Thank you Mary for supplying the information about George's and my article on 
China glaze.   I would add that your term “overkill” is a very polite way 
for questioning the value of a material science approach to 
production/identification issues of British refined earthenwares.   Without clear temporal or 
geographic questions to be answered, I would advocate stylistic analysis to sort 
out any assemblage of the 1780-1860 period. For most people who are unfamiliar 
with historical ceramics, it is often much more comforting to have a bunch of 
numbers on a page or tables and charts than to rely upon visual analysis. We 
know so much about the British manufacturers and their products, it is hard to 
fathom how some sort of elemental analysis would contribute any new 
information for sorting out chronologyc.   If I had very specific questions already in 
mind i.e. How did Clews paste formula differ from Rogers in the 1825 to 1830 
period, then of course I would not hesitate to use compositional analysis.   But 
starting out inductively seems like a waste of time and money.

A good article in the upcoming 2008 Ceramics in America by Neil Ewins “
Comparative studies in Anglo-American ceramic demand” will provide a case study of 
the world-wide distribution of a single factory- Cork and Edge of Burslem, 
known later as Cork, Edge and Malkin between 1848 and 1863.   This issue will be 
available mid-November.



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