WHITE IRONSTONE NOTES

WHITE IRONSTONE NOTES
VOL. 5 No. 1
SUMMER 1998
Fourth Annual National WICA Convention
For this year’s Convention held at the
Radisson in Wilmington, Delaware, the theme
of the exibit was “WHEAT, WHEAT AND
MORE WHEAT”. Fran Kinne was the
Convention Chair and she did a grand job. The
photo above shows the center part of the marvelous wheat display, organized by Fran,
which opened on Friday night. It attracted
great admiration from everyone. The breadth
of this display (see more photos on page 4)
showed why Wheat in its several variations
has remained so popular for a century and a
half. We heartily thank the following members who exhibited prize pieces of their collections for the enjoyment of us all: Jack &
Janet Allers, Dick & Adelle Armbruster, Mark
& Janet Attix, Vicky Bischof, Wes & Jane
Diemer, Diane Dorman, Frank & Carol
Fleischman, Tom & Olga Moreland, Ed
Rigoulot, Ted Brockey, and Margery Watson.
(Dorman photos)
The souvenir for this Convention was a
reprint of the book “The Wheat Pattern, An
Illustrated Survey” by Lynne Sussman who
gave WICA permission to produce a limited
edition of 175 copies. This is a wonderful
research book recording forty-two ironstone
manufacturers who collectively produced
fourteen different patterns employing wheat
motifs. Also included are many of the original
drawings of wheat patterns from the Great
Britain, Public Records Office.
A record number of 164 members attended
representing 26 States and Canada.
Pennsylvania had the largest representation
with 26 members! The Auction realized a
20% increase over last year and the Raffle
almost doubled in its second outing. The
Show and Sale on Sunday offered a whopping
48 tables of beautiful white ironstone waiting
to go home to a new collection.
We also thank all who were actively
involved in bringing the 1998 Convention to
life. The following behind-the-scenes workers deserve special recognition: Wes & Jane
Diemer, Nancy Adams, Barbara Burnett, Patty
& Jack Hurt, Rick & Suzanne Nielsen, Ray &
Eileen Secrist, Tony & Kathleen Constable,
Ed Rigoulot, Ted Brockey, Jim & Mara Kerr,
Jack & Janet Allers, Gloria Weatherby, Vicky
Bischof, Margery Watson, Polly Gosselin,
Bertica Vasseur, Diane Dorman, Sandy
Jenkins, Mary Bell, Ann Miller, Tom
Lautenschlager, Don Stohl, and Dale Abrams.
WICA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Jim Kerr, President
Ed Rigoulot, Vice President
Fran Kinne, Secretary
Jack Allers, Treasurer
Tom Moreland, Past President
Beverly Dieringer
Diane Dorman
Polly Gosselin
Patty Spahr Hitt
Bill Lancaster
Olga Moreland
Rick Nielsen
Ray Secrist
Honorary Lifetime Member
Jean Wetherbee
The WHITE IRONSTONE CHINA ASSOCIATION, INC. is a not-for-profit corporation.
WHITE IRONSTONE NOTES  is the official newsletter of the corporation.
Photographs submitted by members become
the property of WICA, Inc. and no article,
photograph or drawing may be reproduced
without the express permission of WICA, Inc.
WHITE IRONSTONE NOTES is published
and edited by Ernie and Bev Dieringer with
associate editor, Harriet Denton. Drawings
and photos are by Ernie and Bev Dieringer
unless otherwise noted. Please send all news
notes, articles, photos, suggestions, questions
and listings for advertising or the Spare Parts
column to: WICA, Box 536, Redding
Ridge, CT 06876. Fax # 203 938 8378 or
e-mail Dieringer1@aol.com.
WICA web page: www.ironstonechina.org
_____________________________________
A three-ring notebook to save your issues of
WHITE IRONSTONE NOTES is available at
$8 plus $1.50 shipping. Total of $9.50.
Single back issues of WHITE IRONSTONE
NOTES are available to members only at $6
each. Volume 1 has 3 issues and is $18,
Volume 2, 3 & 4 have 4 issues each and are
$24 per volume. Please make checks payable
to WICA, Inc. and send to the above address.
_____________________________________
2
ADVERTISING RATES
Advertisements will be accepted in order of
receipt from WICA members and space allowing, from non-members. Rates (subject to
change): $10 per column inch (7 lines). Nonmembers, $20 per column inch. Members
can list a single piece for sale free in the Spare
Parts column each issue space allowing.
