Hi everyone,

I am an avocational archaeologist with about 20 years field experience.  For the past six years I've been excavating an historic farmstead, the Warner site, that dates back to 1841 in Michigan.  The sesquicentennial farm site was owned by 5 generations of the Warner family for the past 170 years and the largely unmodified 1855 Greek Revival house was listed recently on the National Register of Historic Places.  Among the many thousands of artifacts found at the site, we've recovered a number of different transferware patterns but the one that is most predominant is "Sydenham" by Joseph Clementson (over 500 fragments thus far).  We find the pattern in both blue and brown.  The pattern in blue is also found with the importer's mark of Davenport Brothers of NY.  A variety of vessels in the pattern have been recovered including handleless/panelled cups, various sized saucers, rectangular dishes, dinner plates, tureens, etc.  As a direct descendant I've been able to discuss some of our finds with various family members who lived at the site.  Several have suggested that at least some items in the "Sydenham" pattern were still in use even into the 1930s for special occasions.  In fact, one tureen has been curated even to this day, potentially over 150 years after it was purchased.  With the help of a Davenport Brothers direct descendant, as well as additional research into NY city directories, I've been able to pin down that the pattern dates to around 1854 or possibly even a couple of years earlier.  I've been able to determine that "Sydenham" has been recovered at two other MI farmstead sites, though with much smaller samples sizes - basically a sherd or two each.  I was wondering if any of you have found this pattern on any sites that you've worked on as I'm trying to confirm my hunch on the initial circa 1854 production date as well as how long it might have been produced.  There is also a possibility that the successors of the Joseph Clementson firm, Clementson Brothers (1865 - 1916), may have also produced this pattern based on an unconfirmed listing on a website that is now unavailable.  In studying quite a number of Staffordshire patterns including "Sydenham" over the years, I have yet to find any other manufacturers of this exact pattern (or any unmarked vessels in this pattern) so I don't think that the copper plates were sold and used later on, though the name "Sydenham" has been used by several others to describe different transferware patterns as well as molded forms not associated with this design style.  The pattern can be viewed at the bottom of a web page at http://oldchinaservice.com/transferware/brownsreds/womenvase.html.  This site compares a number of similar romantic/classical patterns that came out during the early to middle 1850s.

Thanks in advance for an assistance you might provide.

Tim Bennett
Warner Site