Contents

2014 Vol. XV No. 1

Eskimos and Huskies: An Arctic Mug

Sue Wagstaff................................................................................ 4
The Glamorgan Pottery Bicentenary
Helen Hallesy.............................................................................. 6
John Meir Pineapple Border Series Footbath
Richard Halliday......................................................................... 8
Exhibition Extra
Pat Halfpenny.......................................................................... 11
Fanny Kemble: The Actress becomes
an Abolitionist
Michael Weinberg................................................................... 14
Beauties of England and Wales Source Print
Austin Wragg............................................................................ 16

Vol. XV, No. 1 TCC Bulletin 1

TCC OFFICERS
& BOARD

www.transcollectorsclub.org
2014 Vol. XV No. 1

OFFICERS
President Loren Zeller
2954 East Portola Valley Drive
Gilbert, AZ 85297
Bus: (480) 350-7949
Mobile: (480) 789-2330
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Vice-President Michael Sack
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(415) 752-3830
Fax: (415) 752-1423
msack@michaelsack.com
Treasurer Klaus Zech
3041 60th Ave. SE
Mercer Island, WA 98040
(206) 232-0394
kpzechsr@gmail.com
Secretary Leslie Bouterie
1521 Still Meadow Cove
Charlottesville, VA 22901
434-202-2783
leslie.bouterie@gmail.com
BOARD MEMBERS
Fundraising/Development Frank Davenport
520 Coles Mill Road
Haddonfield, New Jersey 08033
856-795-2471
frankdhaddonfield@comcast.net

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2 TCC Bulletin Vol. XV, No. 1

Nominating Committee
DeeDee Dodd
102 Five Farms Circle
Avondale, PA 19311
(610) 268-3145
JRDHD@verizon.net
Communications/PR: UK
Pat Halfpenny
3 The Coach House
Lawton Hall Drive
Church Lawton
ST7 3BG
Stoke-on-Trent
011 44 (0)1720 485503
PAHalfpenny@gmail.com
Internet Communications
David Hoexter
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david@hoexterconsulting.com
Communications/PR: US
Rita Robbins
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Santa Fe, NM 87505
(505)983-2818
RMRCollage@aol.com
Database General Editor
Connie Rogers
309 Fleming Road
Cincinnati, OH 45215
(513) 761-5558
con309@cinci.rr.com

Membership Judie Siddall

734 Torreya Court
Palo Alto, CA 94303
(650) 494-7920
merlinbl@pacbell.net
Bulletin Editor -- Michael Weinberg
24 Amherst Road
Pelham, MA 01002-9624
(413) 253-7513
tccnewsletter@gmail.com
ADDITIONAL BOARD
RESPONSIBILITIES
2014 Annual Meeting:
DeeDee Dodd (with TCC member
Karen Beare)
Board Policy, Compliance, Articles
of Incorporation, By-Laws, Taxes
and Other Governmental Filings:
Michael Sack
Database Development:
Loren Zeller
Educational Programs:
Pat Halfpenny and Judie Siddall
(with TCC member Sue Wagstaff)
Facebook Administration:
David Hoexter, Judie Siddall, Loren
Zeller (with TCC member Wes
Palmer)

TCC Bulletin
PUBLICATION SCHEDULE
Issue:

Vol. XIV, No. 2
Vol. XIV, No. 3
Vol. XIV, No. 4

Submission Deadline:
June 1. 2014
September 1, 2014
November 30, 2014

Submissions are always welcome! Please send to tccnewsletter@gmail.

com or by snail mail to: TCC Bulletin, 24 Amherst Road, Pelham, MA
01002-9624. And PLEASE make sure that any photographs or images submitted are high resolution. Thank you!