Payment in full by check made out to WICA
must accompany each ad. Send to newsletter
address. Publishing deadlines are Dec. 1 for
Winter, March 1 for Spring, June 1 for
Summer, Sept. 1 for Fall.
_____________________________________
APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP
Send $25 for each individual or $30 for two
individuals at the same address with check
made payable to WICA, to: Jim Kerr/WICA,
RD#1 - Box 23, Howes Cave, NY 12092.
Please send all ADDRESS CHANGES to
the same address.
Membership year is June 1st to May 31st.
INDEX
Pg.
Pg.
Pg.
Pg.
Pg.
Pg.
Pg.
Pg.
Pg.
Pg.
Pg.
Pg.
1
4
4
4
5
5
6
9
9
10
12
12
1998 Convention
1998 Convention
Winterthur Museum Trip
Membership Report
President’s Report
Keynote Address
Show, Tell and Ask
Raffle Review
Auction Action
Verifying a New Shape
Spare Parts
Collectors’ Showcase
FROM THE EDITORS’ DESK
We really goofed in the last issue. We had
several typos. You may want to mark the
changes. Page 4. first column: 1853-1861
not 1953-1861. 4th line down from there,
omit (continued on page 4). Page 9. Lonnie &
Cindy Barker should be Lannie & Cindy
Barber. Our apologies to the Barbers.
We completed four years of publishing WIN
when we sent out the Spring issue. We are still
very proud of our first issue but we have come
a long way. The first two years we worried
that we would run out of ideas. Now we wonder how we will get everything in. As in life,
the more you learn, the more you realize how
much there is to learn. We hope you are
enjoying this journey of discovery as much as
we are. The core of our success is the WICA
members who send in ideas and pictures, and
have dialogues with us by phone. This has
been and will be our guide for what appears in
WIN. Keep letting us know what you want
and we’ll keep trying to surprise you.
We have another researcher looking for help
from our members. Read the first letter to the
editor, and please check the marks on the bottoms of your ironstone pieces.
LETTERS TO THE EDITORS
A couple of years ago I managed to buy a
jug (you would perhaps call it a pitcher) in
white ironstone with mouldings of wheat ears
etc. round the underside of the rim and by the
handle. This was one of the variants of the
well known Ceres pattern. It was the mark on
the base that surprised me. This showed the
royal coat of arms with all its appurtenances
and underneath the pottery description J. & M.
P. Bell & Co.
It was well known in this country that Bells’
Pottery had had a large export trade to many
parts of the world, including both the
Americas, but there has been no mention anywhere in the literature of white ironstone.
This was perhaps the less surprising in that
very little by way of documentary evidence
has survived, as I know to my cost. (I have
just spent several years researching and writing a history of the Bell Brothers’ Pottery).
Last year GUARD from Glasgow
University carried out a short dig on the site
and I was asked to catalogue the sherds. A
base sherd with the same mark turned up and
also several other sherds in the same body.
Some were of cups with similar mouldings but
there were also various pieces with calla lily
mouldings. Such pieces have not been report-
ed from Scotland, or indeed Britain, and are
most likely the remains of an export trade c.
1857. Some of the sherds were too small to
determine what sort of piece they belonged to.
The Glasgow Pottery of J. & M. P. Bell &
Co. has been mentioned in one book on White
Ironstone, again with pieces which have not
been seen in Britain but it is obvious that there
is a lot more to be found. It is possible, of
course, that Bells’ export trade was more with
South America than North and no work seems
to have been done on South America except in
relation to stoneware. It is obvious in any case
that Bells’ must take their place beside
Cochran’s as a trader with the Americas in the
1850s.
I should be most interested to hear of any
other information on the subject and I should
like to make my apologies for intruding on
you in this way.
Yours Sincerely,
Henry E. Kelly
227 Wilton St.
Glasgow G20 6DE
Scotland
*************************************
We would also be interested if anyone has
information about ironstone in South America.
It never occurred to us that white ironstone
might have been imported there.
*************************************
Re: Scallop Decagon/Cambridge Shape
I am passing these few photos along for consideration for future articles as mentioned in
the Spring issue of “White Ironstone Notes”.
I just love this teapot with the ring handle
and pudgy bottom. The potter is J. Wedgwood
and is dated January 14, 1853. It also has the
ribbon circle that says Ironstone China and
Pearl printed on the inside of the circle. One
of the ribbon ends has the potters name, J.
Wedgwood.
The gravy boat with the Aladdin handle is
also unusual. I have never seen one just like
it. It too is potted by J. Wedgwood. This one
is dated Sept. 3, 1852. The date and potters
name are embossed on the bottom.
