Victorian Wedgwood Red Transfer Creamware Plate, 1870

Victorian Wedgwood red transfer creamware plate, impressed mark…
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Victorian Wedgwood red transfer creamware plate, impressed mark to base, circa 1870, diameter 23.5 cm

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  • Transfer Printed / Decorated Transferware - Transfer printing is method of decorating ceramics, reducing the cost of decoration when compared to employing artists to paint each piece. A print was taken on transfer-paper from an engraved copperplate, covered in ink prepared with metallic oxides, and the image on the paper was then applied to the biscuit-fired ceramic body. The print was fixed by heating the object in an oven, and then glazed, sealing the picture. Early transfer prints were blue and white, as cobalt was the only colour to stand firing without blurring. Early in the 19th century advances in the composition of the transfer paper resulted in better definition and detail, and enabled engravers to combine line-engraving with stipple.
  • Victorian Period - The Victorian period of furniture and decorative arts design covers the reign of Queen Victoria from 1837 to 1901. There was not one dominant style of furniture in the Victorian period. Designers used and modified many historical styles such as Gothic, Tudor, Elizabethan, English Rococo, Neoclassical and others, although use of some styles, such as English Rococo and Gothic tended to dominate the furniture manufacture of the period.

    The Victorian period was preceded by the Regency and William IV periods, and followed by the Edwardian period, named for Edward VII (1841 ? 1910) who was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India for the brief period from 1901 until his death in 1910.
  • Circa - A Latin term meaning 'about', often used in the antique trade to give an approximate date for the piece, usually considered to be five years on either side of the circa year. Thus, circa 1900 means the piece was made about 1900, probably between 1895 and 1905. The expression is sometimes abbreviated to c.1900.
  • Creamware - Creamware, also known as "Queens Ware" is the

    cream-coloured English earthenware developed by Josiah Wedgwood in the 1760s.

    The invention of creamware was the result of experimentation in order to find a

    British substitute for imported Chinese porcelain, and the cream colour was

    considered a fault at the time. The lightweight fine white earthenware with a

    clean rich yellowish proved ideal for  tableware

    and decorative items during the 18th and 19th centuries and is still produced

    today.



    Creamware is made from a

    mixture of kaolin, feldspar, and ball clay, and is typically glazed before

    firing to give it its glossy finish. It was developed by British potters as a

    cheaper alternative to porcelain.



    At Wedgwood, Royal patronage

    boosted sales. In 1765 Queen Charlotte, the consort of King George III placed

    an order for a 12 place tea set and allowed Wedgwood to use the name

    "Queens Ware" for the line. In 1770 Wedgwood produced a creamware

    dinner service of 952 pieces supplied to Catherine II the Great of Russia.



    Other potteries such as

    Doulton, Neale & Co. and Spode produced smaller quantities of creamware.



    Creamware continued to be

    made throughout the 19th century and later.

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