A Guide to Vintage & Antique Transferware China

Oh the romance of beautifully decorated transferware china from Staffordshire England! Certainly that’s what middle class housewives in the 18th century thought. Up until that point similarly decorated dishware required hand painting, which only the very rich could afford it.

Vintage & Antique transferware dishes are a favorite among vintage-loving, farmhouse decorators. Whether covered with floral, Asian, or pastoral scenes, they love to accent their home decor with this beautiful dishware.

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Transferware Video

How to Identify Transferware China

Transferware china comes in many shapes and colors, decorated with beautiful, intricate designs under glaze (except for very early pieces which would have been on top of the glaze). Up until its invention, most dishware featured costly, hand-painted embellishment.

The transfer process allowed for whole sets of dishware to be easily decorated with perfectly replicated artwork featuring oriental images, florals, landscapes, and historic sites. Most, but not all, designs feature a single color on a white or cream background.

History of Transferware

With the development of the “transfer” process in 1760 England, lovely dishes could grace the homes of the more common folk.

It allowed dishes to be mass-produced, thus making them more affordable than dishes produced up to that time.

Early manufacturers of English transferware include well-known potteries like Wedgwood, Copeland-Spode, Johnson Brothers, and Masons.

Over the years, such potteries produced thousands of patterns in an array of colors on various types of ceramic, including earthenware, porcelain, and ironstone.

Collectors can find transferware china in blue, red (pink), green, brown, black, mulberry (purple), yellow, and multi-colored, with black and mulberry being the most rare.

How Transferware is Made

Artists etched designs onto copper plates, covered them with paint, and then printed the image onto tissue paper, as shown above. The paper would then be pressed onto a dish, which was then kiln-fired.

Interestingly, when we lived in Derbyshire, England about a decade ago, I made numerous trips to Staffordshire potteries and even decorated a mug at Wedgwood using a “modern” transferware process. I wish I new where it was, LOL.

Transferware Patterns

Asian Influence

Pottery artists based their earliest transferware designs on “oriental” patterns that Europeans highly prized.

The ubiquitous Blue Willow pattern, for example, has captured the hearts of many for more than two centuries by numerous companies in Europe, America, and Japan.

Florals

Floral patterns, whether central or merely on the edge, have been widely popular down through the decades.

This multi-colored plate in the “Mayflower” pattern (1929+) by Copeland-Spode provides a beautiful example of this. (Value: $15-20)

Landscapes

Landscapes of all kinds provided artistic influence for transferware designers. The homey scene by J & G Meakin (1961+) called “Welcome Home” on this dessert plate provides evidence of that. (Value: $6-7)

Historic Sites

Early in the 19th century, English potters began to design specifically for the American market, including important places, like this c.1840 antique plate depicting an “Old Windmill” on Nantucket by Wedgwood. (Value: $20-30)

Of course most potteries produce china with famous English sites on them as well.

Dating Vintage & Antique Transferware

Placement Errors

Early on, as the technology was being learned, pattern placement errors akin to mismatched wall paper happened regularly. One or more errors sometimes indicates an early manufacture date.

In the example above, marked “Dentelle B.F.K.”, you can see on the front where the artwork doesn’t line up perfectly. This piece, perhaps French, likely dates to the early 1800’s.

Weight

Another way to date transferware, is to notice its weight. Newer pieces tend to weigh more than older pieces. Well-made newer pieces may also be lighter but are usually marked properly, i.e., with a more modern-looking mark.

Marks on English Transferware

Below are some general guidelines for dating various marks on English transferware china:

• Diamond-shaped registration mark: 1842-1883*
• 6-Digit registry number: 1884-1965
• LTD: 1860+
• Pottery Mark/No Country: 1760-1891
• England: 1891-1920
• Made in England: 1920+
• Detergent Proof: 1941+
• Dishwasher Proof: 1955

Unmarked pieces may point to it being a very early piece. Be sure to do your due diligence and make efforts to learn what you’ve got(!).

To gain more info about your transferware, check out Potteries.org, which provides a wealth of information about English potteries and their marks.

* See an example of a diamond registration mark in the flow blue photo below.

The Difference Between Flow Blue & Transferware

Flow blue china is a subset of transferware. By about 1830, potters learned, via a “happy accident,” that by adding lime or ammonia to the kiln during firing, the transferred pattern would begin to run or “flow.”

This lead to the creation of an attractive blurred or flow-y look that Americans in particular enjoyed. And so it came to be called Flow Blue.

You can see this in the photo above of a “Lobelia” pattern sugar by Phillips Longport (England), dating to June 1845. (Value if complete: $100)

Highly sought after in the last half of the 20th century, collector interest has waned significantly in the 21st century.

Be aware that during its previous period of popularity, large numbers of reproductions hit the market. They tend to be heavier with gray or bright white backgrounds.

American, German, Dutch, & Japanese Transferware China Examples

The English were not the only ones to produce transferware china. The transfer process quickly found its way to other countries. Here are some examples:

America

Here is an example of Royal China’s popular “Currier & Ives: The Old Grist Mill” pattern that served as a premium for grocery stores. They manufactured the dishware from 1949 until their closing in 1986. Dinner plates like this can be had for $3-5 each.