The last photo is one of either a salt shaker
or a sugar shaker. If anyone could shed some
information of this piece, I would appreciate
it. It stands 4 inches high and is 2 1/2 inches
in diameter across the base. There are no
markings. I purchased it from two older sisters who told me that it was a hat pin holder
that used to be their grandmothers. These
ladies were about seventy themselves. I
thought that hat pin holders would be taller
than 4 1/2 inches.
Thank you in advance for allowing me to
share these photos with you.
Jane B. Prusinowski, Liverpool, NY
*************************************
Dear Jane,
Thank you so much for the Scallop
Decagon/Cambridge pieces and the research
you have done on them. The photos are wonderful and we will use them in the upcoming
article.
As to the photo of the shaker, it is a salt or
pepper shaker not a hat pin holder. The pepper has 4 holes and the salt has 8. It is a version of T. & R. Boote’s 1851 Shape, just like
the sugar bowl without the handles. (See
photo on page 3) It was made for Red-Cliff by
Hall pottery and appears in a 1975 catalog of
which I am enclosing a page. The ladies may
have indeed gotten it from their grandmother
but the shaker is only 23 years old. Lots of
people confuse Red-Cliff with antique ironstone. We did an article on Red-Cliff in Vol. 3
No. 3 (Winter 1997) to show what it is so that
our members would not pay antique prices for
these pieces. Although most of Red-Cliff is
clearly marked, small pieces like your shaker
unfortunately, are not. We own and use a set
of these shakers and love them because they
go so well with our Sydenham plates. We
hope you enjoy yours.
*************************************
Enclosed please find some pictures of my
white ironstone items. My main collection is
Corn and Oats but I do have a few other things
I have saved. Notes on the back tell about
them.
I’m anxious to see the newsletter about the
Convention. It was the same weekend as our
Tea Leaf regional which I was fortunate
enough to attend in Prescott, Arizona.
Your newsletter is always so interesting and
the pictures just superb. Keep up the good
work!! Maybe some day I can get to a
Convention. I know I’d enjoy it.
I am a charter member of the Tea Leaf
Ironstone Club and it’s nice to know that the
clubs are working together.
Laura Ady, Glendora, CA
*************************************
Laura sent some unusual Corn and Oat
pieces which we will share with everyone in
the upcoming article. It is delightful to get a
packet of well marked photos with good information included. We have had wonderful
responses to our request for photos. And all of
you are taking such good photos. Keep up the
good work, everyone.
We are also enjoy working with the Tea Leaf
Club. We estimate that almost a hundred of
our members are also members of the Tea Leaf
Club, and quite a few of those are on line with
Dale Abrams’ TLOL Newsletter.
And, speaking about on line activity, there
are many on line auction sites that have had
some ironstone offerings. Here is one
instance:
*************************************
Thanks for chatting with me last evening
about the small creamer. I do appreciate your
time. I am sending you the picture of the
pitcher along with the description as found in
ebay. I did finally purchase this little item.
Hopefully it will turn out to be an interesting
piece. If you do come across any helpful
information about this I would appreciate it if
you could pass it along. If I find it is not as it
says it should be, I will let you know.
Carol Edwards, Mitchell, IN
*************************************
Here is the description on the ebay page:
“This ironstone pitcher in the wheat pattern is
an Anthony Shaw piece which is better than
Meakin. They are very rare and hard to find.
These pieces usually sell for two or three hundred at least. This piece is 6 inches tall and
shows little wear considering its age. My
great grandmother brought this from England
with her. Look at the picture. Buyer to pay
postage and handling. Good Luck!”
Carol sent along a color printout of the
pitcher. It turned out to be Bordered Fuschia
Shape, not wheat at all. You can’t always trust
what someone says about a piece. And the
price estimate, well that’s another story.
Someday we may do an article about that matter. If you are interested in visiting and looking through this on line site, the address is:
www.ebay.com. Have fun, but buyer beware!
*************************************
WHITE IRONSTONE:
A COLLECTOR’S
GUIDE
By Jean Wetherbee
Hardbound copies are available from
WICA for $25.95 plus $3 shipping. Send
check made out to WICA, to:
Fran Kinne
110 Hillside Ave.
Tenafly, NJ 07670
NEXT ISSUES
Profiles on Scallop Decagon/Cambridge
Shape. Berlin Swirl, Corn & Oats and
Plain white ironstone. Additional pages for
our Galleries of teapots, mugs, relishes and
tall pitchers. New Galleries on bread
plates, well-and-tree platters and ladles.