John Meir Pineapple Border Series Footbath

By Richard Halliday

ohn Meir potted from 1812 to 1836

in Tunstall, Staffordshire. His pottery produced quite a quantity of blue
transferware including two of the
most famous multi-scene series: the
Crown, Acorn and Oak Leaf Border
Series and the Pineapple Border Series. The pottery also made a singlescene pattern showing a view, typical
of many produced at this period, of
men fishing in a river. This pattern
will be familiar to almost everyone
and is known as the River Fishing pattern. He also made the Wild
Rose, Willow and some Italian pattern pieces which have to be among
the most iconic and famous designs
in the history of transferware.
The Pineapple Border Series has
long been one of my favourite transferware series. It is actually one of
the very first pieces I bought, and I
have kept it. I bought a 9.5 Kirkham
Priory, Yorkshire plate at an outside
stall at Newark for 5. It had been in
half and glued back together; as such,
it was not very saleable, so I decided
to keep it. I look at it every day and
still love it.
In my opinion, The Pineapple Border Series has a very elegant design.
I love the use of a medium strength
blue in the centre and a relatively
dark border. I think this is an excellent combination and makes for an
agreeable image that is both tasteful
and beautiful. I feel that John Meir
and this series do not get the credit
that is deserved. Most of the examples
you will see are of high quality, both
in terms of potting and printing. They
are usually accompanied by a lovely
blue glaze that collects and pools in
foot rims like nectar. It really is something that is easy to like.
Pictured here is a very handsome
and interesting footbath. It is large,
being 21 from handle to handle, 14
wide and standing 9 tall. It is also
one of the heaviest footbaths I have
8 TCC Bulletin Vol. XV, No. 1

Large Pinapple Border Series Footbath printed with 2 separate views:

Slingsby Castle (4 times), Yorkshire and Lanthony Abbey (on the
interior bottom).

ever encountered. It is printed with

two different views: Slingsby Castle,
Yorkshire and Lanthony Abbey,
Monmouthshire. Only the Lanthony
Abbey view (printed on the interior
floor of the footbath) view is titled.
The Slingsby Castle view is printed
to the exterior walls of the piece
and, because of the large area to be
covered, this particular print has been
used four times. The source of the
Lanthony view can be seen below
and was taken from Thomas Hearnes
Antiquities of Great Britain, 1780
1807. The Slingsby Castle source
was taken from Nicholsons Six views
of Castles &c. in Yorkshire (1822). (i)
Notice that animals have been added
to the foreground of these source
images. Animals in transferware are a
wonderful thing to see and certainly
add to the whole look and feel of the
image.
The other mark to the underside of
the footbath is most interesting. It is
for Moores China-Warehouse, Cowes,
Isle of Wight. Warehouses such as
this were a relatively common thing
around the world and were an essential link in the marketing process, especially in areas that were devoid of
potteries. It is interesting to consider
how John Meir established a relationship with Moore on the Isle of Wight,
some 160 miles away. This distance
still seems a long way, but in 1825
it must have seemed like travelling
to the end of the earth. In this case,
why did Moore not use some of the
southern potteries in the Bristol and
South Wales areas? Maybe Moore did
use other potters and this will need
further research to prove or disprove,
but his association with a potter from
Stoke-on-Trent remains interesting.
Moores China Warehouse, 31
and 32, High Street, Cowes, Isle of
Wight was run by James Moore. One
of the earliest references to him is
found in the London Gazette, 11th
of February, 1815. (ii) It reports that
he is in Londons Debtors Prison.
His court hearing was set for March
the 6th, 1815. The list of creditors for
Mr. Moore is long and varied from
fish monger to fruit seller and from
cheese maker to a surgeon. There are
also several potters and glass makers

Interior bottom of the Footbath with Lantony Abbey transfer.

