Special Interest
Vivienne Schulman Manber
"It is with great sadness that I Inform you of the passing of my mother Vivienne Schulman Manber who always took great joy in her days at The Transfersware Collectors Club. Vivienne passed away on June 3 at home after a lengthy illness. Vivienne had a distinguished 42 year career at the State Department and retired in 1995 as Chief of Reference at the US Mission to the United Nations. She continued to enjoy the antiques business she ran with her husband in Rhinebeck, NY - Victorian Cupboard at the Beekman Arms Antiques Center. She is survived by her husband Malcolm Manber, her twin children Susan Manber and David Manber and grandchildren Max and Sarina Abraham."
--submitted by Susan Manber.
Note from the editor: Vee and Mal were among the earliest members of the TCC. They enthusiastically attended many of our annual meetings, and Vee often contributed to the Message Board by replying to even the most banal enquiries. We will all miss Vee! We extend our condolences to Mal and the entire Manber family.
New Articles page collects all TCC website articles of interest. Read more.
Spode Heritage Exhibit to Open in This Year
Members Paul and Kath Holdway report that a temporary exhibition dedicated to the Spode factory, its people and products is planned to open later this year. With an aggressive July date for its opening in mind, the exhibition committee has appointed Susan Coates, of Coatesheritage.com, a two year commission as Museum Co-Coordinator. The municipal government, current owner of the historic Spode factory site in Stoke, has granted access to a facility on site for the exhibit. The exhibition will tell the social story of all the craftsmen and women that made a happy family business, on the same site since 1770’s. Planners will take advantage of the Spode Museum Trust's large collection of photography, film footage, archival material, and the more than 40,000 pots and 20,000 copper plates. With this temporary exhibit, the Museum Trust will only be able to display a fraction of the full Spode collection. Efforts continue for the purpose of establishing a permanent museum some time in the future.
No Challenge to Wedgwood Museum Sell-Off Ruling
An appeal to Britain's high court to exclude the acclaimed Wedgwood ceramic collection and its prize-winning museum setting from the Wedgwood Company bankruptcy proceedings has failed. The High Court ruled in December that the Barlston attraction's artifacts were not held in trust and could, therefore, be sold by administrators to pay off debts. Gaye Blake-Roberts of the Wedgwood Museum stated that "the main aim now will be to ensure that this internationally important ceramic collection and archive is saved for the nation and remains permanently open to the public. A fund raising campaign will be launched in the forthcoming weeks to 'Save the Wedgwood Collection'."
Hayden Goldberg
With profound sadness, the Transferware Collectors Club announces that on January 3, 2012, veteran transferware collector Hayden Goldberg died in the hospital in Brooklyn. He had been unwell after suffering a stroke last September. Hayden is survived by his partner of 56 years, Curtis F. Brown, a renowned author. Together, they lived in Brooklyn for the past 40 years. Hayden and Curtis began collecting “Old Blue” Staffordshire of American historical interest in 1963, and successfully amassed an encyclopedic collection of nearly all of the views in the field.
The TCC owes both Hayden and Curtis an incalculable debt for allowing the club access to their collection of almost 800 specimens for the purpose of photographing and documenting the items. The Goldberg/Brown Collection is the corpus of the printed designs that now illustrate the TCC’s current interactive on-line exhibit titled Patriotic America: Blue Printed Pottery Celebrating a New Nation. Patriotic America, produced in partnership with Historic New England and the Winterthur Museum, will serve as a definitive database of images of English printed pottery that illustrate important places and commemorate historical events of the early republic.
Hayden’s intellectual insights and scholarly contributions to the literature are well known among “Old Blue” collectors. In the July 1981 edition of The Magazine Antiques, he published “The Earliest Known Example of Historical Blue Staffordshire,” depicting an earthenware plate with a medallion portrait of George Washington and the arms of the United States. Hayden included in that article an illustration of a then-recent discovery, which remains unique to this day: a dark blue plate by Andrew Stevenson in the Large Roses Border Series, with the central view of "Halstead, Essex" and portrait medallions of Washington and Governor Clinton, excluding an Erie Canal vignette.
But perhaps most ambitious was his pair of articles, also in The Magazine Antiques, exploring “The Architecture of Charles Bulfinch on Historical Blue Staffordshire.” (“Part I: The Early Buildings” in July 1985 and “Part II: The Later Buildings” in February 1987).
Nonetheless, Hayden may go down in history for his and Curtis’s legendary lunch invitation to TCC members Ted Gallagher and Kurt O’Hare. As Ted described in the Spring-Summer 2010 issue of the TCC Bulletin, under the title “Generosity Unbound,” pre-cut sandwiches and soup were served in some of the rarest views in all of “Old Blue.” Food never tasted so good!
Wedgwood Museum Saved!
It was announced just before Christmas that a judge at the High Court in Birmingham gave a verdict saying that the collection in the Wedgwood Museum, valued at £18 million, could be sold to help cover a £134 million pension deficit stemming back to the 2009 collapse of the Waterford Wedgwood pottery firm. This led to an outcry from the family, the local member of parliament, curators and ordinary Potteries folk, horrified by the idea that their region, which has already lost its pottery, coal and steel industries, could lose its proud heritage too. Experts believe any sale would undoubtedly see the collection broken up with the best items sold abroad.
Happily on Christmas Eve, the Daily Telegraph was able to report that billionaire John Caudwell, who was born into a working class family in Stoke on Trent in the 1950s and who made his fortune from selling his home-grown mobile phone company, had stepped forward offering to keep the collection intact, in place and open to the public.
Obviously there are many formalities to be gone through, but it looks as though the Wedgwood Museum has been saved.
Thanks to Sue Wagstaff for this status report. Additional information.
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Spode Artist
Artist Jeanne Illenye creates works incorporating Spode and other makers. View the website/blog.
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Willow enthusiasts
Download a short article on the Willow pattern.
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UK National Archives
1864-1871 Design Register
The UK National Archives has placed on-line various pottery (and other) patterns from the 1864-1871 Design Register. Transferware collectors may recognize some of the patterns. Access the register.
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Spode Exhibition Online
TCC partners with the Winterthur Museum and the Potteries Museum to launch leading edge interactive online exhibition of first period Spode printed ceramics. Learn more.
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1630 Wedgwood / Enoch Wood Bible at Auction
September 1st update to auction of this historic bible: the $10,000 opening bid was not attained, and the Bible, as of now, is unsold. Developments, if any, will be reported. More information on this remarkable item.
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Robert Copeland passes away September 10, 2010
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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.
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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
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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.
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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 its 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
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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.
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"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
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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.
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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.
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