FAKE FAKE FAKE

These large dogs routinely appear on Ebay and are often described as antique Staffordshire.

They are not - not even close!

Most likely made in China in the mid 1990's and up to the present, these dogs have little value.

BROWN TRANSFERWARE

We have a collection of antique brown transferware (dinnerware) - a popular collectible. It uses transfer printing, a decorative technique which was developed in the mid-18th century in England and was particularly popular around the Staffordshire region.

The transfer making process started with an engraved copper plate similar to those used for making paper engravings. The plate was used to print the pattern on tissue paper, then the tissue paper transfered the wet ink to the ceramic surface. The ceramic was then fired in a low temperature kiln to fix the pattern. Before transfer printing, ceramics were hand painted which was a laborious and expensive process. Transferware comes in various colors including pink, red, green, purple, mulberry, black, yellow and of course blue which is the most sought after of colours.

Three New Finds

Here are three new finds - hand vases of course. Note that the white vase is a leftie. Large left handed vases are very rare, although vintage miniature hand vases by Fenton and L.E. Smith are all left handed.

Unfortunately, the top part of the amber vase appears to have been removed

  - a fact not disclosed prior to sale by the Ebay seller.