JAPANESE DOLL

Japanese 14.75 inch silk-skinned doll with a painted face, ca. 1920.

 
This is a tale of two girls and a doll.  It begins on August 24, 1922 with the birth of the girls; one, Mary Rosenthal (my mother-in-law), the daughter of San Francisco natives, and the other,  Mamie Yoshida, the daughter of Japanese immigrants.  The families became friends, as they bonded over the babies, who were born on the same day in San Francisco.

Mamie received a silk-skinned doll from Japanese relatives as a baby gift.  It was nearly 15 inches high, clothed in silk, and protected by a large glass case.  It was never intended for play.  Instead, it was the object of both girls' admiration. 

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941,  Japanese Americans were forced out of their homes and relocated and incarcerated in camps.  Mamie and her family were among those interned, and they could not take much with them.  The Japanese doll was given to Mary.  Mary was in her twenties,  so her mother gave the doll to a much younger cousin.  Seventy-five years later, in April 2016,  Mary's cousin returned the doll.  She was moving to a retirement home, and couldn't take the doll with her.  You may wonder why the doll wasn't returned to Mamie after the war.  She died of leukemia in one of the Internment Camps in Manzanar, California. 

As this is a transferware blog, I thought I'd show you Aesthetic Japonesque patterns made during the late 19th century.   Japanese design was extremely popular in America and Europe.  Just not the Japanese people.

Maw & Co. (1852-1969) 6 inch tile with a geisha girl subject, ca. 1880.

Burgess & Leigh (1862-1999) 8 inch tray "The Geisha," ca. 1898.

Burgess & Leigh (1862-1999) "The Geisha" teapot.  It is part of the series seen above.  Remember to click on the patterns to make them bigger.

A close-up of the doll's lovely face

Mary on a walk in 2016 with David and Dogozshi

LIONS ON TRANSFERWARE

Enoch Wood & Sons (1818-1846) 20 inch platter from the Sporting Series, ca. 1825

The purchase of an Enoch Wood "Sporting Series" Lion pattern well and tree platter sent me to my blog to see what I had written about lions.  I found  Lions and Lion (s) #2.   These are very short posts, and lions are popular animals on transferware,  so I thought I'd show you more patterns.  There are lions in landscape patterns, children's patterns, zoo patterns, and Aesop's Fables patterns.  Below are a few lions in landscape patterns.

Benjamin Adams (1809-1820) Lions 10 inch plate, ca. 1820.

John Hall (1814-1832) 10 inch plate from the "Quadrupeds" series, ca. 1825

Known as The Angry Lion, this pattern is printed on a 20.5 inch platter by an unknown maker, ca. 1820

Known as the Lion Hunter, this pattern is printed on a 9.5 inch plate, ca. 1820

William Hackwood (1827-1843) 12 inch cheese stand from the "Indian Scenery" series, ca. 1835

Job Meigh (& Son) 1805-1834) soup tureen base from the "Zoological Sketches" series, ca. 1835.  Does the lion resemble the lion on the Enoch Wood pattern?  Remember to click on the photo to make it larger.

Here are lots of children's patterns that feature lions.  There are many more!

Brownhills Pottery (1872-1896) "Wild Animals, The Lion" 7.25 inch plate.  Children's patterns were often used as teaching tools.  This pattern teaches the alphabet and delights the senses!

Child's 3.74 inch "Lion" pattern plate by an unknown maker.

Child's plate with a large lion.

Child's mug with objects illustrating the letter "L."  Here we see a lion, a lampost, and a lamb.

Child's plate with objects illustrating the letter "L."  As in the mug above, we see a lion, a lamp (no post?), and a lamb.

Child's  5.75 inch plate with "Lion" by an unknown maker.

Child's 2.12 inch mug printed with a "Lion."  The maker is unknown.

Aesop's Fables patterns are littered with lions.

Spode (1770-1833) plate illustrating the Aesop's Fables pattern "The Fox And The Lion," ca. 1832.

Spode (1770-1833) soup plate illustrating the Aesop's Fables pattern "The Lion In Love," ca. 1832.

Spode (1770-1833) interior of a bowl illustrating the Aesop's Fable "The Fox And The Sick Lion," ca. 1832.

