| PEARLWARE |
|
P earlware
was developed by the English potteries about 1775 as a result of
efforts to produce a white pottery that looked like porcelain, but
was cheap and could be sold to the rapidly
growing middle class. In the 1780s it was commonly decorated with
blue pseudo-Chinese scenes, imitating English and Chinese porcelain.
In the 1790s polychrome decoration became common, and the many birds
described in FEATHERS & FOLIAGE are one of numerous patterns.
Pearlware was made by throwing the clay on a potters wheel, or in molds. Surfaces and details were finished on a lathe. Handles and spouts were added, all by hand labor. The pieces were fired in huge coal-fired kilns to produce biscuit ware. The decoration was then painted by hand, and the pieces dipped in a lead glaze. A second firing fixed the glassy glaze and developed the colors, which were securely trapped under the glaze. Because of the high temperature used, only a limited palette of earthy colors could be used. For example, no red pigment was available. “Edged” pearlware, with the shell edge colored, was the cheapest available ware with any color. The same ware with added decoration like birds was a little more expensive. Because the painting was all done by hand, no two pieces are exactly alike, which adds to their charm. Polychrome painted pearlware was made by many dozen different potteries from 1795 to 1820 or so, but although millions of pieces were made, all of the patterns are rare today. |
| MYTHOLOGY |
|
“These plates are Feather Edge” Wrong; the potters from the 18th century to today call them SHELL EDGE. Feather Edge is a different pattern, made earlier and never used on pearlware. “These pots are Leeds Peafowl” Not really: we don’t know what the potters called the birds, but most don’t look like peafowl. We do know that there is no evidence that any were actually made at the Leeds Pottery. “These wares are soft paste” Wrong: soft paste is a family of porcelains, and these pieces are simple earthenware. |