in this long list. He sounded like quite
a colourful character! In 1828s Pigot
and Co.s Directory of Hampshire, he
is listed as a china and glass dealer in
Cowes. In 1830 he is listed as a china
and glass dealer in the Isle of Wight
Tourist and Companion and is still in
Pigots in 1844. The last entry for him
seems to be 1852 in Slaters Directory.
Parts of this interesting story remain a
mystery, but Im sure other members
will know more and may have encountered this mark on transferware
before. It is interesting to surmise
though that perhaps his history as a
poor payer continued to follow him
around. As such, local potters and
glass makers in the south of England
and Wales simply would not deal with
him. That may explain why he may
have had to look further afield to find
suppliers, hence the deal with John
Meir. All very interesting and, again,
it reveals the wonderful human connection within transferware and the
intrigue and mystery behind these
delightful pieces of pottery.
Another interesting fact about this
footbath is the damage it sustained.
There was a large firing crack that ran
about a third of the way around the
base where the floor was connected
to the walls of the piece. As such, it
did not look too attractive nor did it
hold water. So, we can only assume
that the retailer Moore would not
have taken such damaged goods. If

Marks from the underside of

the Footbath. Note especially
the Moores China-Warehouse,
Cowes, Isle of Wight mark.

Vol. XV, No. 1 TCC Bulletin 9

this is the case, it probably never went to the Isle of Wight

and this poses an interesting question regarding its survival.
One would assume that if pieces were damaged to such an
extent after final firing in the kiln, they would simply be destroyed, especially since they had a retailers mark on them.
You would think that neither John Meir nor Moore would
want second-rate damaged goods to leave the factory. So how
is it still here today? What happened when it was taken out
of the kiln for the final time? If only these pieces could talk!
My own feeling is that the person who potted or printed it
was still extremely proud of this piece and was either allowed to or simply took the footbath home for personal use.
I think pieces such as these that pose intriguing thoughts and
possibilities really change a seemingly inanimate object into
one that has such social connections.

Fig. 4.

Fig. 4. Source Print for the transfer of Lanthony Abbey, Monmouthshire, used on the interior bottom of
the Footbath.

Fig. 5. Source Print for the transfer of Slingsby Castle, Yorkshire, used on the exterior of the Footbath.
Note the absence of cattle in the Source Print: proof
that engravers took liberties to enhance the images.
End Notes:

(i) Source images for Lanthony Abbey and Slingsly Castle kindly supplied by D. K. Henrywood
(ii) Information kindly supplied by Pat Halfpenny

Fig. 5.

The Glamorgan Pottery Bicentenary

Continued from page 7

purchased by William Chambers for his new pottery works
at Llanelly . William Bryant, clerk, potter and later business
agent for the Glamorgan Pottery left to take the position of
acting manager at the new works together with a nucleus of
skilled workmen.
Examples of Glamorgan pottery can be seen at Swansea
Museum, the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea and the
National Museum of Wales, Cardiff. A small exhibition representing the products of the factory is planned to take place
at Swansea Museum during this year of its commemoration
which show the significant contribution this concern made
in the cultural development of the town during the 19th
century.
As the two adjacent potteries were operating in direct
competition to one another, a successful Cambrian pattern or
shape would be copied by the Glamorgan and perhaps viceversa, whichever article was more commercially saleable at
the time. Further work is being investigated and catalogued
on this cross-over period of production between the two potteries.
End Notes

Quilted pattern Water or Toilet Set.

1 The account of Swansea and its environs published in the Swansea Guide of 1813 by D. Jenkins, describes Mr Dillwyns large Pottery (the
Cambrian ) and a large soap works, but omits any mention of the Glamorgan Pottery which would confirm that the pottery had not been completed
at the time of printing of the guide book.
2 For a detailed, illustrated history of the works and its products, see H. Hallesy, The Glamorgan Pottery, Swansea 1814-38, Gomer Press, 1995
3 For a description and illustration of another pair of Glamorgan shoes printed in blue with the Shepherd pattern, See H. Hallesy , The Glamorgan Pottery Swansea and some comparisons with the Cambrian, in Welsh Ceramics in Context Part 1 (Ed. J. Gray), Gomer 2003

10 TCC Bulletin Vol. XV, No. 1