Photos of any of the above would be very
appreciated. Please include measurements
and any marks.
CALENDAR
* JULY 16-19, 1998 Flow Blue Club
International
Annual
Convention,
Nashville, TN. Call Sandra Robbins (901)
587 5966
SEPTEMBER 12, 1998 WICA Region 4
hosted by Anne Miller and Kyle Husfloen
in Galena, Illinois. Call Kyle for information at (815) 777-9370 or Anne at (815)
664 2450
* SEPTEMBER 18-20, 1998 Tea Leaf
Club International National Convention
Columbus, Ohio. Call Dick Brackin (614)
592 4650 or Dale Abrams (614) 258- 5258.
SEPTEMBER 26, 1998 WICA Region 7
hosted by Fran Kinne in Tenafly, NJ. Call
(201) 567-1202.
OCTOBER 3, 1998 WICA Board meeting
at Jim and Mara Kerr’s in Howes Cave,
NY, 1 pm. (518) 296-8052
OCTOBER 17, 1998 WICA Region 8
hosted by Susan Daly and Steve Wasby
near Albany, NY.
For information
call:
(518) 452-5584 or e-mail
wasb@cnsibm.albany.edu.
NOVEMBER 14, 1998 WICA Region 5
hosted by Sally and Howard Erdman in
Denton, TX. For information call (940)
387-5653.
APRIL 30-MAY 2 1999 Fifth Annual
WICA Convention, Troy, MI.
* Memberships are required to attend our
Sister Clubs’ Conventions. Contact the
above phone numbers for information.
Our current board of directors. Top row, left to right: Jack Allers, Ray Secrist, Rick Nielsen, Bill Lancaster, Jim Kerr and Tom Moreland.
Bottom row, left to right: Fran Kinne, Ed Rigoulot, Patty Hitt, Bev Dieringer, Olga Moreland and Diane Dorman, not pictured - Polly Gosselin.
(Dorman photo)
3
1998 CONVENTION
Above: Two views of the WHEAT, WHEAT AND MORE WHEAT exhibition. The photo on the cover is the center of this three-part display
which represents the largest showing of a single pattern to date. It was
WINTERTHUR MUSEUM TRIP
The Friday trip to Winterthur, organized
by Jane Diemer, was a standout. Originally
a private home containing his early
American collections, the Winterthur
Museum and Gardens was founded by
Henry Francis DuPont and first opened to
the public in 1951. Several buildings have
been added, and the many thousands of period objects beautifully displayed relate to
and describe the lives that people led in four
previous centuries.
The morning house tour concentrated on
the decorative arts in early America.
Members were guided through the museum
in groups of four in some cases by
Winterthur Fellow students, not unlike our
keynote speaker, Amy Earls, who was also a
Winterthur Fellow. (See biography next
page) Cameras are not permitted, so we are
not able to show you the splendor of the
place. At noon, a sumptuous buffet luncheon was served. For the afternoon, members had a choice of visiting the magnificent
gardens or viewing another part of the
museum. It wa a day to long remember.
Members who have visited Winterthur know
how wonderful it is. For those who haven’t,
we can almost guarantee that it’s worth a
trip from anywhere.
4
delightful to see seven sizes of ewers and creamers in Ceres Shape by
Elsmore & Forster and the three sizes of compotes (or tazzas). The
“Daily Bread” plates at the right have wheat motifs.
Oh, those tantalizing Tops and Bottoms. Did I bring the measurements of the vegetable bottom or that soap dish lid? Above left: Kathy Lautenschlager’s table full of tops and bottoms
included an early Mason’s tureen lid with a Foo dog finial. Above right: Mara Kerr has made
Patty Hurt happy with a match to her horizontal toothbrush box (or vanity box, or razor box,
or whatever). As in the past three National Conventions, many marriages were made.
(Dorman photos)
Above: Fran Kinne, Convention Chair and Jane Diemer, local arrangement coordinator.
MEMBERSHIP REPORT
WICA’s 1997/98 membership year ended in May with
548 members, an increase of 41 members for the year.
Members represent 41 states, the District of Columbia,
England, Germany and 2 Canadian provinces.
Membership renewal forms for the 1998/99 year were
mailed to all members in May. Renewals, as well as new
member applications, continue to arrive daily.
The nine states we do not have members from are
Alabama, Hawaii, Idaho, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada,
North Dakota, Utah and Wyoming. If you know any ironstone collectors in those states (or ANYWHERE for that
matter!) please encourage them to join WICA.
