John,



            The “china white” that predates Wedgwood’s “Pearlware” that you
are asking about is “China Glaze.”  I first suggested that it is the
origins of Wedgwood’s “pearl white” in my article “Origins of Josiah
Wedgwood’s “Pearlware” that was published in *Northeast Historical
Archaeology, *Volume 16, 1987, pages 83-95.  It appears that China glaze
wares were in production by ca 1775.  A more complete exploration of the
development of these wares can be found in “How Creamware got the Blues:
The Origins of China Glaze and Pearlware” by George L. Miller and Robert R.
Hunter.  It was published in *Ceramics in America*, 2001, pages
135-161.  *Ceramics
in America* is a Chipstone Foundation publication edited by Robert Hunter
and I think our article is available on their website.



            Pearlware has become a pigment of our imagination and we have
attached much greater significance to it the Staffordshire potters did.  What
we call pearlware is almost never undecorated.  Thus the potters referred
to these wares as edged, painted, dipt, or printed ware rather than by
their ware type.  The great majority of creamware, however, is undecorated.
The potter’s terms for it in the 18th century ware cream coloured, Queen’s
ware, or creamware.  By the 1790s on it was referred to as CC ware.  Thus,
pearlware did not replace creamware, decoration replaced creamware.  The
term pearlware is very rare in the documents of the period and “China
glaze” is only around as a term for a very short period of time before ca
1800.



            Undecorated pearlware sherds almost always come from decorated
wares such as shell edged plates, painted or dipt wares.  Thus dating these
undecorated pearlware sherds should be based on the decorated wares with
which they are associated from the excavated units.  While our best guess
is that China glaze was in production by ca 1775, I would only use that
date if the sherds were found with the plain sherds were painted in a in
Chinese style patterns; i.e. China glaze wares.  If plain pearlware sherds
were found with even scalloped shell edge plates, for example, then I would
use the date for that type of shell edge.



            The other problem is that our interpretation of what the
potters were intending when they used of a little cobalt added to the glaze.
Were they attempting to imitate Chinese porcelain, or just adding enough
cobalt to make a whiter looking ware?  Part four of my articles “Thoughts
Towards a User’s Guide to Ceramic Assemblages” goes into that question in
what is titled “Some thoughts on Classification of White Wares.”  The
User’s Guide papers can be downloaded from the Council for Northeast
Historical Archaeology website for free.



            Dates for most of the common ceramic wares and a many other
artifact types can be found in “Telling Time for Archaeologists” by George
L. Miller, Patricia Samford, Ellen Shlasko and Andrew Madsen that was
published in *Northeast Historical Archaeology *Volume 29, pages 1-22.



            Another excellent source for dating ceramics is available on
the website of the Maryland Archaeological Conservation Laboratory under
their Diagnostic Artifacts in Maryland Sites.  This web site is regularly
updated and is, in my opinion, the best of such web sites.



Peace,

George


On Mon, Oct 28, 2013 at 3:38 PM, McCarthy, John P. <[log in to unmask]>wrote:

> I recall that "china white" predates Wedgwood's "Pearlware," but do not
> recall the date or where I gleaned that bit of information.
>
> What is the "best" initial date of manufacture to use for undecorated
> "Pearlware" sherds?
>
> Thanks,
> John
>
> John P. McCarthy, RPA
> Archaeologist
> Applied Anthropology Laboratories
> Burkhardt Building, 314H
> Ball State University
> Muncie, IN  47306
> 765-285-5328 (o)
> 404-903-6753 (m)
>