Other Transfer Printers.—Staffordshire did not long have the monopoly of under-glaze blue-printed ware. Leeds and Swansea both produced similar work, and in both cases there is a strong attachment to Oriental design. Black transfer-printing was also executed at both these factories, and at Swansea some exceptionally fine engraved work was turned out (see illustration of Swansea plate, [p. 397]). At Sunderland and Newcastle the black transfer-printed mugs and jugs with the Wear Bridge and with nautical subjects became quite the vogue, and in these two factories the jugs and mugs often had a frog modelled in the interior, and pink lustre decoration was used in combination with the transfer design usually at the borders or at the rims.
The Mission of Black-printed Ware.—In the designs and inscriptions of the black transfer-printed ware the Staffordshire potter used his jugs and his mugs as a medium to record events and to ventilate grievances, not in "imperishable verse," but in the fickle body of the clay. This class of ware from 1760 to 1860 stands for a century as typically English in character. It reflects the political, social, and religious events, and in matter-of-fact, humorous, or satirical fashion. The black transfer-printed or earlier period, (though some of this class come down as late as the railway mugs of 1830), may be said to depict events and chronicle popular sentiment in black and white. The blue transfer-printer strove to be decorative, and mainly represented scenery and topography, and much of it was bound down to formal designs of Oriental nature.
At first fable subjects, as on Wedgwood's cream ware, were employed, and it has been seen how the square tile form was discarded by the engraver who made his engraving fit the object to be decorated. This perfect mastery of the technique of transfer-printing is shown very clearly in the old blue Spode service of the "Tower" pattern (illustrated, [p. 335]). It will be seen how, as the shape of each vessel differed, the engraver has altered his bridge to fit the new circumstances. At one time, on a broad, flat dish, it appears as a wide bridge, and in the circular plate the trees appear at greater height and the viaduct assumes a more circular form. In the jug of the same design the bridge is narrow, as though spanning a deep ravine.
To enumerate the classes of ware with black transfer-printing is to make a catalogue of the principal events which stirred the heart of the people. It must be borne in mind that this school was working side by side with the makers of fine stoneware and of jasper ware with classic subjects, but it is, after all, to the black-printed ware that one turns most lovingly as being more human.
It will suffice, perhaps, if we quote a few examples and stir the enthusiasm of the reader to pursue the collection of these really historic records which have something more endearing in them than the relics of Napoleon or the shoestrings of some of the Stuart monarchs.
There is a fine flavour of patriotism, of conviviality, and of homely sentiment in some of the following:—
On a bowl, salt-glazed ware, with Admiral Vernon and his fleet is inscribed "The British Glory revived by Admiral Vernon. He took Porto Bello with Six Ships only. Nov. ye 22 1739." A cream-ware jug printed, with medallion portrait of Earl Howe, is inscribed "Long Live Earl Howe, Commander-in-Chief of the Victorious British Fleet. In the ever memorable engagement on the Glorious First of June, 1794." On a cream-ware jug about 1800 with a view of Greenwich Hospital, and entitled "The Sailor's Adieu," the following lines are inscribed: "What should tear me from the arms of my Dearest Polly but the undeniable calls of my country in whose cause I have engag'd my Honour and my Life." This in date is the last year of the eighteenth century.
