Special Interest
Ceramics in New England, September 11, 2010
Old Sturbridge Village, in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, will present a day-long Collectors' Forum "Ceramics in New England," featuring TCC member Pat Halfpenny as keynote speaker.
Collectors' Forum Images
Program Brochure
Did Benjamin Franklin Invent Transferware?
Wendy Erich's research into Benjamin Franklin's claim
that he invented transferware, funded by a TCC Research Grant.
Download the article
Citation: Erich, Wendy. "Did Benjamin Franklin invent transferware?", The Burlington Magazine 1288 Vol. CLII (July 2010): 464-469.
TCC Member Seeks Images of Tiles
Sandie Fowler needs images of tiles for a book she is authoring. Download the list of tiles she needs. Below are some examples:
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1820s Pearlware filled-in transfers; patterns and attributions
by Pete Christmas
Members receive access to full article
Non-members purchase access for $5
Pearlware blue-printed transferwares are sometimes found with ‘filled-in’ enamel colours of plum, yellow, brick-red and green, usually painted on chinoiserie patterns with a distinctive deep cobalt blue background. Often on ale jugs or mugs and less commonly on spill vases; their factory marks usually have the description ‘Opaque China’, together with the initials of the manufacturer. This ‘filled-in’ style of pearlware had a brief popularity commencing during the reign of George IV in the 1820s, and was made in Staffordshire, Bristol, Sunderland and possibly Swansea. 
My aim in this research article was to describe the manufacturers and known patterns, giving attributions for factory marks where possible; including guidance on attribution of unmarked wares. I show what evidence exists to support these attributions, paying particular attention to regional differences. The paper also examines in more detail the various ‘Boy in the door’ patterned wares, illustrating and listing the characteristics of five different engraving types in relation to their region of manufacture. Photographs of all the currently known patterns of this genre are included, together with a table of factory marks.
Members receive full access | Purchase access to article for $5
TCC Members Stick Together.
Pat Halfpenny describes TCC members' recent experience helping the NPS Philadelphia Independence Living History Center Archaeology Laboratory assemble transferware shards and identify patterns. Read entire account | Supplemental Information
Posted March 2010
Three Arms of the States Series platters recently sold
Three Arms of the States Series platters recently sold at the January 2010 Pook & Pook, Inc. auction.
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Arms of North Carolina |
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Arms of Pennsylvania |
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Arms of Delaware |
Information from Maine Antique Digest, April 2010 issue; images from the TCC Database.
Posted April 2010
World’s Largest Transferware Jug ???
Well, maybe not, but certainly this one stands out, for both its exceptional size as well as contents! Thanks to Dennis and Ann Berard for this photo, featuring their lovely grand daughter, Ellie, age nine months (at time of the photo).
The jug is 24" tall & 28" across from spout to handle. The top half consists of four repeating scenes of men playing cricket on the lawn of Windsor Castle. The bottom half is four repeating scenes of a man, woman, and children, the man with a long spyglass looking out over a large city, possibly London. Abergavenny, location of Richard and John Shaw’s shop, is in South Wales. Such huge jugs and other oversized ware were not intended for use, except as advertisement for the retail establishment named on the jug or to exhibit the skill of the maker (or both).
We welcome submittal of photos of other exceptional items.
Robert Copeland Attic Collection Sale
On Tuesday 9th June 2009, Louis Taylor Fine Auctioneers and Valuers in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, sold the Robert Copeland Attic Collection, most of the items having belonged to his father, Mr A. Gresham Copeland. 
William Taylor Copeland and Thomas Garrett bought the Spode factory in 1833, and the collection consisted of many early pieces of Spode blue and white pearlware in a variety of patterns and all shapes and sizes, with examples from the Copeland and Garrett and Copeland periods, and a few from the 20th century.
The 148 lots included items in bone china and ironstone in addition to pearlware, as well as wares made by Spode's competitors, such as Rogers, Clews, Davenport and Turner.
Most items have labels with the initials AGC, the collection number, and often details of where and when they were acquired, which make the objects even more interesting.
A West Country dealer was lucky to acquire a supper set in it's original tray, with only the egg cups missing and in perfect condition (see photos). The dealer stated that it was something which will be hard to part with.
-- submitted by Sue Wagstaff
Help the NPS Identify Patterns
The Independence Living History Center Archeology Laboratory in Philadelphia (part of the National Park Service) has posted images of partially reconstructed pieces of transferware from excavations of the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. They have identified numerous patterns (many more than the two identified patterns on the site), but many are unidentified. Please visit the web site www.archphoto.p-j.net and help the NPS identify these patterns. Below you will see some examples of their work.
"Ceramic Feeders" Website
On occasion, a truly wonderful web site comes to our attention. Such is the case with www.ceramicfeeders.com, a site subtitled “Ceramic Infantilia of the 19th Century”. We won’t write a long review; anyone viewing this note can link to the site. Just take a look at the site’s home page images; you will be hooked. Many Transferware items, as well as wonderful forms featuring Transferware as well as other means of decoration. All British and primarily 19th century (although one page is devoted to some great 20th century examples). Enjoy! One example on an infant feeder, courtesy of Merlin Antiques (no connection to “Ceramic Feeders”), is shown below.
