FIG. X.—Horn Lantern of Slipware.
FIG. XI.—Owl Jug with Combed Feathers. Height, 8½ ins.
FIG. XII.—Posset Cup of Slipware. Height, 7¼ ins.
Another pleasant surprise was furnished by the toad mug, in which the drinker as he neared the bottom discovered a well-modelled toad, usually of red clay with white slip eyes. [Fig. XI] is an example of a rarer class. The owl jug was made with a removable head which could be used as a cup. It is, however, a disputed question whether these jugs are of Staffordshire origin, and it is hinted that they have a suspiciously close parallel in German pottery. Other special forms of a less bibulous kind are shown in [Fig. VII], a model of a cradle which tells its own tale; and [Fig. X], a horn lantern. Candlesticks, handovens and condiment trays also occur. ¶ We must now return for a moment to technicalities in order to understand the remaining feature of our wares, their ornament. The tyg, jug, cradle or piece of whatever form, was sometimes left to depend for its popularity on its streaky purplish brown or glossy black glaze alone, neither of them a recommendation to be despised; or it was embellished with a scratched design, a pattern impressed by wooden stamps, or applied pads of clay moulded or stamped with rosettes, formal ornament, and occasionally with the human form. I have seen a tyg with busts of King Charles I disposed round its perimeter, an unusually ambitious design for a potter of the period. The handles were made a still more conspicuous feature by the addition of twists of coloured clay, knobs and bosses. ¶ Another and a larger group were ornamented with the slips we spoke of above. These were applied in various ways. First as simple washes to give a light surface to a dark body or vice versa (see Figs. [IX] and [XII]). Or again they were dropped or trailed on from a spouted vessel in quaint tracery, dotted patterns, or outlined designs. As might be expected at this period, the tulip more or less conventionalized was a favourite motive. The process is best understood by taking an example. [Fig. VII] is of light buff ware: the ornament on the upper part, and the inscription and date, WILLIAM CHATERLY, 1696, were traced in black slip dotted with white; the lower half was immersed in black slip, and the pattern added in white; the whole was then leaded and fired. ¶ A third method consisted in dropping slip of one or more colours on the surface and working it about with a wire brush or leather comb until an effect similar to our graining or paper marbling was obtained. Wares so treated are called combed or marbled wares (see Figs. [XI] and [XIII]). This process, seen on the tall bottle-shaped costrels attributed to the sixteenth century, continued in its primitive form to the middle of the eighteenth century, when it developed into the agate ware of Whieldon and Wedgwood and their contemporaries. ¶ Lastly, there was graffiato ware, in which a thick coating of slip was laid over a body of contrasting colour and the pattern scratched through so as to discover the body beneath (see [Fig. VIII]). This kind of ornament has been in use in all countries and from the earliest times. It is seen at its best on Italian pottery from the quattrocento onwards, and the continuance of its Italian name is a compliment to the masterpieces of that country.
FIG. XIII.—Tyg with Trailed and Combed Slip. Inscribed Ralph Tumor, 168–. Height, 4¾ ins.
