Database of Patterns & Sources Count
16,519 patterns, 1,054 sources now available in the Database Patterns and Sources.
September eNews 2020
Dear Transferware Enthusiasts:
We're pleased to send you this edition of our eNewsletter to give you the latest club news informing you of up-coming club activities and interesting new content on our web site and our Facebook page. We welcome your comments, suggestions, and input; email the TCC Web Content Administrator webadministrator@transferwarecollectorsclub.org.
NEWS
Announcing a New Online Transferware Experience
The Transferware Collectors Club (TCC) is pleased to announce the launch of an exciting new educational initiative: Transferware Worldwide.
 
In a monthly program of online lectures, experts in the field of ceramics will present scholarly talks on transferware topics to include: history, process, makers, patterns, marketing and distribution, as well as special collections. The lectures, designed to have broad appeal to ceramic enthusiasts worldwide, will be conveniently accessible online via the Zoom format. A unique presentation will be offered on the second Thursday of each month, beginning on September 10, 2020. Each session will last one hour in duration and will include time for a lecture followed by Q & A. 
 
Inaugural lecture:

The Transferware Worldwide inaugural lecture, The Trade in British and other European Ceramics with the Dutch East Indies 1820-1940, will be presented on Thursday, September 10 by Jaap Otte, Development Officer, Smithsonian Institution, and TCC Member. Jaap will discuss the organization of the trade of European ceramics to the Dutch East Indies during the period 1820 to 1940, as well as the efforts to cater to preferences of the local population. A reminder, including the Zoom lecture link, will be transmitted September 8.
 
The following sessions are planned for the remainder of the year:

  • October 8 - TCC 2020 Virtual Annual Meeting, moderated by TCC President Scott Hanson. Our first-ever virtual Annual Meeting will feature two presentations with a brief business meeting between them. The first, A Transferware Journey in India, will be presented by TCC president Scott Hanson and TCC vice-president Michael Sack. Following a brief business meeting, we will share Gaye Blake-Roberts’ presentation on Britain’s Development of the Transfer Printing Process in the 18th Century and How it Changed the Industry, video recorded at the 2019 Annual Meeting in Birmingham, AL. Gaye, now retired, was Curator at the Wedgwood Museum in Barlaston, England and is currently an honorary senior research fellow with the V&A Research Institute.
  • November 5 - The 'Etching Revival' and Transferware: Aestheticism on the Dinner Table, by Jeff Ruda, Professor Emeritus of Art History, University of California, Davis, and TCC member.
  • December 10 - Preserving the Art of the Engraver, by Dr. Richard Halliday, Author, Head of Curated Ceramics, Hansons Auctioneer, and TCC Member.
 
Local Start Times for these lectures will be as follows: US & CANADA: 1:00 pm EDT; 12 pm CDT; 11 am MDT; 10:00 am PDT (and Arizona); UK: 6:00 pm BST; Paris, Berlin, Rome: 7:00 pm; Australia (Sydney): 3:00 am; Australia (Perth): 1:00 am: New Zealand (Wellington): 5:00 am. Times will be adjusted after November 1, when Daylight Saving Time ends.
 
Please save these dates and plan to join fellow ceramic enthusiasts for this informative lecture series. Specific details regarding access to each Zoom lecture will be provided via email prior to each presentation date.
Gladstone Pottery Museum Wins Award
Congratulations to the Gladstone Pottery Museum for winning the Visit England Small Visitor Attraction of the Year award. More information.

2020 ANNUAL MEETING
Our first-ever virtual Annual Meeting will feature two presentations with a brief business meeting between them. The first, A Transferware Journey in India, will be presented by TCC president Scott Hanson and TCC vice-president Michael Sack. Following a brief business meeting, we will share Gaye Blake-Roberts’ presentation on Britain’s Development of the Transfer Printing Process in the 18th Century and How it Changed the Industry, video recorded at the 2019 Annual Meeting in Birmingham, AL. Gaye, now retired, was Curator at the Wedgwood Museum in Barlaston, England and is currently an honorary senior research fellow with the V&A Research Institute. Members will receive a link to the zoom presentation a few days before. Link to more information.
Thomas and William Daniell source print from “Oriental Scenery, published in 6 volumes between 1795 and 1808;(upper left); February 2020 view of the Tomb of Nisar Beghum (Scott Hanson photo) (upper right); and transferware platter, c. 1820, possibly by William Walsh of Burslem (lower left).
AUCTION WATCH
Important Spode Collection September 30, 2020
Featured by Hansons Auctioneers
Hansons Auctioneers is proud to announce a very special Spode ceramics sale. This single-owner collection was very carefully and skillfully assembled over decades. The collection is predominantly of Spode blue-printed earthenware, but also includes porcelain, creamware and Stone China examples. The collection features nearly complete Caramanian and Indian Sporting dinner services, including many rare shapes such as tureens, jugs, asparagus server and knife rests. Please contact Dr Richard Halliday, Head of Curated Ceramics for further details: rhalliday@hansonsauctioneers.co.uk
Please contact us if you are offering or know of an upcoming auction 
with an emphasis on transferware.
BULLETIN
Bulletin TCC 2020 Number 2
Download/read this issue's feature article (all site visitors): The Right or Wrong Fit: Accommodating Transfer Patterns to Sizes and Shapes. Members, read the entire issue here.

