Mariner's Compass – Sunderland
Newbottle Pottery
The Newbottle attribution for this transfer is convoluted, and relates to pottery items donated by descendants of the owners to the Victoria and Albert Museum. Read more here.
Distinguishing characteristics are: the male figure has three rows of buttons on his waistcoat (compare with the Seaham transfer which has two rows; the fur on the lion's cheek is shaded diagonally.
Seaham Pottery
The attribution of this transfer is based on the Seaham jug in the Sunderland Museum, which has a painted factory mark 'Walker & Co, Seaham Pottery 1847' (click images to enlarge).
Distinguishing characteristics are: the fur on the lion's cheek is shaded horizontally; the male figure has only two rows of buttons on his waistcoat (compare with the Newbottle transfer which has three rows); and there's a small nick I the copper plate to the left of SSW, likely made at the time of engraving.
The details above come from the jug below, which is decorated with coloured enamels. We know that the jug and mug below predate the 1847 jug above, because the transfer doesn't have some of the imperfections/scratches that appear on later imprints from the copper plate (see two details below).
The later imprints from the copper plate have a scratch over the lower right quadrant of the shield (indicated left below), and a scratch to the right of SSW (indicated right below). These details are from the 1847 jug.
The bowl below has both of those imperfections, and is contemporary with the Walker & Co, 1847 jug.
Mariner's Compass – Tyneside
Attributed to Thomas Fell, St Peters Pottery – 1
This version of the Mariner's Compass is a very fine and distinctive transfer. It is less cartoon-like than the variations above.
The jug, c1840, is attributed to Fell on the basis of the distinctive lustre decoration, elements of which are found on plaques with the Fell impress. Note the painted lustre sun on the first image of the jug. The over-glaze transfers of Fell items from this period have a sooty quality.
Attributed to Thomas Fell, St Peters Pottery – 2
This version of the Mariner's Compass appears on items with the Newcastle high Level Bridge transfer attributed to Thomas Fell.
It is similar to the Seaham version. The man's waistcoat has only two rows of buttons. However, the row to the left is larger than on the Seaham transfer. The lion's face is horizontally shaded. But the arrangement of the tufts of grass in the foreground is different.