NOTE: An online antique loving friend, Julie Robinson Robards, wrote the article linked above(!).

Germany

This beautiful plate depicting a charming rabbit family, marked “Made in Germany,” likely dates to the 1920’s. It’s in my personal “collection,” but I’d value it at about $12-18.

Holland

The Dutch, known for their iconic delft pottery, also produced transferware, like this beautiful piece signed “Societe Ceramic, Maastricht, Made in Holland,” which dates to the period 1887-1955. (Value: $18-22)

Japan

Woolworths (remember them??) marketed “Phoenix Bird” pattern china for many years. Potters in Japan had developed the design in about 1890. (Value: $4-5)

What Collectors Look For

Transferware china collectors tend to buy larger, antique pieces based on their favorite color, subject matter, or maker.

The most highly sought after colors include the perennial favorite: blue and white, along with red (pink) and white.

Large Serving Pieces

While vintage buyers have by-and-large lost interest in full sets of dinnerware, many continue to collect individual pieces for decorating, particularly large serving pieces, like the antique Mason’s platter above ($75).

Small Quirky Pieces

Butter pats would serve as an example of smaller pieces that would be avidly collected. This pair of the above T.G. & F. Booth brown transferware, ironstone pats in the “Beacon Hill” pattern sold on Etsy in 2022 for $31.99.

However, I would avoid purchasing common pieces like plates of any size and cups and saucers, unless they are particularly attractive, old, or unique.

Antiques

At the moment buyers show very little interest in newer transferware. To the extent that they are looking to add to their collections, they want antiques, like this medium-sized pitcher in the “English Scenic” pattern by Adams. (Value: $20-30)

Newer transferware, like this mid-1970’s Liberty Blue piece produced by Enoch Wedgwood & Co. does not currently sell well in my area (or anywhere to my knowledge). Value hovers around $5-6, and it would take quite some time to sell.

Benjamin Franklin Savings Bank offered it as a special premium to encourage deposits, while A & P later used it for a similar promotion. Thousands upon thousands of pieces were produced over the years.

Because of this huge availability, I recommend avoiding Liberty Blue, along with Currier and Ives (see example above) and similar patterns, made after the 1950’s.

Perfect condition, large serving pieces are the exception to this general rule. This Blue Willow coffee pot by Churchill (England), dating to the 1990’s, serves as an example of such a serving piece. It would sell easily for $25-35.

Despite what I’ve just said, if you come across newer transferware china at rock bottom prices, and you feel you can make a profit by selling them for a few dollars apiece, then by all means, go ahead. Personally, I think your money is better spent on higher quality items.

Transferware Values

While transferware values have taken a downturn in the past couple of decades, a market nonetheless exists for quality antique pieces, particularly antique serving and unique examples (as I just discussed).

Please check my Transferware Price Guide for suggested values of many pieces that have passed through my hands over the years.

I highly recommend utilizing eBay’s “sold listings” to get a sense of transferware’s current market value. In addition, you can check Etsy sold prices (though not by category).

How to Care for Transferware

Antique transferware should be washed by hand. I recommend lining your sink with a dishtowel to prevent breakage. [Trust me! I’ve broken numerous pieces because I failed to follow this “rule.”]

You can place most newer pieces (often marked “dishwasher safe”), dating from about the 1950’s on, in the dishwasher.

However, any china (new or old) with painted highlights or metal trim added on top of the glaze should be carefully washed by hand. This especially includes 22K gold, often used to trim fine china.

Lastly, you shouldn’t place antique transferware in the microwave, but most newer pieces (1950’s+) can, unless trimmed with silver or gold.

Can I Eat Off of Antique Transferware That Might Contain Lead?

A lot of early transferware (and other types of china) were glazed with compounds containing lead. Smithsonian Magazine, however, indicates that it’s safe to eat off this dishware, so long as the glaze is not cracking, peeling, or pitting.

To learn whether your china contains lead, consider purchasing a lead testing kit designed for dishware.

Where to Find Transferware

Transferware china can be found almost anywhere you might expect to find vintage and antique goods. Find the best prices at garage sales, flea markets, and thrift stores. Expect to pay more at antique shops and estates sales.

Do not purchase pieces with chips, cracks, or severe staining–unless you know for sure that it is a rare, highly sought after piece. Use your smart phone to conduct a quick search of eBay’s sold listings to determine its desirability.

Where to Sell Transferware

I recommend selling large serving pieces of transferware in your antique booth. I’ve personally found that these sell well from my booth, and it avoids the high cost of shipping and handling these large, heavy items.

Smaller [desirable] pieces sell well on Etsy and garner higher prices than those I’ve achieved from my booth. A quick search of the sold listings on eBay indicate that such pieces would likely sell nicely there too.

As with most antiques, it may take some time and experimentation to learn the best platform for selling your transferware, but my recommendations should help you get started.

I so hope that you found today’s article helpful for you and your antique biz! Let me know in the comments if you have any thoughts or questions on the topic–I’d love to help if I can 🙂

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