Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Odd bits of transferware

I've been gathering ("collecting" would be far too purposeful and organized a word for it) mismatched bits of transferware, against the day when the dishes we've been using are due to be retired.  No particular theme as far as color or pattern, just things that i spot and decide i rather like... with bonus points awarded for strange or locally significant subjects - for instance, i bought a plate that has a somewhat cheesy-touristy image of Luray Caverns, done in a beautiful purple.  I added a few more pieces this weekend: a butter plate from the nearly-deserted flea market, and two dinner plates from a local thrift store.

The dinner plates scored on the local interest front: both feature more-or-less local Catholic churches dedicated to Saint Ignatius (the spouse said he's pretty sure that at least one of his sisters was married in the church shown on the plate on the right).


They look like the sort of thing that was probably custom produced in a small run to be sold as a fundraiser.  Curiously, though the plates have the same raised floral border, they're slightly different sizes.  The marks on the back and the glaze vary between the two as well.  One of them is dated 1966.  The other, while it has information on the back about the church building, has no marks at all from the manufacturer.

Even more mysterious is the tiny little butter plate (i'm guessing it's a butter plate, anyway - it's maybe a wee bit large for that, but quite a bit smaller than a saucer, and no depression to receive a cup...).  The transfer is poorly done on this one, but it was such a pretty pattern - i'm usually not a fan of the straight-up floral designs, heaps of roses on dishes just aren't my thing - but with the berries and the geometric border on the very edge, i quite fancy this pattern.  The problem?  Well, aside from the fact that it's not a great example (what with the transfer flaws), i have no idea what the pattern is or where the piece comes from.  No marks at all, so i'll have to hope that i can match it to a picture somewhere... at least there's hope, since the strawberries aren't the most ubiquitous motif on transferware.  With luck, i'll be able to find something else in the same pattern that does have a mark.

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