COUSINS ON TRANSFERWARE

July 24 is National Cousins Day.  I think there is a day of celebration for nearly everything.  And, there appears to be a transferware pattern for nearly everything too.

"The Cousins" child's plate with a molded daisy border.

I grew up with 13 cousins.  They provided me with companionship and love. Sibling rivalry was never a part of my cousin relationships.  We shared family, but not parents! (I will add that sibling rivalry was alive and well with the parents.)

Four year old cousins, Liam and Joey

This is my 300th post!

A LITTLE COLOR AND TRANSFERWARE BIRDS

Ornithological Series 7.5 inch plate by an unknown maker, ca. 1820. It features a grebe and a titmouse. The plate is printed in blue and  colored over the glaze in orange, green, yellow, purple, lilac, aqua, and blue. 

I almost didn't recognize the above pattern, even though I have owned a blue and white example for years.  The bright colors were my only focus.  Eventually, I recognized the series, so I looked in my drawer of Ornithological Series patterns. (They don't actually fill a drawer, as I only own four items.)

Ornithological 7.5 inch plate without the color.

The large bird is a Dusky Grebe and the small bird is a Titmouse.  The pattern is from the Ornithological Series that was made in the 1820s by more than one manufacturer.  If you like birds, you'll enjoy this series.  Many of the patterns were copied from Thomas Bewick's 1797 "A History of British Birds, vols. 1 and 2."

I started this post by writing about the mesmerizing added color, so I shall add one more colored pattern from this series. 

Ornithological Pattern 9 inch dish printed with a titmouse on the top right, a female kestrel on the bottom right and a male kestrel on the left. Notice the damage on the right side of the dish.*

A little color makes an amazing difference!

*Here's a note on condition. The right side of the dish has a lot of damage.  However, if something is rare and beautiful, I'll buy it anyway.  If the price is right.