CHAPTER X
TRANSFER-PRINTED WARE
Its origin—Liverpool—Its adoption in Staffordshire—What is Transfer-printing?—Over-glaze printing—Under-glaze printing—The Staffordshire Transfer-printers—Other Transfer-printers—Leeds, Swansea, Sunderland, and Newcastle—The Mission of black Transfer-printed Ware—Types of Blue-printed Ware—The Willow Pattern—Table of Marks—Prices.
Before the year 1756, all ware, whether it be porcelain or delft or earthenware, was painted, or, to follow the term used in popular phraseology, it was "hand painted." It is an essentially English art, and something which stands with salt-glaze and with Wedgwood's jasper ware as being famous throughout Europe.
The subject of transfer-printing is surrounded with a certain amount of conjecture in regard to its invention. Quite a dozen persons were credited with having originated it. Mr. William Turner, in his volume, "Transfer Printing on Enamels, Porcelain, and Pottery," published by Messrs. Chapman and Hall, in 1907, has thoroughly investigated the various claims set up for the discovery of transfer-printing and, with no little research extending over a wide area, has for the first time settled the relative position of the various claimants and factories for which this honour is claimed. It is impossible, covering the same ground as Mr. William Turner, to say anything new on transfer-printing, and we must express our indebtedness to him in making use of his original investigations and embodying them in this chapter on transfer-printed ware.
In regard to over-glaze printing, including copper enamels such as Battersea, porcelain such as Worcester, and earthenware such as Liverpool delft—it was at Battersea where enamels were first printed in 1753; Liverpool, with Sadler and Green's invention, comes second with printed delft tiles in 1756. A year after, in 1757, we have Worcester with transfer-printed porcelain. This Worcester printed ware is well known from the early transfer-printed design known as Hancock's "Tea party" and the "King of Prussia" jugs and mugs.
After Worcester all the other porcelain factories followed with transfer-printed ware. There was Derby in 1764, and Caughley in the same year.
It will be seen that, so far as Liverpool is concerned as representative of the earthenware factories (cream ware being printed here to the order of the Staffordshire potters), earthenware over-glaze printing is slightly ahead of the porcelain factories. But in under-glaze printing porcelain stands easily first. Worcester commenced under-glaze printing in the same year (1757) that over-glaze was employed there, and Derby is the second in the field in under-glaze printing in 1764.
SALT-GLAZED PLATE.
Transfer-printed in red. Fable subject—Hercules and the Waggoner.