Mintons (1872-1950) 6 inch tile illustrating the Aesop's Fable "The Lion and the Rat," ca. 1870-1880.

Mintons (1872-1950) 6 inch tile illustrating the Aesop's Fable "The Goat, Calf and Sheep in Partnership with the Lion," ca. 1870-1880.

Minton Hollins & Co. (1868-1892) 6 by 6 inch tile with a scene illustrating the Aesop's Fable "Androcles and the Lion."

Child's 3 inch mug printed with a pattern illustrating the Aesop's Fables "Androcles and the Lion."

Brown-Westhead, Moore & Co. (1862-1904) 18 inch platter with a pattern illustrating a fable by Jean de la Fontaine; "The Lion and the Gnat."  Although La Fontaine (1621-1695) said he was merely copying the tales of Aesop and other writers, he actually held the proverbial mirror up to his own society; the court of Louis XIV.

Child's plate illustrating the Aesop's Fable "The Lion And The Frog."

I only found one zoo pattern with a lion.  I did, however, find a photo I took at the London Zoo that shows a poster about the dwindling number Asiatic lions in the wild.  You may want to take a look at my London Zoo post.

Robinson, Wood & Brownfield (1837-1837) 17.5 inch platter showing a unrealistic lion enclosure at the London Zoo.  It is part of a series that commemorates the popular opening of the zoo in 1828.

Poster at the London Zoo in October 2015.

Below is a photo of the well and tree platter that started this post.  It doesn't photograph as well as the flat platter above, but it is as beautiful in reality.

Enoch Wood & Sons "Sporting Series" 21 inch well and tree platter.

The purchase also included a drainer.  It would have been a match for the flat platter, not the well and tree.  Too bad about the placement of the drainer holes!

Enoch Wood & Sons "Sporting Series" drainer

A coda:

The King of Beasts!  No wonder he was so popular on transferware and fables!

One more lion photo.

Doesn't the real lion above resemble the lion on this jug?

MOTHER GOOSE

Whittaker & Co. (1886-1892) "Hey Diddle Diddle" 5 inch plate/See the source print below.

Hey Diddle Diddle from "Favourite Rhymes For The Nursery" published by Thomas Nelson in 1870

May 1 is National Mother Goose Day.  Mother Goose and nursery rhymes often appear on transferware.  Many of the patterns, like the one above, were copied from popular 19th century books of children's nursery rhymes.  I have already written about both Mother Goose and nursery rhymes in my posts Nursery Rhymes On Transferware, Inappropriate Or Frightening Patterns For Children, and Cumulative Rhymes on Children's Pottery.   Take a look!

A selection of Mother Goose books

PASSOVER, SEDER, HAGGADAH, AND THE STORY OF THE EXODUS

Moses in the Bulrushes 6.25 inch saucer, ca. 1825.

I just attended two Passover seders.  One was short and child friendly (lots of very young children) and one was filled with young adults (20 somethings).  The purpose of the Seder is to tell the story of the Exodus.  It is commanded that it be read.  If you have never attended a Seder, or if you don't remember, the word Seder means order.  There is a ritual order to the telling of the story.  It is read from a book called the Haggadah, which means the telling.  The story starts with a new Egyptian pharaoh who does not remember Joseph and the good things he did to save Egypt.  This pharaoh only sees that the Israelites (known at different times as Hebrews or Jews) have increased in number, and he is afraid that they will overrun Egypt. He commands that the Israelites be enslaved, but they still multiply.  Then, he orders that all new Israelite baby boys be killed.  If you don't know the story, click on a summary of the Book of Exodus here.  Why are we commanded to tell the story every year?  In short,  the telling of the story of the Exodus is to remind us that the world hasn't changed much in the last three thousand five hundred years. There are still people who are enslaved and murdered.   There are still cruel leaders.  However, there are also brave men and women who risk everything to save these people: Moses and Pharaoh's daughter in ancient times,  and hopefully one of us today.  It says in the Haggadah that no one is free as long as there is injustice in the world.

I have written about Passover before.  Take a look at Had Gadya And Goats On Transferware,  Moses,  The Ten Commandments, and The Story Of Joseph.

