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World’s Largest Transferware Jug ???

Toddler standing in large mug 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. Both Items 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.

Three Pot Lids

More Pot Lids

Examples of American-themed pot lids, generously provided by Greg Dean of Dean Antiques, http://www.deantiques.com/PLG/index.htm, are attached.

More Information

Philadelphia Excavations Revisited

Photo with woman working on transferware 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

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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