09 Feb The Thrill of the Find
COLLECTING
What’s old is new and what’s new is the all the rage……….
Transferware
Collecting is and always will be a BIG thing.
Why?
Because it is all in the thrill of the FIND. When you come across that one thing you know you just HAVE GOT TO HAVE don’t you get all tingly? If you don’t, then go find something to collect. Being a collector gives you a focus and undoubtedly, it will put you on a path of enrichment.
Interested?
Let’s take Transferware. Who collects it, why and what the heck do you do with a bunch of plates once you get them.
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Collectors Profile
Who: Nancy, Wife . Mom (Six kids ages 12 – 20), Poetry Lover, Cook, Gardener. English Transferware Dealer and Etsy Shop Owner.
Collects: 18th & 19th century English Transferware.
How: She started collecting 20 years ago and hasn’t stopped. Ten years ago, she opened her first shop and went on to EBay and is now on ETSY.
How she enjoys it: In every way possible… even serving food in it on Super Bowl Sunday! Much of it is displayed on her walls. Other pieces are in hutches, on end
tables, mantels and used for special occasions such as the Holidays or entertaining her 14 year old daughter and friends in very lovely tea parties. Nancy sorts her collections by putting them together by pattern, color or shap
es.
Transferware started out as the answer to mass production in pottery rather than individually painted pieces. There are tons of great patterns in several colors. Most predominantly blue, aubergine, browns, greens, reds and teal. Every collectible has a story. Transferware has tons. Each pattern shows a different subject or tells a story. Check out Nancy’s blog to read about the variety of patterns and their histories from Old Britain Castles to the 19th century Millenium pattern’. nancysdish.blogspot.com
Are you wondering what you are going to do with all of this? You are going to love it, display it and make it part of decorating your home. Your choices are a reflection of who you are.
Why is it called Transferware and how is it made?
This is cool.
Transferware:
It all began in the mid 1700’s when the demand for painted china was insatiable throughout the trading world. Three clever and industrious Englishmen had had enough of tedious and time consuming handpainting . After some experimentation they independently developed a process that enabled decorated china to be mass produced, and it was appropriately named transferware .
John Brookes of Birmingham and Sadler and Greene of Liverpool engraved copper plates with a design, inked the plate with colored glaze and printed it on a tissue like paper. The tissue was then placed on the object to be decorated, soaked off, then fired in a kiln to make the design permanent. The decorated object was dipped in transparent glaze and fired again for the finished product called transferware.
The Process - click for the entire story
Blue was the most common color and it dominated the market until the early 1800’s when an array of different colored glazes were introduced. Designs also became more elaborate with a varietry of themes and color combinations. Contemporary collectors are numerous and fortunate to have an abundance of dazzling wares to add to their display. As in all collectibles, the rarer the ware the more elusive and costly.
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Resources
www.nancysdailydish.blogspot.com