Hard copies are being printed and will be mailed when available.
 
The TCC Bulletin Index -- incorporating listings of articles from the Fall 1999 issue through to the most recent issue. A rich resource! Read it here.
PATTERN OF THE MONTH
Duke of York
The Duke of York was the uncle of Princess Victoria, who later became Queen Victoria. Here, he is shown as the Commander-in-Chief of the British Army during the Napoleonic Wars. The plate is 9.25 inches and has a shell edge. The maker is unknown. For TCC members, it is pattern #19176 in the TCC database.

Members only: for more information about this pattern and to see other similar patterns, search the Pattern and Source Print Database.

Thanks to Judie Siddall for preparing the "Pattern of the Month."
TILE OF THE MONTH
"No. 111" Flower with Dotted Roads
Tile, 6 x 6 inches. Maker is Sherwin & Cotton 1877-1911, Hanley, Straffordshire. "No. 111" is printed on the back of the tile. It has been given a descriptive TCC Assigned Name for ease in searching. It is pattern #18585 in the database.

This is a complex pattern with a basic square diamond shape dotted "road" in the center with round bump-outs. The round arrow-shapes at top and bottom are part of that square diamond and are each filled with a foliated scroll. A small yellow flower at the very center is surrounded on two sides with two urns with clinging vines. The roads are yellow-colored with dots so it can be seen that the center section is placed on top of the square diamond. More crossed roadways are produced when the group of 9 tiles is put together. The outer sections of foliated scrolls on dotted background form new light-colored large motifs that contrast with the dark pattern on a single tile. Link to more tiles.

Thanks to Connie Rogers and Kurt O'Hare for preparing the "Tile Display of the Month."
PHOTO OF THE MONTH
Britannia Pottery, Glasgow
An undated photo of the Britannia Pottery in Glasgow, showing nine kilns, innumerable saggars, and workers. For those less familiar with the pottery firing process, the wares were placed in the saggars, which were in turn placed into the kiln for firing. Thanks to George Haggarty for this image, from his Facebook page, with permission. To view more images encompassing numerous topics, visit the TCC Website Image Gallery. See past Photos of the Month.

Thanks to David Hoexter for preparing the "Photo of the Month."
2020 GRANT RECIPIENTS
Richard Halliday, UK
Study Title:  The Art of the Engraver: in-depth process of documentation detailing hand-engraved copper plates
Abstract: To record and document the copper plate engraving process as it is performed by an ex-Spode engraver and publish a reference book of the process and images. A transfer-printed ceramic from the engraving will be produced from the engraving and offered with the book.         
Contributions to the field of transferware studies:  Very little has been written about the engraving process and the skills to produce an engraving lie solely with surviving engravers. This rare and time sensitive project provides a valuable resource for those interested in the process of transfer printing.
Matthew Keagle, USA
Study Title: Trash to Treasures: Cataloging Transferware in the Pavilion Collection
Abstract: To catalog and document transferware in the Pavilion collection at Fort Ticonderoga museum. William Pell, who had purchased the fort in 1820, built the Pavilion as his family home in 1826. The project will identify, research and catalog both shards and intact pieces of transferware found at the site and collected by the Pell family. The findings will be included in onsite museum exhibitions, made available through the museum’s online database, and published in the museum’s publication.  
Contributions to the field of transferware studies:  The documentation and research of the archaeological record and intact objects of the previously unknown Pell family collection will provide knowledge of the export market at the time and the evolution of the patterns and styles of the transferware used by the Pell family for generations.
MEMBER ROSTER
A Membership List updated in August 2020 is now available (for members only and only for non-commercial use).  Download now. Please review your entry on the list, and notify us of any changes in your contact information.
VIDEO
Spode Factory Virtual Tour of the Mold Archives
Under the direction of Professor Neil Brownsword, Staffordshire University and in cooperation with the Spode Museum Trust, the ceramic molds stored in four rooms located at the historic Spode factory site were digitized and are now available online for you to enjoy. View this video. Visit the TCC website to view more videos.

