No comments about French Porcelain of the 18th Century in the Victoria & Albert Museum.

1 comments about Encyclopedia of Universal Potteries.

1. David J. Chorey's ENCYCLOPEDIA OF UNIVERSAL POTTERIES provides a fine reference to Universal Potteries product lines, pairing fine clear color photos throughout with values, company history, patterns, descriptions and background. Any library strong in pottery collecting will find this a large, popular line and thus the ENCYCLOPEDIA will have an especially high lending interest level.

4 comments about English Transferware: Popular 20th Century Patterns (Schiffer Book for Collectors).

1. I checked this book out from the library before I bought it. I bought this book for my Gramie for her 73rd birthday. And to get free shipping I bought a second copy for myself. I love it!! The pictures are great, the price guides seem to be in line for what I've seen online and around antique shops. I would recommend this book for anyone who enjoys transferware.



2. I have purchased two copies of this book. One for myself and one for a family member. It is very informative and deals with a number of transferware patterns.



3. 
   I admit I'm used to Coysh & Henrywood's style of books on Staffordshire pottery, but I wanted a reference on modern Staffordshire. When I first opened the book, flipped through the attractive pages of photographs, noting which patterns were listed. I'm familiar with 20th century Staffordshire so it was like seeing old friends -- then a pattern and manufacturer which didn't match. There it was on page 68 --in bold letters: Liberty Blue --Royal Staffordshire.
   
   Royal Staffordshire, which did some very nice work over the years, did not make Liberty Blue. LB was produced by Enoch Wedgwood. Not the wonderful firm founded in mid 1700s by Josiah Wedgwood that we know and love, but one started many years later by Enoch, a distant cousin. Enoch Wedgwood's quality was miles from Josiah Wedgwood's, and for that matter, from Royal Staffordshire's.
   
   Also spotted some confusion about genealogy of the Woods potteries, but compared to Liberty Blue, it's minor. However added to the LB fiasco, there's enough to make me wonder about accuracy of reporting of other patterns.



4. English transferware holds flower and scenery patterns which look like Blue Willow: usually one-color, they can be multi-color scenes imprinted on plats, dishes, cups and saucers. ENGLISH TRANSFERWARE: POPULAR 20TH CENTURY PATTERNS surveys all the 20th century patterns and includes a price guide, offering color photos throughout to accompany gorgeous, well-detailed photos and notes on makers, marks, and more. Any who collect English pottery must have ENGLISH TRANSFERWARE is a basic reference.

2 comments about Royal Copenhagen Porcelain: Animals and Figurines.

1. It was such a good price. Beat any price that I had ever found on Ebay. Shipped promptly in a professional manner. Will watch out for further price guides that I might want from this seller!



2. Wonderfully illustrated and very thorough, but difficult to follow. There was more information about each piece and the history of it than I ever expected. Only complaint is that the information is broken up in different tables in the front and in the back; ButI learned a lot about figurines and the history of Royal Copenhagen from this informative book.

3 comments about Royal Delft: A Guide to De Porceleyne Fles (Schiffer Book for Collectors).

1. I found this book to be extremely helpful in more fully understanding the history and evolution of the De Porceleyne Fles Delft.
   Great detailed pictures, year codes, painters, and designer information. A beautiful book also!



2. This book, "Royal Delft, A Guide to De Porceleyne Fles", is beautifully designed and printed. The porceleyne factory in Delft, The Netherlands, to which it refers, was 350 years old in 2003. If you love Delft plates, known by the little pot insignia on the back, and most Dutch people do, then this is a great book to have, although at $69.95, it is not cheap. However it will save you money, as it tells you how rare the plates that are offered on sites such as EBay actually are, how many were originally made, their original selling price, and their value in recent years. When I was growing up in a Dutch emigrant household in Canada, we had a little WW1 plate hanging on our wall at home. This book was able to tell me the history of the WW1 plates Delft offered, with pictures of the entire series, and the original price and current value. It also listed the designer of the war plates, as well as the painters who worked on them and their identifier initials. I am now well on my way to collecting the series. This is a specialty book which i personally will long treasure and pass on to my own daughter.



3. Royal Delft: A Guide to De Porceleyne Fles (Schiffer Book for Collectors)An excellent book for anyone interested in collecting ortiginal delft plates, etc.

