Dave Arman and the China and Glass Quarterly

by David Hoexter
July 2008

The Transferware Collectors Club (TCC) was founded in 1999.  Founding members were Dave Arman, Judie Siddall and Norman Wolfe, supported by Linda Arman and David Hoexter.  Although the five of us were involved, suffice it to say that without Dave Arman, the TCC would not exist today.

Dave was one of the most generous individuals I have known.  In the early 1990s Judie and I were just starting out in the Transferware business.  Besides his efforts on behalf of the TCC, Dave was always available to share his knowledge and scholarship, and to answer our (and many others’) numerous questions, generally without any direct financial benefit.

Dave and Linda (a current TCC member) briefly published the China and Glass Quarterly (known as the CGQ, a prodigious effort of 50 to 60 pages which included articles, auction results, advertisements and a wealth of information on both British Ceramics (primarily transferware) as well as Early American Glass.  These two areas of collecting were (among others) Dave and Linda’s passion.  Four issues were published in 1997. The TCC was formed in 1999, and Dave rolled the CGQ into the new TCC Bulletin (excluding, of course, the American Glass).  The Bulletins were edited by Dave until his untimely death in March 2001.

Following are excerpts from the Editors’ statement in the initial issue of the CGQ.

Welcome to the inaugural issue of the China and Glass Quarterly.  As is normal with any new enterprise, our hopes are quite high for the accomplishment of certain goals we have set for ourselves through the medium of this little magazine.  First, we hope to establish the CGQ as a primary reference source of British Ceramics and Early American Glass for those collectors, dealers and museums who have an interest in these fields …. Our second goal is to make the collecting public aware of the holdings of various museums and historical societies around the Country.  We know of many fine public collections of interest, that are gathering dust in the basements of several institutions.  Our goal is to get them into the exhibition galleries, so our readers can visit, enjoy and learn.  We also hope to become a “home” to many of the existing collector’s clubs dealing within our fields and we hope to be the catalyst for the formation of an American version of “The Friends of Blue”, which is so active in Britain.  This could lead to specialized shows, lectures, auctions and other experiences, which are now enjoyed by (collectors in other fields).  We invite you to make this publication your own … use it as a vehicle to increase the knowledge, the interest and the enthusiasm of collectors of china and glass.

Amen to that!

Those of us lucky enough to have known Dave and Linda and to receive copies of the China and Glass Quarterly benefited in many ways from their scholarship and generosity.  Reading through past issues of the CGQ, I am amazed by the breadth of content and information.  We cannot make Dave’s generosity available now, but we can make the fruits of the Arman’s scholarship and dedication available once again and to a wider audience.  Through Linda’s generosity, we have scanned and posted examples of the articles authored by Dave and various contributors to the CGQ (available to all) and of the entire CGQ (available to TCC members only).  In addition, we plan to periodically excerpt articles and other bits from the CGQ and other Arman efforts, and make them available once again to TCC members and the public. You will find the first example, “Ms. Emma DeF. Morse’s Collection at the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts" aptly demonstrating Dave’s scholarship and writing style.  Learn and enjoy!