Dyed body wares part two.
After my posting on dyed body wares in response to the request for
information from Alasdair Brooks, he sent me a jpeg of the blue dyed body
sherds that brought about the discussion. The jpeg was not very clear, but
from what I could tell, he has some dyed body sherds with a clear
lead-based glaze and a couple of molded sherds that appear to have a smear
glaze. In addition to the email from Alasdair, some information was just
published in the latest issue of The Northern Ceramic Society Journal
(Volume 20, 2003-2004) that has some color plates of dyed body wares that
add more information to my last posting on the subject. An excellent
article by Alwyn and Angela Cox on the Castleford Pottery and its wares has
two plates that are transfer printed with a pattern they have called "Long
Bridge"(Cox & Cox 2003:36). This pattern is one of the early Chinese style
printed patterns produced by English potters. One of the plates is
pearlware, and the other is on the "chalcedony body" that appears to be on
a tan colored body. You may remember in my last posting on this subject
that "Calcedon Body" is listed in Thomas Lakin's 1824 book of ceramic
formulas. My notes may have misspelled the body name, but I believed the
illustrated plate probably is the same body listed in Lakin (1824:13).
Thus, it is clear that printing was being done on dyed body wares, probably
by the 1820s if not a little earlier. The plate on the "chalcedony body"in
the Cox article probably had a creamware glaze.
In a second article in The Northern Ceramic Society Journal titled
"Porcelains of the Ralph Stevenson & Samuel Alcock Partnerships C. 1822 -
1831" by Stephen Bressey and Murry Pollinger illustrates a couple of dyed
body wares that do not appear to be porcelain. One jug has a blue dyed
body with a highly molded surface of rosettes that has a clear lead-based
glaze. It is next to a jug in a white body with the same embossed pattern
that has a smear glaze (Bressey and Pollinger 2003-2004:81-82). Thus, it
can be seen that the same pattern on a dyed body ware could have either a
clear lead-based glaze or a smear glaze.
From what I have seen, it appears that smear glazes are generally
used on highly molded wares in which a very thin glaze will enhance the
molded pattern and not fill up all of the indented areas with glaze. I
have yet to see a smear glaze on unmolded wares. I have some dyed body
waster sherds from Hanley and Stoke-on-Trent wares, some with smear glazes
and some simple lead based clear glazes. Dyed body wares in the early
period (pre 1850), for the most part seems to be highly fired stone china.
Some potteries continued to market these well into the late 19th century
and some potters appear to have begun to make dyed body wares that were
only fired to an earthenware temperature. Some jpegs of a variety of dyed
body sherds, both with a smear glaze and with a lead-based glaze can be
seen on Amy C. Earls's web log at
http://www.greatestjournal.com/community/potterynews
References cited
Bressey, Stephen and Murry Pollinger
2003 Porcelains of the Ralph Stevenson & Samuel Alcock Partnerships
c. 1822 - 1831. The Northern Ceramic Society Journal Volume 20
2003-2004. Pages 65-98.
Cox, Alwyn and Angela Cox
2003 The Castleford Pottery and Its Wares 1790 - 1821. The Northern
Ceramic Society Journal Volume 20 2003-2004. Pages 11-54
Thomas Lakin's
1824 The Valuable Receipts of the late Mr. Thomas Lakin, with Proper
and Necessary Directions for their Preparation and use in the
Manufacture of Porcelain, Earthenware and Stone Chine . . .
Leeds, England. From the copy in the Winterthur Museum Library.
Peace
George L. Miller
URS Corporation
561 Cedar Lane
Florence, New Jersey 08518
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