We’ve entered the new year, an excellent opportunity to join the TCC and take full advantage of our many available services and features.

Dear TCC Members,

Spring is sprung here in the northern hemisphere and the TCC Board recently held our Spring Meeting. Among the items discussed was the critical need for someone to step into the president’s role on the Board. While I have very much enjoyed serving the organization, changes in my professional life over the past nine years have left me without sufficient time to adequately fulfill the duties of the role. The Board voted to create a search committee to identify potential candidates for the roles of president and vice-president. We are seeking several members who would be willing to serve on this committee. Note that we have two additional Board openings in addition to president and vice-president: fund raising and development, and annual meeting. If you have any interest in helping with these tasks, please contact me directly at s.t.hanson@comcast.net.  

Sincerely,

-Scott

Transferware Collectors Club

A Tour to England including the Newark Antiques Fair

accompanied by Patricia Halfpenny

The online membership directory is a feature of our new program to improve members services. You must sign in to your account to view and search the directory. Please check your listing and make the appropriate changes in your account or transmit any corrections to the Member Chair. This will ensure that you will continue to receive the paper copies of the Bulletin. With bulk mailing, they are not forwarded if a member has moved. However, the Bulletins are available on the TCC website for current members. This online membership directory list is for use of Transferware Collectors Club members only. It is intended to facilitate contacts between members. The list is not to be used for commercial purposes. If you are a current member and believe your name should be on this list please contact the Member Chair. View the directory.

2012 Paul and Gladys Richards Foundation Research Grant Program Recipient. 

Richard Halliday "The Italian Pattern: The story of an iconic 19th Century transferware design" To perform a comprehensive study exploring the introduction of Spode’s famous Italian pattern. More information.

See other grant recipients. Learn more.

Josiah Wedgwood “May”

Shown is a tile made by Josiah Wedgwood (1759-2005). It is from a series that depicts the months of the year. This one Illustrates a scene that represents the month of May. The series is also found on plates. For TCC members, see pattern #3451in the TCC Database of Patterns and Sources. View larger image. See past Patterns of the Month.

Thanks to Judie Siddall for preparing the "Pattern of the Month."

Little Miss May Puzzle



This child’s tea set pattern is one of the Little Miss May Series (sometimes spelled Mae). It is marked “MAY” on the back. Produced c. 1890 by Charles Allerton & Sons (1832–1942) in Longton, Staffordshire, the scene of a girl standing in the garden with an apronful of eggs is presented in a round cartouche in the Aesthetic style. Flowers surround the center pattern, and a leafy border completes the picture. The other two patterns in this series in the database are “Little Girl with Big Dog” and “Little May with Pets.” The three patterns in the series each have a different border. “Little Girl with a Big Dog” features varying sized cartouches of varying subjects juxtaposed around a larger central cartouche picturing a child with an arm around a dog. “Little Mae with Pets” features a child sitting on a doorstep holding a cat in her lap while another cat drinks milk from a saucer at the feet, and a dog sits patiently at her side. The registration marks on the patterns show dates for 1887, 1888, and 1890. According to a published source, when Charles Allerton became a grandfather, he created a series of transferware patterns featuring Little May as she grew up. Pieces of this pattern are known in blue, pink, black, and green. In the TCC Database, the pattern numbers are 3493, 1776, and 1774.

Photo courtesy of eBay seller PattisVintageStuff

Thanks to Scott Hanson for photo and preparing the "Puzzle of the Month."

Play puzzle. See past Puzzles of the Month.

Spectacular Jug

From a private collection (not ours), this rather substantial jug may have been used for special exhibition displays. Note both the horizontal and vertical pattern repetition to fill all available space. See larger image. See past Photos of the Month.

Thanks to David Hoexter for preparing the "Photo of the Month."

A Transferware Blog by Judie Siddall.

Souvenirs

Souvenirs from the Potteries did two things; they not only reminded children that they were remembered (and loved), but they also advertised the Potteries and their wares. Below are a few early 19th century souvenirs from the Potteries. Read more.

Potteries of Trenton NJ Society

The Potteries of Trenton Society (POTS) is a New Jersey non‐profit corporation. Our mission is to promote the study and appreciation of Trenton’s ceramic industry by: Gathering and preserving information related to the industry, Sponsoring research projects, seminars and conferences, and

Promoting industry‐related heritage tourism activities. Visit the site.

Prattware Pottery

"I am listing my collection here and hopefully it can be used as a reference point as there has not been previously any works solely dedicated to the vast and varied wares that Felix Edwards Pratt & Jesse Austin produced all those years ago. Please enjoy my collection of their work". View the site.

Find more of the informative resources we've compiled here.

Supporting Ceramics | Clay College Stoke: An Exciting New Venture

Later this year, Clay College Stoke - potter Lisa Hammond's new technical college bringing essential skills back into ceramics education - will be opening for its very first intake of students. In this article, published in our Summer 2017 magazine, we took a look at vital teaching Lisa's new project will provide. Visit page.

Dick Henrywood (Facebook)

Dick is the author of numerous references on transferware, including The Transferware Recorder, and is a popular lecturer on transferware. View the site.

Find more of the informative resources we've compiled here.

Connecticut Ceramic Circle

"3D-Printed Porcelain: Exploring the Intersection

of Technology and Handcraft"

by Michael Eden,

Artist/Maker, Cumbria, United Kingdom 

 Sponsored by Celia Hopkinson and Kathleen Morris

Monday, May 12 at 2:00 p.m. via Zoom 

On Monday, May 12, at 2:00 p.m., they will welcome Michael Eden, a maker whose work sits at the intersection of craft, design and art, exploring contemporary themes through the redesign of historical, culturally familiar objects utilizing digital manufacturing and materials.

