Transferware and Flow Blue

Transferware is a type of pottery decorated using a transfer printing technique. A pattern is made on an engraved copper or steel plate from which a monochrome print is made on paper using special mineral inks. The paper is wet applied to a glazed ceramic and the design is transferred onto the ceramic during firing, and the paper is burned off. The technique was essential for adding complex decoration such as the Blue Willow pattern. The process was developed in England from the 1750's, and in the 19th century became enormously popular in England, with the bulk of production in the Staffordshire pottery district. America was a major market for English transfer-printed wares, whose imagery was adapted to the American market.

Flow blue is a style of white earthenware, often called ironstone or stoneware, that originated sometime in the 1820's, among the potters of Staffordshire, England. The name is derived from the blue glaze that blurred or "flowed" during the firing process. Besides blue, mulberry, black, and polychrome designs can be found in these early dinnerware sets.