TRENTON vs. ENGLISH IRONSTONE
Our Convention Keynote speaker is a historical archaeologist from Roebling, New
Jersey, specializing in 19th & 20th century
ceramics. Her bachelor’s degree is from
Middle Tennessee State University, and her
graduate degrees are from the University of
New Mexico. She has worked in environmental archaeology since 1976, with most of that
time spent in New Mexico and Texas. In 1996
she co-authored an illustrated catalog of
transfer printed ceramics from the port town
of Velasco on the Texas coast. Amy publishes
The Victorian Ceramics Newsletter.
She moved from Texas to New Jersey to
study ceramics with George Miller, who has
been her husband for more than a year. They
originally intended to publish an illustrated
chronology of English hand-painted
teawares, but instead became involved in projects involving American ceramics made in
Trenton, which is 15 minutes from their home.
These projects included transcribing over 250
documents from John Hart Brewer’s 1870s1890s scrapbook and recording nearly 600
ceramics in the collection of the Mount Holly
Quaker Meeting, which she attends. She is
currently recording collections from a
Maddock Pottery archaeological site in South
Trenton. Last year she spent six weeks as a
Winterthur Fellow studying Ott & Brewer and
late 19th century competition in the American
ceramics market. This talk draws on her fellowship and current research on Trenton
ceramics.
************************************
Amy Earls, Keynote speaker.
Trenton, N.J. potteries producing ironstone
battled British competition in the American
market from the Civil War until the end of the
19th century. Trenton became the leading
American pottery center in the 1870’s, benefiting from American inflation and tariff protection that drove up the price of imported
English wares. Trenton’s railroad and canal
networks brought in coal for firing the pottery
and carried the finished wares to the major
markets of Philadelphia and New York City.
The other American pottery center, East
Liverpool, Ohio, surpassed Trenton in production by the end of the 1800’s.
Before the Civil War, most earthenware on
the American market was British. White
granite or ironstone tea and table wares dominated this market from the Civil War until
the end of the 19th century, and many
Staffordshire potteries were dependent on the
American market. American potteries competed with the British primarily on the basis
of cost, although biases towards English
wares and technical problems, such as crazing, raised issues of the quality of American
wares. Invoices and other records of British
imports are more abundant in American
libraries than in Britain, as customs records
required that these forms be filed in triplicate,
so that some have survived. Trenton potter
John Hart Brewer was elected to Congress,
where he lobbied for greater protection for the
industry. Another Trenton potter, William
Burgess, was appointed U. S. Consul to the
Staffordshire potteries, where he spied on the
English potters for the American industry.
In selling their wares, the American potters
made attempts to maintain standard price
lists. Traditionally, American consumers had
bought their ceramics from crockery dealers
in cities or from country stores serving small
towns and the frontier. The growth of Trenton
potteries made it possible for stores to buy
direct from the pottery, rather than through
middlemen. The Trenton potters used the
threat of selling direct to country stores and to
consumers in trying to maintain high selling
prices. Examples of Trenton pottery price
lists, pattern books, trade cards, and letters,
some of which illustrate shapes being produced, were shown. The change from white
ironstone to decorated ware and to hotel china
was described.
Amy Earls
George Miller, Amy Earls and Jean Wetherbee enjoy a conversation about ironstone
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Although it has been said before in this
newsletter I’d like to personally and on
behalf of the board of directors of WICA,
thank all those who helped to organize and all
those who attended our 4th annual convention in Wilmington, DE. Each year it seems
our conventions get bigger & better and it is
in no small part due to the enthusiasm and
generosity of all of our members. Special
thanks goes to Fran Kinne, convention chair
and Jane Diemer, local arrangements coordi-
nator.
Before leaving Wilmington your board of
directors met on Sunday afternoon. The following officers were elected for the 1998-99
year: Jim Kerr, President, Ed Rigoulot, Vice
President, Jack Allers, Treasurer and Fran
Kinne, Secretary. Other items of business
included an update on the idea of an ironstone foundation by Don Stoll, an audit report
by Patty Hitt, the adoption of a budget for the
1998-99 and the decision to publish a supplement to the 1997-98 membership directory.
We hope that reading about the 4th WICA
convention will encourage everyone to plan
to attend next year’s convention. Our 5th
WICA convention will be held April 30-May
2, 1999, at the Northfield Hilton in Troy,
Michigan. Adele and Dick Armbruster, convention chairs, are busy planning for a great
weekend. Please take the time now to look
over the insert with this newsletter, fill out
and return the enclosed questionnaire and
plan to attend and help out with our 1999
convention. See you in Troy, MI.
