Print Books

The Spode Blue Room: An Introduction

With a TCC Richards Foundation Grant, Michael Escolme has written and published an excellent Guide to the Spode Museum Blue Room.  This guide is available for download to TCC members.(Download PDF for members)

The Blue Room contains hundreds of blue transfer-printed pieces made at Spode between c.1790-1847 and is almost certainly the largest and most important collection of Blue and White printed ceramics on public display in the world. The guide provides visitors with important historical facts and images of this treasured room.

The Spode Society Exhibition Catalogue

Following the success of the Spode Society Exhibition held at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham in November 2021, the Catalogue is available to purchase for the sum of £20 plus postage. In full colour, the 196 pages cover the history of the factory and comprehensive information on over 200 ceramic exhibits from all periods of the Spode and Copeland production. This is an ideal addition for the ceramic collectors’ bookshelf, for museum ceramic departments, auctioneers etc. Enquire and order at contact@spode-society.co.uk.

The Transferware Engraver

Introducing a new book that details the process of engraving a transferware pattern on to a copper-plate. This 272-page soft-back book covers a ten-year quest by the author who recorded the engraving of a new pattern from start to finish, with every line cut and every dot punched throughout its completion. The author, Richard visited an ex-Spode engraver at his house in Stoke-on-Trent every couple of weeks throughout the ten-year period and recorded in great depth, the work that was undertaken. This started with a visit to the coppersmith to buy a copper-plate and ended at Portmeirion with the production of a limited edition 10” dinner plate.

Engraving, through a seven-year apprenticeship, was a skill learnt through observational learning, transmitted from master to apprentice. There were no guide books or instructional manuals, thus making the recording of these skills so important. Richard took it upon himself to fully document this amazing and often overlooked process before it is too late and the skills are lost forever.

The 9” x 6”, full-color book details the tools, the techniques and the processes before the full documentation of the engraving. Whilst not directly related to the engraving process, the author decided to use the new engraving to make a limited-edition ceramic at the Portmeirion factory in Stoke-on-Trent. These fifty ceramic plates are available as an optional purchase.

TCC members will get a 50% discount on the book for the first three months, therefore: Until February the 14th, 2026 the book will be £12.50 (UK shipping £5, International £12, including tariffs)

Ceramic is £25 (UK shipping £8, International £30, both with a book)

Regular price after that date and to non-TCC members will be £25 for the book

Please email Richard at blueandwhite@btinternet.com for further details.

The Transferware Recorder Number 1 – Selected British Views

When Bill Coysh and Dick Henrywood assembled The Dictionary of Blue and White Printed Pottery back in 1982 they had no idea how popular the subject was to become. A second volume and books on transferware by other notable authors have followed. The Friends of Blue and the Transferware Collectors’ Club have reported new patterns and much other information, the latter particularly with their website and groundbreaking database of patterns, but there has been no further attempt to assemble our knowledge into reference form. The Transferware Recorder is intended to fill this gap.

Dick Henrywood has been researching transferware for more than three decades and he starts the Recorder with a selection of British views. This volume features the Acorn and Oak Leaf Borders series (Stevenson), the “Antique Scenery” series (Boyle), the Bluebell Border series (Clews), the Briggs Views series, the “British History” series (Jones), the Cheltenham series (Machin), the Cherub Medallion Border series (Herculaneum), the Fruit and Barley Border series, the “Irish Scenery” series (Elkins), the Large Scroll Border series (Riley), the Light Blue Rose Border series (Griffiths, Beardmore & Birks), the Minton Miniature series, the Morning Glory Border series, the Pineapple Border series (Meir), the States Border series (Clews), and the Tulip Border series. Some are well known, others virtually unrecorded; some made for domestic consumption, others for the American market. Every known view is listed, some titled, many identified, nearly all illustrated in colour. In many cases a source print from which the view was copied is also recorded and illustrated. A comprehensive list of items is provided, along with references to illustrations elsewhere.

This is a major new transferware initiative designed to expand into a comprehensive series of reference volumes, essential for collectors, researchers and dealers. For further information about ordering: www.transferprintedpottery.com.

Release date October 2013. Sewn paperback 240 x 170mm. 176 pages. 579 illustrations. Full colour. www.transferprintedpottery.com

Research and printing for this book were supported by the TCC Richards Foundation Research Grant Program. See other Richards Grant projects conducted by Dick Henrywood.

The Transferware Recorder Number 2 – Selected British Views

Reynardine Publishing is pleased to announce the publication of a second volume in The Transferware Recorder series. Like its predecessor, Number Two features British views, with another thirteen series to add to the sixteen which appeared in Number One. As before, a wide range of series is covered with some well-known, others virtually unrecorded; some made for domestic British consumption, others aimed predominantly at the American export market; some in light blue, some in dark blue, and some in other colours; some by notable potters such as Clews, Mason, Ridgway, and Enoch Wood & Sons, others by the anonymous but prolific “maker unknown”. The patterns included range in date from around 1820 (the vintage years) right through to the 1880s (the so-called aesthetic period). Including many unusual shapes and a remarkable selection of source prints, there are nearly 600 illustrations to delight the collector.

