Type Name:

PEARLWARE, SPONGED OR SPATTERED

Category:

REFINED EARTHENWARE

Production Origin:

ENGLAND

Production Date Range:

1770-1830

Defining Attributes:

White to light cream-colored, thin, hard refined earthenware paste.

White to faint bluish white clear lead glaze, caused by the addition of cobalt to the glaze. There is a bluish cast where the glaze pools.

Decoration combines simple painted designs such as peafowl and floral elements with areas of sponge-applied or powdered-applied paint, usually in blue.

Vessel Forms:

PLATE

Comments:

Powder applied paint is referred to as "spattered", and sponge-applied paint is referred to as "sponged". After 1840, decoration was applied exclusively with sponges, cut into desired shapes, and without accompanying painting. This cut-sponge décor, however, appears primarily on Whiteware.

Published Definitions:

Noel Hume 1969; South 1977