5
SHOW, TELL & ASK
This year, because of its popularity at our previous conventions,
Show, Tell & Ask was divided into two sessions, one before and one
after the lunch break. Patty Hurt of Houston, Texas, with the able assistance of husband, Jack, spent months organizing this event so that
everyone who had noted on their registration forms an interest in show-
ing an item, would have time to do so. This was no easy task and,
because there were so many items, time had to be pared to three minutes each. To the Hurts’ credit, everything was shown. On the next
three pages are some of the pieces we were able to photograph at our
set-up in the back of the room.
Above: Unidentified waste bowl by Gelson.
(Anne Miller collection)
Above: Patty Hurt, Show, Tell and Ask organizer, talking about her coffee pot shown at
right. (Dorman photo)
Above: Floral ribbed, large coffee pot by W.
& E. Corn. (Patty Hurt collection)
These cupped hands are unusual for their smaller size, 4 3/8” x 6”. The usual size is 6” x 7 1/2”.
We were working so fast that we didn’t get the
name of the owner. Our apologies.
Above: A mini reticulated
basket 3 1/2” long. (Rick
Neilsen collection.) Right:
8” jug with Sydenham type
shields, maker unknown.
(Carol Fleischman collection)
Pea Pod vegetable tureen by E. Pearson. Below: The mark and
a detail of the embossment. (Violet Dreibelbis collection)
6
Above: Figural pitcher 8” tall. On the left is “Day” and the right is “Night”.
It is marked “England, Hanley” but no potter. (Patty Hurt collection)
This water container 16 1/2” long, was suspended on a holder from
the end protrusions which have a flat bottom to keep it from rolling
until it needed to be tipped to dispense water. (Harry Lowe collection)
Two photos above: Chain of Tulips mugs with two different handles, but
identical marks on the bottoms. (Anne Miller collection)
Above: A Scallop Decagon/Cambridge oval teapot which sports a
Fig/Union handle. Since Davenport and Wedgwood made both of
these Shapes, we can assume some worker ran out of one Shape’s
handle and just applied another. It is also unusual because the
tea set is usually round, not oval. (Anne Miller collection)
Above: Front and side views of a 4” miniature pitcher representing
Napoleon. It may be of American manufacture because the mark is partially illegible, but “Pat. apl... Phil, Pa” can be made out. Unfortunately,
we missed recording the name of the collector. Our apologies.
Above: Prairie Shape butter dish with an attached undertray. by
Clementson . (Bill Lancaster collection)
Above: A tiny urinal and its mark. This piece is only 4” long giving
us the impression that it may have been a salesman’s sample.
(Anita Genger collection)
7
Above: Diminutive ladies spittoon (ugh!). Mark reads E.B.
Stone China. (Ray Secrist collection)
Above: A pewter-lidded syrup pitcher with
pineapple and ivy embossment, 7 1/2” tall,
unmarked. (Nancy Lambly collection)
Above: A wonderful early soap dish imported by F. Wetmore for the Biddle
House in Detroit. (Ron Stork collection)
Above: Pewter-lidded syrup pitcher with a
tree trunk covered in vines and berries,
4 3/4” tall by Pankhurst & Co. (Rick Nielsen
collection)
Above: Front and side details of a jug 9 1/4” tall, described as an “Old Man Jug”
but more commonly known as Greybeard. It has oak branches with small acorns
and is unmarked. (Carol Fleischman collection)
8
Above: Pewter-lidded syrup pitcher with
leaves and a band which says: “A Highland
Gill -- Clap in His Cheek”, about 5” tall,
unmarked. (Nancy Lambly collection)
Above: Photographing as many of the Show and Tell
pieces as possible in the back of the ballroom. Ernie
Dieringer adjusting the light to get the best detail on a
gravy boat while Bev Dieringer snaps the photo. Anne
Miller records the piece and its dimensions along with theowner’s name. The results are on pages 6, 7 and 8.
(Dorman photo)
RAFFLE REVIEW
As Chairperson of the WICA annual raffle, I wish to thank everyone who participated for
their generous support of this event. This year, through the sale of tickets, $1200 was raised.
$1,000 from the regular raffle, and $200 from the door prize -- available only to those attending the Convention. All procedes from these events, after payment of expenses, go directly
to the Educantion Fund for support of projects to
benefit all WICA members.
Again, thanks for your contributions, and we
hope to select even more dramatic white ironstone
items for next years event in Troy, Michigan.