The Transferware Recorder – Number Two continues to provide an update to Bill Coysh and Dick Henrywood’s standard reference work The Dictionary of Blue and White Printed Pottery. This volume features a further selection of thirteen different series of British views. The series covered are the “Anglais” series (William Alsager Adderley), the Angus Seats series (Ridgway), the Beaded Frame Mark series (Mason), the “Clyde Scenery” series (Job & John Jackson), the Crown Acorn and Oak Leaf Border series (John Meir), the Foliage Border series (maker unknown), the “London Views” series (Enoch Wood & Sons), the “Old England” series (maker unknown), the “Panoramic Scenery” series (Ralph Stevenson), the Passionflower Border series (maker unknown), the Rock Cartouche series (Elkin, Knight & Co.), the Rose Border series (Andrew Stevenson), and the “Select Scenery” series (Ralph & James Clews). With a total of another 261 patterns, 594 illustrations, and again much information previously unrecorded including identification of many source prints for the views, this volume is a worthy successor to the initial Number One. For full information see www.transferprintedpottery.com.

The Transferware Recorder Number 3 – Selected British Views

Volume Three of The Transferware Recorder covers the following series of British views:

• "Beauties of England and Wales" series
• "Belle Vue" series
• Bluebell Border series (Adams)
• Bristol and River Thames series (Pountney)
• "British Scenery" series (Ridgway)
• British Views" series
• Cambridge Colleges series(Mason)
• "Castles" series (Stevenson)
• "Diorama" series
• "English Cities" series (Enoch Wood & Sons)
• Floral City series (Tams)
• Flower Medallion Border series
• Freesia Border series
• "Metropolitan Scenery" series (Bagster/Goodwins)
• Wood's Floral Border series (Enoch Wood & Sons)

Most of these are well known but some are virtually unrecorded; some made for domestic consumption, others for the American market. Every known view is listed, some titled, many identified, nearly all illustrated in colour. In many cases a source print from which the view was copied is also recorded and illustrated. A comprehensive list of items is provided, along with references to illustrations elsewhere.

For full information see www.transferprintedpottery.com

The Transferware Recorder Number 4 – Selected Patterns from Literature

Authored by Dick Henrywood, this volume is a first foray away from British views, concentrating this time on patterns related to literature. It covers prose, poetry, novels, plays, and their authors, with Sir Walter Scott, Charles Dickens, William Cowper, William Shakespeare, Robert Burns, Lord Byron, James Thomson, Samuel Rogers, and even Virgil and Aesop making guest appearances. The book covers seventeen different series of patterns by makers including Davenport, William Ridgway, John Rogers & Son, Bailey & Ball, T. & R. Boote, Goodwins & Harris, Pountney & Goldney, John Meir, John & Robert Godwin, Joseph Clementson, Dillwyn (Swansea), William Smith & Co. (Stockton) and the Brownhills Pottery Co. There are separate chapters on Shakespeare and Cowper, and a good selection of individual patterns which are not part of any series. Characters encountered include Don Quixote, Robin Hood, Robinson Crusoe, Tam O'Shanter, Paul and Virginia, Little Nell, plus, of course, the various characters found in Scott's Waverley Novels. Extending to over 200 pages and with more than 700 illustrations, it is the largest volume to date, printed as before in colour throughout.

In recognition of the support provided by the Transferware Collectors’ Club through the Paul and Gladys Richards Charitable Foundation Research Grant, we are pleased to offer a special discount of 20% off the price of the book to all TCC members. If you wish to take up this offer, please send the total cost of $36 (which includes shipping) via Paypal to the address below.

Any other enquiries should also be sent to: recorder@transferprintedpottery.com.

Website: www.transferprintedpottery.com ISBN 978-0-9926581-3-7 Reynardine Publishing

Download order form.

The Transferware Recorder Number 5 – Selected Views of Europe

Volume Five is a completely new subject covering views of continental Europe, including such iconic and collectable series as Enoch Wood’s French and “Italian Scenery” series, the Byron Views series by Copeland & Garrett, the “Italian” series by William Ridgway, and the “Ancient Greece” series by Ralph Stevenson. This volume has around 200 pages and 680 images, in full colour, and as with previous volumes, all known views are listed, nearly all illustrated, and the majority with their original source prints.

The publishers are pleased to acknowledge support for volumes 5 & 6 from Ceramica Stiftung of Basel and the grant programme of the Transferware Collectors’ Club.

