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Friday, March 3, 2023

WHAT IS A STOCK BLOCK?

 

Many, if not most, 19th century patterns made for children were very inexpensive. Someone once told me that in the 19th century it was probably cheaper to give a ceramic gift of a plate or mug with a loving message than one printed on paper like the ubiquitous paper greeting cards we give and receive today (this statement is uncorroborated). While looking at my collection, I focused on two shell edge plates and one mug from the early 19th century that had the text sandwiched between children who were playing. I saw that some of the same figures appeared in more than one item. Notice the boy with the hoop on the plate on the left also appears on the mug. The girl playing with the cat on the right-hand plate is also on the mug, minus the cat. I did wonder if this repetition was a way of keeping cost down. I went to my favorite book on children's pottery, Noel Riley's 1991 book "Gifts For Good Children." I learned that this type of decoration is called a stock block, as the manufacturer would already have the figures available to surround the words of the buyer.  Riley says on p. 248 (990) that this type of print "illustrates the use of a stock block with a cut-out central section allowing different inscriptions to be inserted." 

Below are a few more photos of stock block patterns. It appears that you could have any short message.


The stock block was also used for Sunday School gifts. Riley illustrates a few stock block mugs and a plate on p. 249. On the the stock block below, there appears a serious looking boy and girl holding up a scroll with a Biblical saying. Below are two more examples.



 

 

 



 

 









 

The message on the next mug appears to be part of the Temperance Movement that enlisted children as young as six! If you want to learn more about the Temperance themed patterns for children, look at this link, https://dishynews.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-temperance-movement-on-transferware.html

I shall end this post with the wish that we still had inexpensive 19th century children's mugs and plates to give as gifts.  The good news is many of the plates and mugs were valued, so we still see lots of them  today. Inexpensive may be another matter.






Saturday, October 23, 2021

DISHY NEWS BLOG TO BOOKS!

 

If you can tear your eyes away from the transferware, you'll notice five large books.  They contain all of the 327 Dishy News posts that I have written since 2013. I had no idea you could transform your blog posts into paper books until a recent visit to our friends Mark and Sandra. Mark showed us two books he had made from blog posts of his visit to India. I was surprised at how well the books were formatted, as well as the quality of the paper and color. The company that Mark used was PixxiBook. I hoped PixxiBook wouldn't be too difficult to use, but the hardest thing I had to do was pick the colors of the covers!

I thought I'd show you how some of the posts look in the books. I hope you get an idea of the size of the books, 12 inches by 8.5 inches, and the excellent color of the pictures.

 



You may wonder why I chose to make hard copies of my blog posts. I have learned that everything is ephemeral, so I treated PixxiBook like insurance. If the Cloud disappears, I may still have the books. Or, if I have a house fire, I may still have the Cloud. More than that,  I am taking such pleasure in seeing the books on my book shelves.

 

 

One more thing. I wondered what I would choose for the covers of my books. Luckily, PixxiBook made that easy, as they offer a mosaic of photos from your book.  Below are the covers from Book 1 and Book 5.  

 



Just a few more photos from inside the books.  





THE END


Friday, October 22, 2021

BLOG TO BOOKS!

 
 
 
 
If you can tear your eyes away from the transferware, you'll notice the five large books. They contain all of the 327 Dishy News posts I have written since 2013. I had no idea you could transform your blog posts into paper books until a recent visit to our friends Mark and Sandra. Mark showed us two books he had made from blog posts of his visit to India.  I was surprised at how well the books were formatted, as well as the quality of the paper and color. The company Mark used was PixxiBook. I hoped PixxiBook wouldn't be difficult to use, but the hardest thing I had to do was pick the colors of the covers!

I thought I'd show you how some of the posts look in the books. I hope you get an idea of the size of the books, 12 inches by 8.5 inches, and the excellent color. 





You may wonder why I chose to make hard copies of my blog posts. I have learned that everything is ephemeral, so I treated PixxiBook like insurance. If the Cloud disappears, I may still have the books. Or, if I have a house fire, I may still have the Cloud. More than that,  I am taking such pleasure in seeing the books on my book shelves.
 

 


 

 



 

Sunday, January 17, 2021

DANCING BEARS ON TRANSFERWARE

 


I recently entered a small transferware plate with a painted shell edge into the database of the Transferware Collectors Club.  I thought the pattern had something to do with the use of a dancing bear as entertainment, but I wasn't sure until I did a bit of research.  Dancing bears were a form of street entertainment in Europe and Asia from the Middle Ages and, in some countries, into the 21st century. I'll add that bear dancing was outlawed in Britain in 1911. You can imagine that training a bear had to be horrific, similar to training any wild animal. I won't go into details, but if you want to know more about the history of bears as entertainment, here is an excellent website titled Dancing Bears. Notice that the group of people on the left look more frightened than amused. Also notice that the animal on the bear's head is a monkey. I assume the monkey's whip was more for show that punishment. 

I found another small plate that features Bear Dancing. This one is titled. I wonder what the man and the bear are doing with the sticks?