An MPhil research project at the Royal College of Art allowed him to explore how his interest in digital technology could be developed and combined with the craft skills that he had acquired during his previous experience as a potter. Through this, he investigates the relationship between hand and digital tools. He is particularly interested in how the tacit knowledge and sensibility to the three-dimensional object, developed through extended ceramic practice can affect and influence the approach to the creation of objects using digital technology.

As a member of a unique generation that has bridged the digital divide, he firmly believes that he is able to contrast and compare life before and after the invention of the personal computer. For Eden it is a matter of choice, as life at the beginning of the 21st century has furnished makers with a wider choice of tools, materials and processes with which to realize ideas and concepts. All have their place, the new does not replace the old; the key is to make appropriate use of them. Having attracted wide media and public attention, his work is exhibited internationally.

Link to Zoom Registration.

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/6917722082089/WN_NOjcKdgISLS6O-mpseOIYg

Transferware Collectors Club

2026 England Tour

June 2-9, 2026



Our fully booked transferware tour to England, from June 2nd to 9th, has had a cancellation so there is now one room remaining available for a single or couple. If interested in joining us, contact Meg MacDonald at meg@travelmuse.net or by calling (617) 480-0250. To download a tour itinerary, click here: https://tri.ps/YJPKy

Transferware Collectors Club Worldwide Lecture Series

Pre 1850s Scottish Transfer Printed Wares

Speaker: George Haggarty

July 16, 2026 1PM EDT

Not every piece of blue and white was produced in Staffordshire and Scotland had a number of potteries. Now, thanks in part to archaeology, our early Scottish wares are better understood and identified. Documentary research tells us that at first, mainly from potteries in the Forth littoral, trade was to Scandinavia, Europe and ports in the Mediterranean. Quickly catching up and then overtaking them, were the larger Glasgow area potteries. At first these mainly shipped west to Canada, the USA and the Caribbean, before later adding markets in the Far East and Australia.

George is a Research Associate at the National Museums Scotland, and fellow of both the Society of Antiquaries of London and the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. He has published mainly on 12th to 19th century Scottish ceramics, with in excess of 200 papers, monographs, books. This year will see in print, volumes three, ‘Figures and Plaques’ and four, ‘Plates, Bowls and Miscellaneous’ from the Leslie Collection. With the success of the recently concluded program of ICP-MS analysis on 17th and 18th century drug jars from Edinburgh Castle and Edinburgh Old Burgh, he is keen to expand his research on Tin-Glazed earthenware imported into Scotland. Also underway is a book on the ceramic industries of Portobello and a booklet on the Potteries of Port Dundas in Glasgow.

Join the Zoom Meeting. Members, please check your email in early July for the Zoom link to this lecture. Non-members are also welcome to view future Transferware Worldwide lectures: simply provide your email address to receive the Zoom links and news and information about future TCC programming.

Please contact us if you know of any lectures with an emphasis on transferware.

There are no auctions at this time.

Please contact us if you know of an auction with an emphasis on transferware.

2025 Vol. XXVI No. 2

See above item New Edition of Reference “The Adams Lancaster Tankard”

Please contact us if you have recommendations of

newly published transferware books.

Has Your Postal Mailing Address Changed?????

If you have moved but are not receiving your printed TCC Bulletin, you probably forgot to notify our member chair of your new address (this applies to email address changes also). The bulletin is mailed “bulk” and is not forwarded to new addresses by the USPS. Please notify the member chair directly: membership@transferwarecollectorsclub.org or make the necessary changes to your account online.

Looking for anyone with a passion for the beauty and history of transferware who would like to help record lovely old patterns for a worldwide audience. The Database of Patterns and Sources is maintained by a team of the nicest people you'd ever want to meet. You could be one of them! We're currently looking for editors in Romantic patterns, Literature and Performing Arts, and Tiles, but let us know your interests and we can find a spot for you. Contact Len at otlink@aol.com for more information!

The TCC Bulletin editor seeks submittals to future editions, particularly from first time or occasional authors. We have an extremely knowledgeable member base, yet many of our members seldom or never share their knowledge, at least in printed form. Now is your chance. Bulletin submittals do not need to be extremely technical or lengthy. They just need to be interesting and relate to British transferware! And they need to be accompanied by quality images. We would especially welcome articles from our growing number of archaeologist members.

Don’t fret if you have little experience. We will be pleased to work with you, to formulate your concept and bring your article along. Simply send us your ideas, if that is where you are, or text, even in preliminary form, if you are further along. Please submit in MS Word format, and separately, images in png, pdf or jpeg format. Please do NOT convert to PDF. Don’t worry if this is a problem for you; we’ll work with you to bring your article from preliminary to final, printed, stage, no matter your level of computer and word processes experience. Download the Guidelines.

Suggested topics: 

1. Your favorite transferware piece, either your own or displayed elsewhere (why is it your favorite?, how did you acquire it?, what is the pattern, maker if known?). 
2. What is your favorite place to view transferware: museum? stately home? Historic or archaeological site?
3. Tell (and show) us your own collection (really good pictures required).
4. New discoveries.
5. Archaeological sites: overall summary of the excavation as relates to transferware; discuss a particular pattern or piece; context/importance of the transferware.
6. In-depth research of a pattern, series, maker.

Contacts: 

David Hoexter, Interim TCC Bulletin Co-Editor: davidhoexter@icloud.com

Michael Sack, Interim TCC Bulletin Co-Editor: msack@michaelsack.com