-- submitted by David Hoexter
Pot Lids
Pot Lids are small glazed transfer-printed earthenware containers, consisting of a base and lid, which were made from the 1840s through the early 20th century (some forms of pot lids may date from the second half of the 18th century). They contained many products, such as ointments, tooth paste, cold cream, shaving products food pastes, hair pommade, etc. What do they have to do with transferware? The manufacture or retail supplier name and product, often with an image, are transfer-printed on the lids.
Pot lids were produced by the millions, by some of the same UK makers who produced the transferware you see elsewhere on this site, but few remain, as they were generally discarded after use. Pot lids are both mono and poly-chromatic (including so-called Prattware lids). We plan to do much more with pot lids on this web site in the future.
Examples of American-themed pot lids, generously provided by Greg Dean of Dean Antiques, http://www.deantiques.com/PLG/index.htm, are attached.
Philadelphia Excavations Revisited
You may have read of the National Park Service archeological excavations in Philadelphia (examples of recovered shards are shown in "Transferware Serendipity", Summer/Fall 2007 TCC Bulletin), and the considerable number of shards unearthed within the city block which is now occupied by the National Constitution Center. A year after initially viewing some of the shards, TCC members Sue and Frank Wagstaff revisited the Independence Living History Center Archeology Lab, to check on progress in identifying the finds. The attached views show several transferware (and other pottery) being pieced together, and the use of printouts from the TCC Database to identify patterns and assist the volunteers in their work. Another example of the benefits of the Database
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Status of Spode Factory Sale and Collections at Stoke-on-Trent: Friends of the Spode Museum have a Website with up-to-date information on the status of the museum. Contributions can be made through PayPal. www.spodefriends.org.uk | December 2007 Status | Details | Spode Press Release | Message for Transferware Collectors | December 2006 Newsletter
Philadelphia Museum of Art exhibition, Colonial Philadelphia Porcelain: the Art of Bonnin and Morris, an exhibit of rare American-made underglaze blue porcelain closed June 1, 2008. Read more about this exhibition
The San Francisco Ceramics Circle has prepared a list of Museums with Major Collections of Ceramics, available at the following link: http://www.patricianantiques.com/sfccmuseumlist.html. Transferware is included in many of the entries.
Four Classics on the Internet
Classic pottery books from the turn of the (last) century featuring transferware are available (some for free) on the Net. Each is a must for serious collectors. All are occasionally available in the original edition; each has been subsequently reprinted. However, three of the four are available for free as PDF downloads.
China Collecting in America (1892, Alice Morse Earle); 12.1 MB PDF download from Google Books http://books.google.com/
The Old China Book (1903, N. Hudson Moore); 46 MB PDF download from Internet Archive Universal Library http://www.archive.org/details/oldchinabook013639mbp. Reviewed in the Autumn 2003 TCC Bulletin.
The Blue China Book (1916, Ada Walker Camehl) http://books.google.com/books (apparently still under copyright; need to purchase).
Anglo American Pottery, Old English China with American Views (1901, Edwin Atlee Barber); 4.5 MB PDF download from Google Books http://books.google.com/books
—submitted by David Hoexter
Recent article on Transferware: Journalist/writer Caroline Tiger, who attended our 2006 Philadelphia meeting, has published her article on Transferware. See also her 8/6/07 message board posting
The 2007 Eastfield Village Symposium "British Ceramics: The Development of Technical Genius in the British Ceramic Industry -- 1650-1850" (June 22--24, 2007) has run its course. Click here for a description of the symposium (as it was planned). We are hopeful one of the attendees will provide us with a summary and highlights of the event!
This ironstone china vegetable dish, made by E. F. Bodley and Company, of Burslem, Staffordshire, England, bears the motto of the CSS Alabama, "AIDE TOI ET DIEU T'AIDERA" (loosely translated: "God helps those who help themselves").
--submitted by TCC Member Jane Diemer, courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution web site.
"Northern Ceramics Summer School" by Connie Rogers. The annual Northern Ceramics Society (NCS) Summer School ran from August 8 to 13 at the University of Chester in the U.K. The theme of the conference was "Looking at the Evidence". Various lectures .... more info
Late-18th century pearlware jug, probably Swansea, barrel shape with out-turned foot and simple strap handle, printed in blue. Large floral sprays on either side of a verse "Sit down & spend a Social hour / In harmless mirth & fun / Let Friendship reign be just & Kind / And evil speak of none", all beneath a geometric border and with a different geometric border around the inside of the rim. Height 17.6 cm, unmarked, circa 1790-1800. Sold at auction February 2005 for 1300 GBP plus buyer's premium (estimate was 500!).
--submitted by Dick Henry wood
Enlarged View
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