Star of Tasmania – Sunderland
You can read Pauline Connolly's blog on the history of the ship here.
Moore & Co's Wear Pottery and Scott's Southwick Pottery
The Star of Tasmania was built in 1856. However, the jug below has the East View of the New Bridge transfer. The New Bridge didn't open until 1859. It is unclear whether the two transfers come from the same copper plate. However, neither transfer appears on orange lustre items, suggesting that they were taken out of service by the mid 1860s. The Star of Tasmania most commonly appears paired with a religious verse, 'Be Wise Then Christian While You May'. It is an incongruous pairing, but perhaps suggests the transfers appeared side by side on the copper transfer plate.
The flower painted collar on this jug is unusual. It appears to have been decorated with particular care on commission, as a present for John Mauger.
The jugs with these ship transfers are always unmarked. The heavily lustred collars and zig-zag lustre decoration are, however, associated with Moore's pottery.
The bowl below has a Moore impressed mark, and an inscription dated 1859. The 'Star of Tasmania' transfer is often paired with the 'Frigate in Full Sail' on bowls. However, I'm unsure that they were on the same copper plate.
Below, a large punch bowl with the Moore impress over a letter 'B'.
Another Moore impressed bowl with heavily lustred lip, typical of that pottery.
The plaque on the right is typical of Moore's from the 1850s, and the right from the 1860s.
A frog mug with a Moore smiling frog.
Below, a plate with the SCOTT impress. Baker writes, that 'Scott's supplied earthenware to Moore's Wear Pottery [...] presumably plain for decoration' (Baker page 54).
Photo Gowan's Auction House
Below, the transfer printed in gold on a blue-glass rolling pin. Norman Lowe has suggested that the copper plates with these ship transfers had been moved to Sheepfolds Warehouse which, employing the principles of division of labour, decorated white earthenware items for both Moore's and Scott's. Sheepfolds were known to have had a side line in decorating rolling pins.
Photo Norman Lowe
