How to distinguish between transfer ware and other ware?

[collector]

Hello

I would like how to distinguish between antique transfer ware and other classes.

Thanks

[teaisme]

copy and pasted from this site....
http://www.transferwarecollectorsclub.o ... .html#date

Early transferware can be unsigned, have the maker’s name, the pattern name or have both makers and pattern name. Many patterns made between 1842 and 1883 were registered with the Patent Office in London, and exhibit a datable registration mark on the reverse. Transferware made between 1890 and 1920 usually has ‘England’ printed on the back. After 1920 the mark is ‘Made In England’.

Here are some pics of antique transfer ware. This might help too.
http://www.transferwarecollectorsclub.o ... ypes1.html

And here's a tip to help determine forgeries...

Real pieces will have lines through them from the transfer paper. These lines are faint and almost appear as cracks, but you should examine potential antique pieces for authenticity before spending money on them.

http://antiques.lovetoknow.com/Antiques ... ansferware

and a basic guide on shopping for transferware on ebay...
http://reviews.ebay.com/Fake-Transferwa ... 0001006854

[teaisme]

and this, with a little more detail then above from here...also some pics at bottom of page
http://www.erasofelegance.com/home/transferware.html

Tips on Collecting Transferware

When collecting transferware, you may be curious as to how to date an original. Dating and identifying pieces can be simple, if the items were registered under the British system (similar to the copyright system in the United States). From 1842 to 1883, English items carried a diamond shaped mark which could be deciphered to reveal the actual day a pattern was registered. After 1884, the registry adopted a single number series, e.g., "Rd. No. 12342", which today can be used to determine a pattern registration date to within approximately one year. Registration numbers greater than 360,000 indicate a date after 1900. Other marks that can provide clues to the date of a piece were printed, incised or impressed, stamped, or hand-painted onto items. The word "Limited" (or an abbreviation such as "Ld." or "Ltd.") in the pottery firm's name indicates a date after 1860 and was not generally used until the 1880s. Any piece having the word "Trade Mark" was manufactured after the Trade Mark Act of 1862, and generally denote a manufacture date after 1875. The word "England" often appeared on items after 1891 to comply with the Mckinley Tariff Act. "Made In England" indicates 20th Century origins. Unmarked items, as you might imagine, can be more difficult to trace in terms of their origin, but you can often make an educated guess based on the type of body, glaze, styling and decoration technique. Today, many popular manufacturers produce transferware, as well as have re-relased their popular patterns of the past.

Thanks for motivating me to figure out what transfer ware is, I was thinking you were talking about faircups

[collector]

Thank you very much

Your information is very useful and interesting

[collector]

Is this considered transfer ware?

[TomVerlain]

Hi

the cup looks like transfer ware, but I cannot really tell from the photograph.

One way to tell is to look to see if the pattern repeats, and if the pattern is superimposed on another section of the transfer.

Also, the transfer might be applied "sloppily", so part is smeared or twisted.

Transferware was a mass production technique, so some of it is sloppy, and will vary from piece to piece on the older hand done pieces.

Since there are current manufacturers who still make classic transferware, not all transfer ware is antique.

Hand painted should be easy to spot, in terms of brush strokes, thickness and depth of the glaze, variations and amount of colors, and type of design. High quality painting would not really look like transfer ware, but might be "printed". Printing might have halftone dots, a dead giveaway, or it can be solid colors.