GIRAFFE Staffordshire Transferware Cup and Saucer John Ridgway 1836

Code: 10730

Very Scarce Staffordshire Transferware Cup and Saucer Set 

GIRAFFE 

John Ridgway Staffordshire England c1836

This is a spectacular transferware cup and saucer c 1836 originally part of a complete tea service in the GIRAFFE pattern. Unequivocally one of the most attractive and sought after transferware pattern in the zoological category, the cup stands 2 inches tall and 4 across, and the saucer measures 5-3/4 inches in diameter. Impeccably potted and finely transfer printed in a brilliant medium blue.

The set depicts three African Giraffes with their handlers, an image after a lithograph by George Scharf (1788-1860). The Scharf engraving celebrated the arrival of the giraffes in 1836, accompanied by their native handlers at the London Zoo. Scharf’s engraving was memorialized by the production of Ridgway’s Giraffe patterned transferwares by John Ridgway in the Staffordshire potting region of England.

The set is in great condition, with no chips, cracks or repairs. A very good example of the best in wild animal or zoological quadruped transferware.