The Different Types of Pottery

The making of pottery progressed with the progress of centuries. There are various types of pottery and coated or painted with different types and styles of decorations. We will see here how pottery has progressed till today.

Early in the nineteenth century came the introductions of pieces decorated with luster, both silver- and copper-colored, and there was a great variety among the finished products. Silver luster on a canary-yellow ground is the rarest, but silver in conjunction with under-glaze blue, especially if the latter is a sporting subject, is sought after and expensive.

Whole tea-sets were made at one period, each piece covered completely with a thin film of silver luster, and they were a passable imitation of the real thing for those who could not afford to buy the genuine metal. Copper-lusted pieces have been made since about 1800 and production has been continuous for some 150 years; which explains why so many 'early nineteenth-century' specimens are obtainable.
Although cream ware continued to be made, white-glazed pottery was developed from 1780 to compete with porcelain and was produced in great quantities by many makers. At first it had decoration printed solely in under glaze blue, but later developments included a wide range of colors. Whole services were made, and Spode, Wedgwood and Davenport (all of Staffordshire) were among the more prominent of the hundreds of names associated with it. The earlier blueprinted ware is very well finished and some of the patterns are most attractive; a few, including the willow pattern, are still being made.

One of the most popular introductions of the first half of the nineteenth century was ironstone china, said to contain ironstone slag in its composition and certainly very strong. The heavy ware, almost unbreakable, was both cheap and showy. It was made in the form of domestic pieces with pseudo-oriental decoration in vivid blues and reds, and many of the big dinner services are still being used. Sets of jugs, with handles in the shape of dragons, were made also and are not uncommon.

A style of decoration that is occasionally seen, particularly on jugs and tankards, is known as mocha, from a resemblance to a type of quartz of that name, and has brown moss-like blotches on it. The stains were made with the aid of tobacco-juice and hops, and doubtless gave pleasure to the potters making it.

Children were catered for from about 1830 with small plates printed with moral rhymes and other suitable subjects. Many were made in Staffordshire, but some came from Stockton-on-Tees, Co. Durham.

Enoch Wood and John Walton were prominent among makers of figures, many of them of small size and colored in opaque enamels with green predominating. Many of Walton's bear an impressed stamp with the name of the maker. Later pieces, introduced in about 1850, are the well-known Staffordshire chimneypiece ornaments in the form of portrait-figures, often unrecognizable without the name painted on the front of the base, ranging from politicians to murderers.

Besides the other the introduction of ironstone china in the first half of the nineteenth century. There were almost unbreakable and showy potteries. And potteries were also made to suite the different moods of people in different shapes and sizes as well.

About the Author
Mitch Johnson is a regular writer for http://www.kids-games-n-crafts.com//. His articles have also appeared on http://www.besttipsforcrafts.info/ and http://www.craftsforme.info/