1 comments about Collectible Vernon Kilns.

1. This book is a must have for anyone interested in collecting any of the numerous shapes and/or patterns of pottery made by Vernon Kilns. I won't repeat what's said above in the book description or product details, but I will add that many years of obvious painstaking research has culminated in Maxine Nelson's 4th book on the subject.
   
   I had no idea what a challenge it would be to complete a collection of dinnerware in just ONE of the patterns ("Gingham", a green and yellow plaid design) that was made. Even with this book in hand you will never be 100% sure of all the pieces that exist in whatever pattern you're attempting to collect. In my opinion, the "not knowing" is part of the challenge that only serves to make collecting this truly versatile line of wares that much more fun, interesting, and rewarding.
   
   By the way, this book has 320 pages, not 192 as listed above. Sadly, this book is already out of print. However, at the time of this writing quite a few copies are still available.
   
   If you're a fanatic, you'll want to find copies of the newsletter "Vernon Views" printed from 1981 through 2003 by Pat Faux and Nancy Scadeberg, but we'll save that for another time...

2 comments about The Bulfinch Anatomy of Antique China and Silver: An Illustrated Guide to Tableware, Identifying Period, Detail and Design.

1. This book is organized well, easy to understand and nicely illustrated. Provides a picture time line of the evolution of tableware and eating customs. Very interesting and helpful to the novice in developing an understanding of manufacture, style and utilization of table ware Readers shoul have an increased ability to identify pieces as to their origin, era and use. Only short coming was the book did not provide illustrations of the manufacturers marks. The author talked about them but should have shown them as they can help with the identification of the piece.



2. The reader is taken on a tour through the ages from the 16th century to the Retro period. Each general period, representing changes in design, style and use, begins with a table setting demonstrating functionality. Feature articles focus on important changes or developments in each period. A new perspective and understanding is, indeed, imparted.

2 comments about Staffordshire Pottery, 1858-1962: Majolica, Transfer Prints, Flow Blue, Fine Bone China From Cauldon (Schiffer Book for Collectors with Price Guide).

1. This is the finest book available on Cauldon, bar none. The pricing guides are helpful, the background information facinating, and although the photographs are sometimes a little out of focus, each page features multiple images of representative wares.



2. Quite simply the best reference work currently available on the output of Cauldon Ltd. and its predecessors and sucessors for over a century including helpful pricing guides. Because Cauldon's tableware patterns alone ran to several tens of thousands, this book could not be expected to address individually all of the company's products, but it does cover a broad enough sampling to make it the definitive work on its subject matter. Kudos to Robert Cluett for giving us this book.

2 comments about Hand Painted Porcelain Plates: Nineteenth Century to the Present.

1. A rich source of inspiration for a painter on porcelain, a pleasure for an art lover!



2. As a collector of fine antique porcelains, I was eager to own this book, and delighted when it was finally delivered! The artistry of painting on porcelains has been presented before in other publications, but "Hand Painted Porcelain Plates: Nineteenth Century to the Present" provides a new benchmark in terms of both text information and illustration.
   
   With superb photographic technique, each image captures the magnificent color, form and art and the captions describing the age, area of origin and artist are very well done.
   
   The plate chapters are arranged by country. German, Austrian and Bohemian plates include a history of manufacture, and makers like Richard Klemm, Ambrosius Lamm and other notable producers of Dresden porcelain, as well as portrait specimens produced by KPM and the artists of Vienna are included in this important chapter.
   
   World class English porcelains are well-represented, with stunning and rare Worcester examples, as well as outstanding painted plates from Coalport, Davenport, Minton and Wedgwood. I enjoyed the recognition afforded to the venerable firm of John Aynsley, and the painted scenic view plates are generally missed by other publications on antique and collectible porcelains.
   
   Many French porcelain makers set the decorating standard for others, and the chapter devoted to the makers from France, including Limoges and Sevres, are alone, well worth the price of the book!
   
   With important information on marks, as well as fake and reproduction plates, Richard Rendall presents a clear and comprehensive text, and the examples from Elise Abram's collection are clearly representative of the most luxurious porcelain on the planet!
   
   Recommended to both new and advanced collectors, you will not be dissappointed! This book is truly a feast for the eyes!

No comments about British Studio Potters' Marks.