Prize winners were:
1st - Ceres coffee pot: Patrick Armbruster
(convention attendee)
2nd - Wheat & Hops ewer: Anne Tack,
Fairfield Glade, TN
3rd - Daily Bread Plate: Violet Dreibelbis
(convention attendee)
Door Prize Wheat ewer - Nancy Adams
Ray Secrist
Below left: Ray Secrist watches as Kelly
Armbruster picks a winner. Below right: Nancy
Adams is delighted with her door prize ewer.
(Dorman photos)
AUCTION ACTION
Above: Rick Nielsen, our Auctioneer, and
Jim Kerr, WICA President, checking the
condition of consigned items. This piece is
a glue pot with its original brush. (Dorman
photo)
Above: As you can see on the faces of this auction crowd, there is great enthusiasm for an
imaginary item up for bid. Rick Nielsen kept
the audience amused to the end. Right: This
very early six-sided tureen by Clementson &
Young generated a great deal of excitement and
a hot bidding war. (Dorman photo)
Above: Two views of a Washington jug about 9” tall. It is unmarked but
similiar to marked pieces patented Oct, 4, 1892 (Abrams photo)
Above: Two views of a frog frog (a floral decorating item) about 7”
long and unmarked. (Abrams photo)
9
VERIFYING A NEW SHAPE
By Jean Wetherbee
How do white ironstone collectors
decide that we’ve located a shape that
hasn’t been brought to the attention of
other searchers? The whole process
may take months or even years to
complete. Here is the story of the
sighting, as we verified the earliest
record, of a white ironstone Shape
we’ll call Fluted Double Swirls.
At our second convention, Jim Kerr
offered a three-piece, slightly dam-
relish dish that used the same mark on
the underside, a long rectangle that
read “Porcelaine a la Perle” with the
initials “J.E.” below, still in the box.
I mused to myself, “This shape is
quite intricate, not like any other we
have noted.” Could it have been potted by James Edwards as one of his
first white ironstone pieces after he
and his brother, Thomas, discontinued
their partnership in 1841 and each
started his own pottery?
Later, Ernie Dieringer mailed me a
aged sauce tureen at the Friday night
flea market. It looked like a new
acquaintance so I bought it and rested
it beside me as I visited with you
white ironstone addicts. Now, to really be sure we have discovered a novel
shape, we need to open our eyes to
note different decor and lines, to open
our mouths to discuss our ideas with
others, and open our ears to listen to
other collectors. I didn’t obey this
last command -- I didn’t listen -- and
that’s why the final verification took
years.
The body and undertray of that
sauce tureen were round with 16 narrow fluted ribs, and the two handles
on the tray were composed of two
facing swirls. Jim remembered that
the shape had intrigued me and a few
10 months later sent me a photocopy of a
copy of a drawing from the Great
Britain Public Records Office, of a
soup tureen that an English researcher
had mailed to him. Now, we could be
sure of J.E.: it was James Edwards.
And there was my old acquaintance
with its fluting and swirled handles -but, no date was attached. I wondered
and wondered.
This past fall the story continued as
my daughter Linda and I heard of a
dealer who had white ironstone for
sale in her home. We beat a path to
her door and browsed and bought.
Among the varied pieces, I spied a
large, low, pedestalled server with a
fluted surround and two opposing
swirls on the rim extension handles.
The now-familiar rectangular mark
was impressed on the bottom. Again,
I recalled the love-hate relationship
between the French and English during the 1840’s. “Porcelain a la Perle”
was really an English product potted
by James Edwards. But when? How
could I find out the year of manufacture?
Then, Harriet Denton told us she
had a 4-piece sauce tureen just like
the one displayed beside me at the
second convention. She reminded me
that on that day she had mentioned
that she had the same set at home.
You can clearly see that my mouth
was open that day but my ears and
brain weren’t functioning. Here was
her treasure! The answer was actually near.
One of us finally got around to asking Harriet if anything was written on
the bottom of the sauce tureen and she
quoted these words: “To prevent this
shape from being copied, it was
entered at the Registry Office of
Design on May 30, 1842 by James
Edwards”.
The MYSTERY was solved! This
was the earliest dating we have ever
found on a piece of English white
ironstone. Probably, the drawing had
been sent to the Registry Office just
about the time the diamond-shaped
registries were ready to begin.
May I introduce to you a verified
shape -- Fluted Double Swirls registered in 1842.
Above: Relish dish which was shown
in Vol. 4 No. 3 on page 7 and was
identified as Fluted Gothic. We now
know that it is the newly discovered
Fluted Double Swirls.
