Brown transferware ceramic sherd (Archaeological Find)

Files

Brown transferware cup from Maryland. Bat printing worked well for irregularly shaped and small vessels since the bat easily fit along tight surfaces, meaning the sherd could have been something like a teacup or lid.

Photos showing the recreation of bat printing. The bat printing process transfers images onto ceramics using oil, a bat, and powdered enamels that are fired into place. This process was established by 1805.

Excerpt from "History of the Staffordshire Potteries." This excerpt from historian Simeon Shaw’s 1829 book shows how owning brown transferware might have signaled the high socioeconomic status of the Harvard student who owned it.

Brown transferprint ceramic sherd (front of design). The floral motif and stippled effect can be seen along the top edge of this photo.

Brown transferprint ceramic sherd (back of design). Because a chunk is missing from this part of the sherd, it can be difficult to determine exact form or use of the vessel.

Title:

Brown transferware ceramic sherd

Subject:

How do you portray yourself to the world? Maybe by your clothing’s brands, cellphone case, or sports equipment. At nineteenth century Harvard, a student might have expressed their individualism through dishware. From its start, Harvard required students to provide their own dishware (Morison 2006). Even into the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, there was no standardization in kitchen-related items (Stubbs 1992). This means students could express their personality – and wealth – through dishware.

This object is a brown transferware ceramic sherd with floral motifs and was most likely produced between the 1830s and 1840s. Brown was most commonly used in ceramic printing in the 1830s (Miller 1984:44; Samford 1997). Floral designs were popular in transferprint throughout the 1800s, but this edge design was most common between 1829 and 1843 (Samford 1997). Finally, the stippled effect, or tiny dots in the image, was created through bat printing (Stelle 2001). Bat printing (also known as cold or overglaze printing) was a form of transfer printing underneath ceramic glaze that was most popular in the first half of the nineteenth century (Samford 1997). Together, this helps us date this sherd to the first half of the nineteenth century.

The student who owned this was up-to-date with high society ceramic trends because of its unique brown color and intricate flower design. So, the next time you get dressed or pick up your phone, think about how future archaeologists might see your personality shine through these everyday items.

Source:

“Processes-Bat Printing.” The Transferware Collectors Club website, 2022. Accessed [February 18, 2022]. https://www.transferwarecollectorsclub.org/annex/image-gallery/processes/processes-bat-printing/.

Maryland Archaeological Conservation Laboratory. 2016. Printed Underglaze Earthenware. Diagnostic Artifacts in Maryland. Accessed [February 20, 2022]. https://apps.jefpat.maryland.gov/diagnostic/Post-Colonial%20Ceramics/Printed%20Earthenwares/Colors/Thumbnail%20pages/Colors.htm#ruthsaloon.

Miller, George. 1987. An Introduction to English Ceramics for Archaeologists. A one-day seminar at the Second Conference on Historic Archaeology in Illinois. Midwestern Archaeological Research Center. Illinois State University. Normal, Illinois.

Morison, Samuel Eliot. 1936. Three Centuries of Harvard, 1636-1936. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.

Samford, Patricia M. 1997 “Response to a Market: Dating English Underglaze Transfer-Printed Wares.” In Historical Archaeology, vol. 31, no.2, Society for Historical Archaeology.

Shaw, Simeon. 1900. History of the Staffordshire Potteries; and the Rise and Progress of the Manufacture of Pottery and Porcelain; with References to Genuine Specimens, and Notices of Eminent Potters. Scott, Greenwood, & Son.

Stelle, Lenville J. 2001. An Archaeological Guide to Historic Artifacts of the Upper Sangamon Basin. Center for Social Research, Parkland College. https://virtual.parkland.edu/lstelle1/len/archguide/documents/arcguide.htm.

Stubbs, John D. 1992. Underground Harvard: The Archaeology of College Life. Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Harvard University.

Object Name:

Brown transferware ceramic sherd

Inventory Description:

Brown bat-transferred ceramic sherd with floral motif

Peabody Number:

2021.6.47

Intrasite:

H970 Level 2

Depth:

3-13cm

Class 1:

Ceramic

Class 2:

Sherd

Class 3:

Lid

Quantity:

Height (cm):

3.1cm

Width (cm):

2.3cm

Depth/Thickness (cm):

1cm

Notes:

Follows an "S" curve shape but is missing one side, making form more difficult to determine. Bat process transfer is useful for small and irregularly shaped vessels such as a lid.