Aestheticism on the Dinner Table: The ‘Etching Revival’ and Transferware

Lecturer:  Jeffrey Ruda

In 1867-68, French artist Félix Bracquemond etched the transfer prints for Europe’s first table service in a new Japonesque style. The service was a huge critical and commercial success, and was quickly embraced by potters in Staffordshire. The design breakthrough has always been recognized, but not the choice and effect of etched transfer prints instead of engravings. The talk discusses the scope, look, and meaning of this unconventional medium when etching itself was an art-world fashion.

Jeffrey Ruda is Professor Emeritus of Art History at the University of California, Davis, where he headed the Art History faculty for twelve years. His publications include Fra Filippo Lippi: Life and Work, London & New York, 1993; and The Art of Drawing: Old Masters from the Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, Flint (MI), 1992, as well as journal articles. He has been a ceramics fan and collector since grad school, and he was president of the San Francisco Ceramic Circle from 2013 to 2019. An active member of the TCC, he is also a contributor to the TCC Database of Patterns and Sources.