Below: Harriet Denton’s tureen. Harriet wrote to Jean:
“The cover has 16 concave ribs which diminish in
number when they widen in the larger size of the body
and base. Also, I noticed in comparing my tureen with
the drawing sent to me by Ernie D. that the handles of
my base plate/undertray are less pointed than those in
the drawing. I think the ladle which came with the set,
although lovely, was one of the more or less standard
ladles that accompanied several designs by Edwards.
You mention that your tureen has a slightly creamy cast
-- mine appears to be just a soft, dense, beautiful
white!”
Above: A vegetable tureen missing its lid, 12” wide. The
mark on the bottom is “Porcelain A la Perle, J. E.”
Below: The mark on the bottom of Harriet’s gravy tureen
says: “TO PREVENT THIS SHAPE FROM BEING
COPIED IT WAS ENTERED AT THE REGISTRY
OFFICE OF DESIGNS MAY 30th 1842 BY JAMES
EDWARDS”. 1267, which is printed below this statement, may be the number of the design.
Below: This drawing came from the Great Britain Public Records
Office. We wonder if the signature and the drawing is that of James
Edwards?
Above: Gravy boat from the Moreland collection. Although it is unmarked, we believe
it is Fluted Double Swirls shape.
11
SPARE PARTS
This is the place to ask for a missing piece
or sell an extra piece of white ironstone.
Members are entitled to a free listing in each
issue of Notes. Where else could you advertise to over five hundred people who are interested in the same thing that you are? Send
listings to: WICA, P.O. Box 536, Redding
Ridge, CT 06876.
WANTED
J.F.’s Full Panelled Gothic creamer (page
35 Collector’s Guide)
Sharon McGuire (314) 867-3400
-------------------------------------------------WHEAT & CABLE, Ceres shape by
Turner & Goddard & Co. creamer.
Pegeen Kline (610) 562-2980
-------------------------------------------------CLASSIC GOTHIC teapot.
Greg Miller (714) 830-0033
-------------------------------------------------CORN AND OATS children’s sugar bowl
and cups and saucers.
Laura Ady (626) 335-0404
-------------------------------------------------CAKESTANDS with fluted base marked
J.F. Will purchase or trade.
Ray Secrist (717) 235-5874
-------------------------------------------------LAUREL WREATH plates, 9 1/2” or
larger, 7 1/2” (pie plates) and any soup
plates.
Patty Hurt (713) 977-8879 or e-mail
HurtAJJr@aol.com
-------------------------------------------------LAUREL WREATH sugar bowl lid,
ATLANTIC sugar bowl lid, CERES
teapot base, SYDENHAM teapot base,
BOOTE’S 1851 teapot lid, BORDERED
GOOSEBERRY water jar lid.
Ed Rigoulot (817) 354-4644
-------------------------------------------------SYDENHAM coffee pot lid, CERES coffee pot lid (both larger than teapot lids),
CERES teapot base, SYDENHAM handled cups and saucers, CHILDREN’S
ironstone tea sets, dinner sets, or dessert
sets.
Adele Armbruster (313) 453-2390
-------------------------------------------------BELLFLOWER sugar bowl lid 3 1/4”
outside measure, 2 3/4” inside, LILY OF
THE VALLEY teapot lid 3 3/8 diameter
outside, 3” inside.
Looking for
ATHENIA and HURON ewers.
Polly Gosselin (860) 233-2392
--------------------------------------------------
FOR SALE
FUSCHIA fruit bowl 12” across 2-1/2”
tall, BLUET 2 piece covered soap dish
(pg. 107 Collector’s Guide) 6” wide 4”
tall, SYDENHAM gravy boat. Call for
prices.
Ed Rigoulot (817) 354-4644
-------------------------------------------------NEW YORK SHAPE wash basin 13 1/2”
diameter, $95.00 including postage and
insurance.
Jim & Mara Kerr (518) 296-8052
MARRIAGES MADE
In fall I advertised for wash set pieces
for a Wheat & Clover pitcher by Turner &
Tomkinson. I received a call and made a
purchase for the matching toothbrush
holder.
Pegeen Kline, Shoemakersville, PA
Last issue the Editors both sold an item
and made a match, and Ray Secrist and
Harriet Denton reported that they also
made matches. So, keep trying everyone.
COLLECTORS’ SHOWCASE
This piece of ironstone was introduced at the Show, Tell and Ask session. It is a 5-1/2”
tall inkwell. The middle photo shows the inside with a built-in well. The pen was dipped
into this smaller area to control dripping of ink. The photo on the right is of the bottom
with its embossed mark. (Allersπ collection)
12