Thanks to Loren Zeller for bringing this video to our attention.
RECORDER NEWS
Number 26, September 2020
Back to normality this time following the previous silver jubilee bumper issue. Normal maybe, but we have still managed to unearth a fine selection of new items and discoveries, a matching source print, another merchant’s mark, and an attractive jug from a rare maker. Download Recorder.
FEATURE ARTICLES
by Connie Rogers

One of the greatest achievements in transfer printing in the last half of the 19th century was led by J. & M. P. Bell of Glasgow, Scotland. The firm was established in 1842 by the two brothers: John and Matthew Perston Bell. They began by producing useful kitchen wares. By the 1860s they were well established, and there was high demand for their decorative and useful pottery. In the 1860s and 1870s there was a large volume of exported ware, from other Scottish potteries as well as Bells, that was sent out to all parts of the world. John Bell became a ship owner and purchased a firm in Rangoon to assist with the continuation of their adventure. Read the article.
by Hayden Goldberg

This is one of four articles authored by transferware collector and researcher Hayden Goldberg and originally published in The Magazine ANTIQUES. This article appeared on pp. 281-283, January 1984. Courtesy BMP Media Holdings, L.L.C.

For nearly half a century collectors and scholars have puzzled over the identity of the buildings de­picted in the scenes transfer printed on the teapot shown in Figure 1 (above), and on various other parts of the tea set to which it belongs. Until now, the maker of the set had also not been documented. Read the article.
FEATURE BOOKS
POTTERY RECIPES BOOK BY STAFFORDSHIRE POTTER THOMAS LAKIN
by Edward Baines

Now available for download, The Valuable Receipts (Recipes) of The Late Mr. Thomas Lakin (1824). Thanks to Phil Rowley for pointing out the online source for this book. More info.
Rathbone, China and Earthenware Manufacturers, Tunstall, Staffordshire 1808 to 1843
by Ian Harvey

This second edition is A4 in size, hard back with dust jacket, 237 pages and some 900 high quality images. It commences with the history of the Rathbone brothers and their potteries in Staffordshire and Portobello in Scotland and records all the Staffordshire partnerships with descriptions of the pottery that they built and extended. More info.
CLUB & INFORMATION WEBSITES
THE AMERICAN CERAMIC CIRCLE (ACC) was founded in 1970 as a non-profit educational organization committed to the study and appreciation of ceramics. Its purpose is to promote scholarship and research in the history, use, and preservation of ceramics of all kinds, periods, and origins.​ Link to site.
The Antique Pot Lid Collector was created by two specialist collectors who have a combined expertise spanning over 70 years. They are namely:
  • Andrew Alsop specialises in Bears Grease pot lids and all Pharmaceutical items. Including bottles.
  • John Foumakis specialises in muti-coloured printed pots and lids commonly referred to Pratt types. 
Find more of the informative resources we've compiled here.
More About Transferware Collectors Club

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISEMENTS
We are now accepting simple classified (not display) advertisements from TCC member transferware dealers as well as non-dealer members. There is no charge for this member service. Following are the criteria:  
  • Limited to three quality images of item(s) for sale or example(s) of an item(s) you wish to purchase.
  • Include a very short description paragraph, including a link to your website and/or email address.
  • Dealers must be TCC members, limited to once/year maximum.
  • Requests will be processed in the order received, and there is no guarantee as to when your ad will be posted.
  • The TCC Web Administrator at his/her discretion has the right to reject inappropriate or inadequate submittals.

Contact:  
The Database Needs Editors 
Do you love a good mystery? Do you fancy yourself to be a Sherlock Holmes or Miss Marple? If your answer is "yes", then you are the perfect candidate to join the ranks of TCC Database Detectives! Download more information.  

New Database Discoveries Articles Needed 
Please contact the web administrator with suggestions or contributions of future Database Discoveries articles. See Database Discoveries archives. 

Contributions Needed for Bulletin  
Bulletin editor Richard Halliday is seeking contributions for the upcoming bulletin.

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