TARTAN AND PLAID TRANSFERWARE

Ridgway, Morley, Wear & Co. (1836-1842) 7.5 inch plate printed in brown and painted in green in the "Caledonian" pattern. 

April 6 is National Tartan Day in the United States (the date was established by Congress in 1997 to recognize Americans of Scottish descent).  I wondered why it wasn't called National Plaid Day, as tartan and plaid are used interchangeably in the United States.  My friend, Arlene, who is from Scotland, told me that a plaid is a tartan pattern (a tartan pattern consists of crossed horizontal and vertical bands in two or more colors in woven cloth) slung over the shoulder as a kilt accessory.  In Scotland, only the word tartan is used for everything else.  I have learned something new. 

There are many transferware patterns that feature Scottish subjects and tartan and plaid.  For example, the "Caledonian" pattern.  (Caledonia is the name the Romans gave to northern Scotland).  The Transferware Collectors Club Pattern And Source Print Database says: "The added painted colors of the "Calendonian" pattern are painstakingly executed in each example as if to replicate the color and line of woven Scottish tartans. But it is perhaps the soup plate with its denser coloring that best relates this pattern to the colorful and distinctive family tartans worn by the Scottish clans in the Highlands of Caledonia."  I think the teapot and the plate above show wonderful tartan colors too.

"Caledonian" soup plate

"Caledonian" teapot

The Scotland Highlands, along with men wearing kilts, tartan and plaid, feature in a series titled "Caledonia."  It was made by both William Adams IV & Sons (1829-1861) and the Middlesbro' Pottery Co. (1834-1887).

William Adams IV & Sons (1829-1861) 10.5 inch plate in the "Caledonia" pattern.  Do you see the plaid?

Middlesbro' Pottery (1834-1887) "Caledonia" pattern.

The patterns above show that Adams and Middlesbro' used some of the same patterns, but remember that "Caledonia" is a series, so many different patterns were made (The TCC shows 15 Caledonia patterns in its database).  However, I digress.  Back to tartan and plaid.  Below is an Adams jug with a clearer look at a plaid.  Remember, it is the fabric wrapped around the hunter's shoulder and waist.  "Plaid" is Gaelic for blanket.  Was it used to keep a person warm? 

Adams jug in the "Caledonia" pattern.  Notice the plaid on the hunter.  You can make the photo larger by clicking on it.

Enoch Wood & Sons (1818-1846) made a pattern titled "Plaid."  Just when I thought I understood the difference between plaid and tartan, I discovered this pattern.  It should have been called "Tartan."  Perhaps it was intended for the American Market.

Enoch Wood & Sons 10.5 inch plate in the "Plaid" pattern.  Notice that unlike most transferware patterns, the title describes the border rather than the center. 

Enoch Wood "Plaid" mark.

Here is a pattern to test what you have learned.  Is there a plaid in this pattern?

John Benton Bagster (1823-1827) 9.75 inch plate from the "Vignette" series.

 Just for fun, I'll show you tartan and plaid on Staffordshire figures. 

Where is the plaid?

Who is wearing a plaid?

Rob Roy is definitely wearing a plaid! 

The End

FERRETS ON TRANSFERWARE

April 2 is National Ferret Day.  I thought it might be a challenge to find ferrets on transferware, but I  found two patterns plus their source prints.

Enoch Wood & Sons (1818-1846) 11 inch ewer from the Sporting Series, where nearly each size and shape depicts a hunting or hunted animal.   The ferret is used by the rat catcher to catch rats.  The man's sash displays rats along with a crown.  He may be a royal rat catcher!  Remember to click on the photo to make it bigger.

"Ferret" from "A Cabinet of Quadrupeds" by John Church, 1805.  It was engraved by James Tookey after the work of the artist Julius Ibbetson. 

Toy teapot, 3.5 inches high, by an unknown maker. 

"The Ferret" from "The General History of Quadrupeds" by Thomas Bewick, 1790.  Bewick also created the wood block prints.

I am still amazed at the huge amount of transferware patterns.  The Transferware Collectors Club Pattern And Source Print Database has recorded more than 13, 000 so far.  However, I have yet to see a yak!