China
Life on the Illinois prairie in 1833 was not as primitive as some people think!
Dishes like these are called transferware by antique collectors and museum curators. They get this name because of the way they were decorated. Have you ever played with rub-off tattoos? The designs on these dishes were put on about the same way. Plates, platters, cups and saucers, and many other types of transferware were made by large pottery factories in England and shipped to the United States.
Archeologists working at historic sites in Illinois often find pieces of transferware. While they look very fancy to us, we have to remember that these dishes were everyday items to people in the past.
An 1830s cup and saucer with red design.
Far away places, ancient ruins, or even military battles were used
for transferware scenes.
An 1830s black transferware plate with a Greek vase design.
Real 'china' was made in China from fine porcelain. Dishes from China were shipped to the United States beginning in the 1700s. But just like today, people in Mr. Alexander's time used the word china to mean all types of dishes.
Ledger entry from an 1840s Jacksonville, IL store.
Mr. Alexander would have kept a similar record.
