Glide on my bark... – Sunderland
Garrison Pottery 1
The transfer appears on typical Dixon jugs from c1850.
The jugs above and below have transfers from the same copper plate. Note the horizontal scratch between the 't' and the 'l' of 'gently' (bottom left details). Also note, that like all of the other Wearside versions, there is the figure of a small man at the front of the boat.
Other features of this transfer are:
- Curly tendrils coming off broad/flat leaves in the wreath around the verse
- Rounded edges to the shading of the water underneath the picture of the bark
- Finely striped sails on the bark
- No full stop after the word 'bark'
Garrison Pottery 2
Dixon also used an almost identical version of the transfer on later items like the bowl below. N.B. there is no horizontal scratch between the 't' and the 'l' of 'gently'. The 'h' in 'thy' has a longer foot (bottom right detail). The water under the image of the bark is shaded differently.
Features of this transfer are:
- Curly tendrils coming off broad/flat leaves in the wreath around the verse
- Pointed edges to the shading of the water underneath the picture of the bark
- No stripes on the sails of the bark
- No full stop after the word 'bark'
Moore's Pottery
Features of this transfer are:
- Pointed leaves in the wreath around the verse
- Pointed edges to the shading of the water underneath the picture of the bark
- Thickly striped sails on the bark
- Full stop after the word 'bark'
A large Moore-impressed punch bowl with a Crimea transfer c1855.
Below, two jugs with typical zig-zag lustre decoration.
The bowl below, from the Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens, Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums collection, has rare transfers: top left below, Ruins of Palmyra; top right, Friendly Society of Cordwainers.
The chamber pot below (c1860) has an imprint from the same copper plate. Note the vertical scratch over the full stop after the word 'bark' (last detail). Also, much harder to see on the imprint below, a small dot to the left of the 'f' in 'flowing'.
Below a wash ewer with the transfer, and a typical thick band of dark lustre around the collar.
Attributed to Newbottle Pottery
A frog mug attributed to Newbottle on the basis of the distinctive ship transfer on the other side of the mug.
Below is a jug with the verse transfer decorated with coloured over enamels.
Scott and Sons, Southwick Pottery
This transfer has a Scott & Sons, Southwick printed mark. Baker dates that partnership 1829–1841.
The other sides of the jug below, with two smaller jugs also with flower transfers on the collar and handle.
A lidded eel pot or butter dish with the transfer and typical Scott flower decoration.
Scott Brothers and Co
The typical Scott items below have a 'glide on my bark' transfer with the same attributes as the one above, except that the factory mark has been blacked out. NB the copper plate appears to have been re-engraved all over. It was likely done when the partnership changed to Scott Brothers and Co in 1841.
Ball's Deptford Pottery
The final incarnation of the transfer above was at Ball's Deptford Pottery. Ball's bought up many copper plates used by both Wearside and Tyneside potteries, and continued to make 'Sunderland ware' into the 20th century.
Glide on my bark... – Tyneside
Unidentified Tyne pottery
The heavy use of lustre suggests a Tyneside pottery or perhaps Seaham. It would be nice to find more examples with this transfer.
Attributed to Carr and Patton, North Shields
This simple version of the transfer is attributed to Carr and Patton on the basis that it sometimes appears with a bridge transfer firmly-attributed to North Shields.
Attributed to John Carr and Sons, North Shields – plate 1, 1840s and 50s
This bowl and jug below have variations of transfers commonly found on Sunderland items (like this verse) mixed with those peculiar to Tyneside, eg the small ship, and 'Remembrance', 'Friends are Like Leaves' and 'Rest in Heaven' verses. In the Tyneside versions of this verse transfer, there is no small man at the front of the boat.
The bowl below, c1850, was made during a period when North Shields' wares appear to copy those from Dixon's Garrison Pottery. It could esily be mistaken for a Sunderland item.
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Both the bowls and the jug above share a diagonal scratch between the 'c' in 'circling' and the 'r' in 'Are'. This mark is no longer visible on the presumed later imprints from the same copper plate below. |
Attributed to John Carr and Sons, North Shields – plate 1, 1860s
This bowl appears to be an imprint from the same transfer plate as the bowl above, after the scratch above was ironed out. The bowl has an impressed London mark with fouled anchor, known to have been used by Tyneside potteries when selling items via a particular London distributor, c1860.
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Thanks to MW for sending the photo of a fragment found working on a dig in Footdee, an old fishing village at the harbour entrance to Aberdeen. See the Sailor's Farewell page and West View B26, B38 pages for other pottery sherds from the same dig. The photos of the London bowl shared courtesy of Ian Holmes from his United Collections Website. |
John Carr and Sons, North Shields – plate 2, 1860s imprints
This bowl has the John Carr and Sons stag's head impressed mark, which Ian Sharp says was used from 1861 to 1896. Typically, these transfer plate were restored and reengraved over long periods. However, looking at the other transfers on this bowl, eg Gardeners Arms, and comparing them with the 'plate 1' bowl above, it appears that Carr had a new copper plate engraved around 1860. See also the Mariners' Arms.
John Carr and Sons, North Shields – plate 2, 1870s imprint
A marked John Carr and Sons bowl from c1870s with orange lustre. This appears to be a degraded imprint from the same copper plate as bowl above.
Attributed to John Carr and Sons, North Shields
It is hard to be sure, but I think this is the Garrison Pottery 2 version. We know that Carr obtained a number of the copper plates in 1865 when the Garrison Pottery closed. The top row below from the jug above, and beneath it, a Dixon bowl for comparison.
And an unmarked bowl with a weak imprint of what again appears to be the Garrison Pottery transfer. The May Peace and Plenty transfer on the bowl looks also to be the Garrison version.
Attributed to John Carr and Sons, North Shields
This is very similar to the Garrison version above and it is possible the copper plate was reengraved to restore clarity, or it could be that a new copper plate was made by printing the version above onto it and using it as a template for engraving. Unlike the other Tyne versions of this transfer, as with the Garrison version above, there is a small man at the front of the boat.
A large jug with two rows of transfers, and what appears to be a similar re-engraved imprint to the ewer above.
Attributed to John Carr and Sons, North Shields
Below, another very similar large jug with the transfer. Again, this transfer has the figure at the front of the boat, and appears to be a cruder copy of the Garrison version.
And below, the transfer a smaller jug with similar decoration.
Finally, the transfer on a lidded eel pot or butter dish. Note the wavy lustre decoration is similar to that found on items with the Carr impress.
