Guests for the Holidays? Help keep their toothbrushes tidy with this Victorian English ironstone toothbrush caddy, made in the 1880's. The maker was Edge, Malkin & Company in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England (the region of much Nineteenth-Century British ceramics production). The transfer pattern is called "Dacca," named after the Colonial Indian city (now Dhaka, Bangladesh). More broadly, the Dacca pattern satisfied the Western taste for Asian-inspired decor, especially in ceramics. The pattern fits squarely within the Aesthetic Movement of the Late Nineteenth Century.
Ironstone is a type of pottery developed in England in the 1810's. It was a durable, hard-wearing, cheaper alternative to fine porcelain—suitable for mass production and ideal for decorating through transfer printing. Transfer printing, first developed in the 1750's, was a process by which intricate patterns could be applied to ceramics—without the time and costly labor expense of hand-painting. Fine and complex decorative patterns could be reproduced quickly, cheaply and endlessly with this method. To make a transfer print, first a metal plate would be engraved with the pattern (much like with an etching). This was the most important (and costliest) step. These plates would be used to print ink onto tissue paper (a suitable ink which would bond to the ceramic under heat). These papers would be "pressed" onto the pre-fired ceramics and fired once again (to transfer the ink of the printed pattern). The tissue paper would burn-up in the kiln. Lastly, a protective, clear overglaze would be applied and the piece fired one last time (usually at a low temperature). This combination of durable, inexpensive ironstone and quick (and pretty) transfer decoration was suitable to Nineteenth Century industrial manufacturing techniques. Made at scale, England's ceramics industry was able to feed the growing middle class's desire for tasteful, affordable niceties. Furthermore, such Orientalist Aesthetic Movement designs scratched the Western itch for Asian ceramics—which were priced beyond the reach of 99% of Britons.
Click on the photo above to learn more about this handsome relic of a Nineteenth Century English washstand.
Though our Greenwich Village store is now permanently closed, LEO Design is still alive and well! Please visit our on-line store where we continue to sell Handsome Gifts (www.LEOdesignNYC.com).
We also can be found in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, at The Antique Center of Strabane (www.antiquecenterofstrabane.com).
Or call to arrange to visit our Pittsburgh showroom (by private appointment only). 917-446-4248