four digits are actually the start date because the completion date was never recorded.
The oddest exceptions of all however, even though “the numbering system is fairly straight forward,” are the cases where no exact dates of execution are known but the date digits are not just wasted with zeros as place-holders. A little information is squeezed in: 44 for 4 foot by 4 foot paintings, 1824 for 18 by 24 inch ink works, etc. These expletive numbers are never mistakable as dates because 1 to 12 are avoided in the months place.