For the most part, the mugs, jugs, and bowls illustrated here were meant to function and function well. We see things that were most likely not seen by the people who created these pots, just as we can look back at the poetry of Robert Frost and find symbolism that may or may not have been intended. Today, when we look at the broad range of slip decoration on utilitarian pots made for everyday use, we do so with the knowledge of the principles of form from the Bauhaus, the theories on the interaction of color from Josef Albers, and the artistic freedom introduced by the abstract expressionists.
So prolific was the British manufacture and exportation of these bold, bright, and colorful dipped wares, that they are found on nearly every American domestic archaeological site of the early nineteenth century. At the lower end, slip decoration was also used on an entire class of cheap utilitarian earthenwares generally referred to as “mocha” wares today but called “dipt” or “dipped” wares in the period. At the high end of the economic scale, Josiah Wedgwood embellished his costly, neoclassical wares with slips (liquid clay). Building upon earlier technology, slip decoration was employed on a wide range of earthenwares. This article presents an overview of slip decoration methods that were incorporated into the repertoire of mechanized techniques of the British potters beginning in the second half of the eighteenth century. Slip Decoration in the Age of Industrialization
Radstock was either within the Weights and Measures District of Bristol City or the verification took place at the factory. Radstock is a small town south of the cathedral city of Wells and southeast of Bristol. Above the verification mark is the printed mark of the Bell Hotel, Radstock, whose bar this mug was made for.
The “490” represents the Weights and Measures District of Bristol City. The mark is sandblasted through the glaze and reads “gr 490,” followed by either a “5” or an “s.” The “gr” signifies that George V (1910–1936) or George VI (1936–1952) was on the throne undoubtedly it was the former, inasmuch as most mocha production had stopped by the 1920s. In this case, the manufacturer complied with prevailing English law requiring vessels of specific capacity to be so marked and verified by the weights and measures oYcials. The blue and black bands are standard, though the sequence may vary from maker to maker. The broad slip band on mugs of this period is usually in the tan- to olive-colored range. Whiteware pint mug with mocha decoration in an unusual diagnostic color.