 

"Dancing Bear" 2.88 inch plate with a molded daisy border

I have again learned something new from looking at a transferware pattern.

Thursday, December 17, 2020

THE COCK, THE HEN AND THE FOX

 

This 3.75 inch saucer depicts a scene from one of Aesop's Fables: "The Cock, the Hen and the Fox."

I have liked "Aesop's Fables" since I was a little girl and "The Canterbury Tales" by Geoffrey Chaucer since I was a teenager. So, I was delighted to find a small saucer from a child's tea service with a pattern that combined two of my favorite story tellers. 

The pattern shows a cock (rooster) and a hen perched high in a tree. There is a fox beneath the tree. The story is one of Aesop's Fables, but it is also told in the "Nun's Priest's Tale" in Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales." In Chaucer, the cock's favorite hen, Partelote, accuses him of cowardice because he is frightened by a bad dream. When a fox comes calling, the cock decides to show the hen that he is fearless, so he flies down to greet the fox. The fox flatters the cock by telling him he has the most beautiful voice. When the cock stretches his neck and closes his eyes to sing, the fox grabs him by the throat and runs off! Partelote and the other hens arouse the farmer and his wife, who give chase. However, the cock sees that they will never reach him in time. Reacting well under extreme pressure, the cock flatters the fox by suggesting that he should stop and tell the farmer and his wife that they will never catch him. The vain fox turns and opens his mouth to speak, and the cock flies out! The moral of this fable is vanity blinds one to danger and stupidity!

The little saucer illustrates a fable I did not remember.  I have read "The Nun's Priest's Tale," but I have forgotten the details of the story (I read it when I was 19). One of my favorite things about the study of transferware patterns is what I learn from them, or what I relearn. Vanity certainly can blind one to danger and stupidity!

 

Here's a close-up of the pattern. Can you see the hen?


 




Tuesday, November 17, 2020

TRANSFERWARE GNUS


An Enoch Wood & Sons (1818-1846) Sporting Series Knife Rest (top) featuring a Gnu

Gnus are not common animals on transferware. There are lots of sheep and cows, but not too many gnus.  A helpful transferware collector sent me a photo of a knife rest with the gnu on one side and a grys-bok  (also grysbok) on the other side. The gnu and grys-bok are unusual to find on a piece of transferware, but it is also unusual to see a knife rest printed on both sides.

Enoch Wood Sporting Series Knife Rest (bottom) featuring a Grys-Bok

 

 Both patterns are copied from Thomas Bewick's 1790 book "A General History of Quadrupeds."

 



I wondered if the gnu appeared on any of the patterns in the Transferware Collectors Club database of patterns and sources. I found a gnu in the border of an "Arctic Scenery" platter.  For TCC members, this is pattern #10689.

The gnu is in the border at the top of the "Arctic Scenery" platter.

I also wondered if the gnu appeared on any other items in Enoch Wood's Sporting Series. I found a basket among my many thousands of photos that showed a gnu printed on the outside under the piercings.

 

Enoch Wood Basket with Gnu

What is a gnu? A gnu is an antelope. It's also known as a wildebeest.  A grys-bok is also an antelope. I haven't found another grys-bok on transferware yet. I shall keep on looking!

One more thing. What is the difference between an antelope and a deer. A male deer has antlers which he sheds and grows every year while an antelope has horns that are permanent.

And another thing. The center of the basket is the Polar Bear pattern.

 




Sunday, November 15, 2020

EGRETS ON TRANSFERWARE/GUEST POST BY DAVID HOEXTER


J. Dimmock & Co. (1862-1904) "Japanese" 16 inch platter


We are fortunate to harbor numerous snowy white egrets in the South San Francisco Bay environs. I admire these commonly solitary fishermen and fisherwomen, as they patiently await and then pounce upon small fish and other fare. One even dropped into our backyard one day (no fish). On a recent walk in the Palo Alto Baylands, we spotted one nearby.





I wondered how and if egrets were portrayed on transferware, so I looked at the Transferware Collectors Club Database of Patterns and Sources. The results were a bit surprising. The only egrets depicted on transferware in the database were from the Aesthetic period (let's say 1860-1900, more or less). Only four patterns have thus far been documented with "egret" in the pattern name, interestingly, all produced by W.T. Copeland (& Sons).

Ignoring pattern name and using the General Search for "egret" in the database, I found only ten patterns, with several additional makers. Searching the Aesthetic/Bird sub-category, the results indicate 259 recorded patterns! I am only showing you a few patterns. Let me know if you know of others. Also, let me know if some of the birds aren't egrets!


W.T. Copeland (& Sons) Egrets and Fans 10.12 inch plate


W.T. Copeland (& Sons) undertray


Powell & Bishop (1876-1878) "Aquatic" 17.5 inch platter

 
Brown-Westhead, Moore & Co. (1862-1904) "Alexandra" 9.25 inch plate


Ridgway, Sparks & Ridgway (1872-1878) "Indus" 10.62 inch plate or soup plate


 

G.L.Ashworth & Bros. (Ltd.) 1860-1968 "Melrose" plate