History of Transferware in the 19th Century

Series Summary

Any lover of fine dining is mystified by the beauty of antique transferware. Transferware developed in Staffordshire region of England in the mid-1750s, and we can attribute class divisions in England to its production. This new method of making dinnerware was designed for the pocketbooks of the populace. Before transferware was invented, only the gentry were able to afford the costly process of hand decorated dinnerware. Thankfully, to collectors everywhere, transferware was extremely popular in the 18th and 19th century. By using a piece of tissue paper with an inked impression, a design could be transferred onto a ceramic surface. There were a variety of colors printed. The most popular today are blue and white, red and white, and brown and white. Today, more than two hundred centuries later, this form of dinnerware is collected by numerous devotees.

In this free video series, learn about these 19th century collectibles. Sue Shea gives you advice about prices and values of various kinds of transferware. Also, learn about the different styles and patterns of transferware. She shows you examples of blue, brown, purple, red, and mulberry transferware. Sue teaches you how to care for your beautiful antique dinnerware. She explains the pros and cons of restored transferware as well. By listening to her advice and tips, you can begin your collection of transferware today!

Video Transcript

"Today we will be talking about collecting transferware and first we will start with how and where it began. The Staffordshire district in England produced Staffordshire wear in the 1800th Century figures in different shapes but we are going to talk about today transferware that was made in this district by different potters during the 19th Century which is throughout the 1800's. It starts out with a variety of blue, dark blue transfer in the 1820's leading up through the 1830's, 40's 50's and 60's with the lighter blue. The brown transfer that we see here, the red transfer over here and mulberry black transfer or looks like black and brown. So those are the ranges that we will discuss today. "