November Feature Books

Extraordinary British Transferware 1780-1840, by R. and R. Halliday

A Review by Judie Siddall:
"Extraordinary British Transferware: 1780-1840 illustrates more than 300 unusual patterns and shapes that delight the eye and the brain of both the casual and informed collector of transfer-printed pottery. Richard and Rosemary Halliday, transferware collectors, researchers, and dealers, have photographed beautifully and written in luscious detail about each piece of pottery. The photography is excellent and the writing even possibly better. The book proves to be more than a picture book. It focuses on the unusual, but is really a smorgasbord of transferware. And, like a smorgasbord, there is a taste for everyone." More info.

Ynysmeaudwy and the Williamses, by Mike Trew 

This is the tale of a small potworks begun and run by a family of Cornishmen in a bleak outpost of the upper Swansea valley. Right from the start, its relative isolation from the other Swansea potteries ensured it an air of mystery which, in the years following its demise, assumed an almost mythical status. This book not only describes the contribution made by Ynysmeudwy to our cenamics heritage but adds a human touch by revealing what the Williamses were about, where they came from and where they went to. More info.