=How to identify old Earthenware.=--The following Table roughly summarises the field under which English earthenware may be classified. It is the hope of the writer that possessors of earthenware which they are unable to identify will, by the help of this Table, be able to place their pieces under the sub-head to which they belong. The references given to the chapters dealing with the classes in detail are intended to point the way to a more extended examination of specimens.
A good general rule for beginners in attempting the proper identification is to commence by eliminating all the classes of ware to which the piece obviously cannot belong. Gradually the field becomes limited to one period, and finally it is narrowed to two or three factories. But it is only by practice that definite and accurate conclusions can be arrived at.
TABLE FOR USE IN IDENTIFYING OLD ENGLISH EARTHENWARE.
=I. EARLY POTTERY.= Early examples of green glazed pitchers and jugs of crude form, =Mediæval.= 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries.
Domestic Vessels. Costrels (_i.e._, pilgrims' bottles), flasks with holes at shoulders for use of cord in carrying.
Ecclesiastical Tiles Ecclesiastical tiles. Incised or (15th-16th centuries). impressed patterns, raised, inlaid, or with slip decoration.
Floral, geometrical, heraldic ornamentation. Figures of men and of animals (see illustration, p. 85).
=Slip Ware.= Loving-cups, or tygs, with several (17th century.) handles, posset pots with spouts. Lead-glazed, greenish in colour, with tones varying from purplish-brown to black (see illustration, p. 89).
Wrotham Ware Wrotham, in Kent, the seat (1612-1717). of this ware of red body with slip stamped decorations or incised ornamentation. A great number of pieces of this class bear dates covering a century.
Toft Ware Dishes and posset pots of Staffordshire (Latter half of origin, Thomas Toft, 1660, 17th century). Ralph Toft, Ralph Turnor, William Chatterly, Robert Shaw, William Tabor, John Wright, Joseph Nash, John Meir and other names appear on this ware, some being those of the potters, and others the owner's name.
(=These varieties of Early Pottery are described in Chapter II.=)
=II. DELFT WARE.= _General Characteristics of Delft Ware._ In appearance it cannot be mistaken for any other ware. It has a brown or grey body, showing at crumbled edges where the glaze is chipped off. The surface is white, and the painting upon it is more coarse than Dutch examples. English decorations are mostly painted under glaze in blue, yellow, or dull purple.