Talking Turkey.... and Transferware

For some time after that first solemn feast in 1621, both the date and observance of Thanksgiving depended on national triumphs and local inclination until 1863, when President Lincoln proclaimed the fourth Thursday of November the nation's official Thanksgiving Day. By the 1870s, America's rising middle class hungered to celebrate the occasion with dinnerware specifically made for this special holiday.   England's profit minded potters responded to the people of the United States wishes with a series of delectable transfer-printed china patterns depicting the holiday's bird of choice.  Transferware depicting turkeys has been in production for over 100 years and remains as popular today, if not more so, than it was when first it came into being.

 Turkey plates and platters are highly sought by collectors.  In fact, there are many transferware collectors who collect turkey patterns only.

 Prices can range but generally a huge, vintage or antique English turkey platter will run anywhere from $250-$1200 and sometimes more depending on the maker, pattern, etc.


Transferware depicting turkeys comes in all colors, not just brown or brown polychrome.


Here are some beautiful examples of plates and platters depicting turkeys.  A few of these are available in my Etsy shop, English Transferware.


This Midwinter Turkey Platter is one of my favorites.  It's a black transfer with hand painted touches of color.  The border around this is particularly of interest as it is a scene in itself.  The black is unexpected but very striking.

Black plates to match

Royal Staffordshire's Clarice Cliff produced several turkey patterns.
The most popular is probably that which has the Tonquin border.

Another of Clarice Cliffs' turkey themed plates is this one with a pretty border of fall foliage.

Here is the same plate, but in purple.  I sold 12 of these plates to another dealer for $145 a piece.  She marked them up to over $200 each.  Purple is such a popular color right now and looks beautiful with oranges and browns.  These would make for a stunning Thanksgiving table.

This Wood and Sons turkey plate is always a good choice.  It can be found in brown, blue, and polychrome in each colorway.  The blue polychrome is stunning!

 Next is a circa 1910 gilded edged platter by Royal Cauldon.  This is brown and white, simply stunning.  This platter is in my shop, HERE.

 For you Mason's Vista collectors, they too produced turkey transferware.  Currently, the most sought after color is the pink/red.

Here is another lovely brown transferware turkey platter by Rowland and Marcellus.  This firm commissioned wares from various English potters, mostly for resale in the United States through fine jewelry and china stores.

I served my turkey on this one last year and had it displayed in my home during the month of November.  

Feeling blue?  Crown Ducal produced this blue turkey platter in 1930 as part of the Colonial Scenes dinnerware which is very collectible.  I have this on the wall in my shop and listed on Etsy.

I recently did a tablescape with blues and oranges.  I should've pulled this platter out for that but this Johnson Brothers Barnyard turkey platter looks great with this color scheme as well.

 Isn't the squirrel on the border so cute?

I recently saw this Spode platter and 12 plates at auction.  The bidding started at $375 for the set.  With only a few hours left I was getting my hopes up that somehow, noone but me had seen this amazing set, and I'd pick it up for the opening bid.  HAHAHA.  I knew better.   In the back of my mind I knew that all of the serious bidders were waiting until the last moments to place their bids, but it's fun to hope anyway.  This set sold for over $3000.  When the bidding began it really BEGAN and I didn't even bother trying at that point.

The last platter and plate I am showing is another polychrome, brown transfer by Barker Brothers.  I get requests for pieces to this every single year and usually sell whatever I have in stock.  This year I have two of the platters and one plate.  The colors are so rich and vibrant.

Below are turkey transferware the pieces I have available for purchase online and in store.

Hope you enjoyed these turkeys!

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