Full details and purchase information can be found on the website.

The Transferware Recorder Number 6 – Selected British and Other Views

Volume Six returns to look at further British views but extending to some series which contain other views of Europe, the USA, and even one from India. Series covered include particularly the popuar and extensive Henshall Fruit and Flower Border series and the enigmatic Tams’ Foliage Border series. This volume has around 200 pages and 680 images, in full colour, and as with previous volumes, all known views are listed, nearly all illustrated, and the majority with their original source prints. A treat for the transferware collector not to be missed!

The publishers are pleased to acknowledge support for volumes 5 & 6 from Ceramica Stiftung of Basel and the grant programme of the Transferware Collectors’ Club.

Full details and purchase information can be found on the website.

Thomas Rothwell 1740-1807, Copper-Plate Engraver: A Survey of His Life and Work with Particular Reference to His Work at Swansea Pottery

A new publication exploring the work of Thomas Rothwel l—
available for FREE download — the book is the result of some 40 years of research by TCC members Arleen and Grahame Tanner. The publication details the importance of Thomas Rothwell in the transfer printing process and charts the history of one of the most famous engravers of the period.

TCC members and site visitors can download the publication free of charge.

For those interested in a printed copy, this 64- page book is available for the price £18.00.

Transfer-printed Medical & Toilet Wares 1780-1850

This book deals specifically and comprehensively with medical and toilet wares. The book allows for comparison of factories and how the development of the wares changed over time; is divided into shape-specific sections that include, when available, shape book images, source images, and non-transferware pieces for comparison; and include the extent to which the wares were exported.

The book is available for purchase as a hard copy for anyone at cost (zero profit to the author) on Lulu.com.

members only for free PDF download (note: this pdf is 29MB and maybe slow)

True Blue

For all who own British antique blue-printed pottery, this book is essential reading.

With over 1,000 illustrations (including 12 pages in full colour), each giving full details of maker (where known) and year of manufacture, et cetera, it provides readers with the opportunity to identify their favorite pieces.

In addition, it contains essays by thirteen of the leading authorities on these ceramics, which describe how the wares were made and marketed in all parts of the world, details about each of the manufacturers (including illustrations of the marks used on each item), and information about the patterns used and the sources from which they were derived.

Prepared to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Friends of Blue (the Collector's Club), the book contains information and photographs of 700 of the most rare, beautiful, and unusual items from the collections of the members, many of which have never been published before. Those who missed the exhibition at the Wedgwood Museum, where these were exhibited, need not despair for they are all catalogued and illustrated here.

Copies may be ordered direct from Friends of Blue at fobchair@outlook.com . Price £5.00 per copy, plus postage.

Tyneside Pottery

R.C. Bell's excellent 1971 publication is available from various sellers through Amazon Books. This book includes information on and examples from over 100 potteries located in the northeast of England along the rivers Tyne, Wear and Tees. It covers the period from 1740 - 1963. Hundreds of illustrations, marks, and histories of the potteries are featured. There are many transferware examples. More information (from the book's dust jacket).

Ynysmeaudwy and the Williamses

This is the tale of a small potworks begun and run by a family of Cornishmen in a bleak outpost of the upper Swansea valley. Right from the start, its relative isolation from the other Swansea potteries ensured it an air of mystery which, in the years following its demise, assumed an almost mythical status.

Its earthenwares, mainly intended as functional or decorative objects for the working classes, have now become venenated symbols of a lost heritage, a physical link rejoining us with a band of workers, a long-demolished factory and a mysterious family who, one by one, drifted away from what they had created.

This book not only describes the contributiion made by Ynysmeudwy to our cenamics heritage but adds a human touch by revealing what the Williamses were about, where they came from and where they went to.

All 31 mainstream transfer patterns are illustrated. There is a focus on transfer variations and on the origin of the copper plates. All aspects of production are covered - hand painted, mocha, sponge decorated etc along with sections on terracotta and other wares. There are chapters on workmens' marks, ownership and workforce and the second section focuses on the lives and times of the mysterious Williams family who began and ran the concern whose efforts were until now lost to history. In all there are 19 chapters with 7 appendices.

The book is an A4-size, 474 page, hardback with 1,100 full colour illustrations, around 5lbs in weight. Purchase price £40 plus postage (currently by UPS to the USA, ca. £25 including insurance, direct from the author (see below).

The book is only available through the author:
Mike Trew,
Ty Ysgol,
Pinged,
Burry Port,
SA16 0JW,
UK.
email: theartchive@btinternet.com

Ynysmeudwy Pottery

A comprehensive soft cover book of 32 pages covering the products of this relatively unknown Welsh Pottery near Swansea.

Fully illustrated in colour with a section on marks. Includes many transfer prints including children’s wares.

This book's press run is sold out but used copies may be available on-line.