18th Century Creamware Dishes with Bird and Temple Decorations

• Creamware - Creamware, also known as "Queens Ware" is the
  
  cream-coloured English earthenware developed by Josiah Wedgwood in the 1760s.
  
  The invention of creamware was the result of experimentation in order to find a
  
  British substitute for imported Chinese porcelain, and the cream colour was
  
  considered a fault at the time. The lightweight fine white earthenware with a
  
  clean rich yellowish proved ideal for  tableware
  
  and decorative items during the 18th and 19th centuries and is still produced
  
  today.
  
  
  Creamware is made from a
  
  mixture of kaolin, feldspar, and ball clay, and is typically glazed before
  
  firing to give it its glossy finish. It was developed by British potters as a
  
  cheaper alternative to porcelain.
  
  
  At Wedgwood, Royal patronage
  
  boosted sales. In 1765 Queen Charlotte, the consort of King George III placed
  
  an order for a 12 place tea set and allowed Wedgwood to use the name
  
  "Queens Ware" for the line. In 1770 Wedgwood produced a creamware
  
  dinner service of 952 pieces supplied to Catherine II the Great of Russia.
  
  
  Other potteries such as
  
  Doulton, Neale & Co. and Spode produced smaller quantities of creamware.
  
  
  Creamware continued to be
  
  made throughout the 19th century and later.

• Transfer Printed / Decorated Transferware - Transfer printing is method of decorating ceramics, reducing the cost of decoration when compared to employing artists to paint each piece. A print was taken on transfer-paper from an engraved copperplate, covered in ink prepared with metallic oxides, and the image on the paper was then applied to the biscuit-fired ceramic body. The print was fixed by heating the object in an oven, and then glazed, sealing the picture. Early transfer prints were blue and white, as cobalt was the only colour to stand firing without blurring. Early in the 19th century advances in the composition of the transfer paper resulted in better definition and detail, and enabled engravers to combine line-engraving with stipple.
• Circa - A Latin term meaning 'about', often used in the antique trade to give an approximate date for the piece, usually considered to be five years on either side of the circa year. Thus, circa 1900 means the piece was made about 1900, probably between 1895 and 1905. The expression is sometimes abbreviated to c.1900.

This item has been included into following indexes:

• Leeds Pottery / Hartley Greens & Co. (Britain) - ceramics 4
• Wedgwood (England), item types
  • Creamware / Queens Ware 51
  • dishes 117
  • plates 289