I am just back from America.
I feel honoured to have been invited by the Transferware Collectors Club (TCC) to be the keynote speaker at their 14th Annual Meeting near Boston MA. I gave two presentations about Spode which seemed to go down really well. Thank you to the TCC who were great hosts to me and my husband, who also gave his famous Tale of the Toilet presentation. This invitation from the TCC got me on a plane for the first time too!
I feel honoured to have been invited by the Transferware Collectors Club (TCC) to be the keynote speaker at their 14th Annual Meeting near Boston MA. I gave two presentations about Spode which seemed to go down really well. Thank you to the TCC who were great hosts to me and my husband, who also gave his famous Tale of the Toilet presentation. This invitation from the TCC got me on a plane for the first time too!
It was lovely to meet all the members at the conference and discuss a wide range of subjects, specific interests and different ways of collecting transferware (known as printed ware in the UK) with which Spode is so closely associated. The TCC is a must for all those interested in printed wares of whatever manufacturer. Their website now holds a database of 10,000 transferware patterns and rising. The organisation also gives grants to relevant projects. Click here for further information.
In honour of both America and the TCC here are some images of Spode wares. They include items from c1813 to 2000; plain printed; printed and hand coloured; earthenware, stone china and bone china. There are patterns which are specific to the American market and others which are the type collected by members of the TCC so I hope something for everyone.
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| Snapshot of one of the dressers from the Spode museum's old 'Blue Room', full of Spode printed wares in the Chinese style, pre-1833 (photo c2004) |
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| Sunflower & Convolvulus pattern (detail) earthenware c1813 |
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| Sunflower & Convolvulus pattern in pink with gilded edge, bone china c2000 |
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| Pattern 2/5526 Copeland & Thompson catalogue pages |
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| Independence, or Eagle & Star, pattern number Y51 produced on stone china c1927-c1961 |
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| Buttercup pattern printed and hand coloured, c1924 to c1992 Hugely popular in America. |
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| Pattern 7487 c1840s (detail) printed in flow blue, a style particularly popular in America |
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| Left: Garden seat, Italian pattern c1816. Right: Leg bath, Lange Lijsen (Long Eliza) pattern c1820. Front: Cheese Cradle (for a round, or wheel, of hard cheese) Rome pattern c1811 (sometimes known as Tiber) |
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| Tower pattern on a Covered Dutch Jug c1820 |
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| Paul Holdway engraving a copper plate for Italian pattern (detail) 2004 |