Slipware

<h2 id="history">History</h2>
<p>Many prehistoric and historic cultures used slip as the primary decorating material on their ware, especially in early periods.  These include most prehistoric cultures of the <a href="/facts/Middle_East/8CD6pLWv">Middle East</a> and much later <a href="/facts/Islamic_pottery/nbNFbWII">Islamic pottery</a>, cultures in many areas of <a href="/facts/Africa/XkqQUP9s">Africa</a>, most pottery-making cultures in the Americas, early <a href="/facts/Culture_of_Japan/CrfFTRUp">Japanese</a> (and later <a href="/facts/Onta_ware/jrhG4SXa">Onta ware</a>) and much <a href="/facts/Korea/cj2kDBzc">Korean</a> pottery.  Much <a href="/facts/Mycenaean_period/gMAaS0jY">Mycenean</a> ware, <a href="/facts/Ancient_Greek_pottery/nkaEDXbD">Ancient Greek pottery</a> and <a href="/facts/Ancient_Roman_pottery/dj14TSfL">Ancient Roman pottery</a> used slip, as did pre-industrialized potters in many areas of Europe, including <a href="/facts/Great_Britain/TNgGQRPj">Great Britain</a>, most notably <a href="/facts/Thomas_Toft/eaS38MJY">Thomas Toft</a> in the <a href="/facts/Staffordshire_Potteries/VEq8GJ5x">Staffordshire Potteries</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> 
</p><p>Later potters mostly combined or replaced the use of slip with <a href="/facts/Ceramic_glaze/eWJqJTYk">ceramic glazes</a> and pigments offering a tougher finish and a wider range of colours.  But a variety of slipware techniques were revived by various <a href="/facts/Studio_pottery/IUWKoeob">studio pottery</a> movements from the 19th century on. In England <a href="/facts/Bernard_Leach/9PQDmH8C">Bernard Leach</a> and in America <a href="/facts/Mary_Louise_McLaughlin/AHrVwpLU">Mary Louise McLaughlin</a> were among the leaders of these revivals.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a>
</p>
<h2 id="techniques">Techniques</h2>
<p>A coating of white or coloured slip (sometimes called by the French term <a href="/facts/Engobe/J8L0m4Sn">engobe</a> in <a href="/facts/American_English/sdAfgPgM">American English</a>) can be applied to the whole body of the article, or just one part, such as outside or inside of a cup or jug, to improve its appearance, to give a smoother surface to a rough body, mask an inferior colour or for decorative effect. Slip can also be applied by painting techniques, in isolation or in several layers and colours. <a href="/facts/Sgraffito/zS7sTE3I">Sgraffito</a> (or "sgraffiato") involves scratching through a layer of coloured <a href="/facts/Slip_(ceramics)/J8L0m4Sn">slip</a> to reveal a different colour or the base body underneath. Several layers of slip and/or sgraffito can be done while the pot is still in an unfired state.  One colour of slip can be fired, before a second is applied, and prior to the scratching or incising decoration. This is particularly useful if the base body is not of the desired colour or texture.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a>
</p><p>Chinese pottery also used techniques where patterns, images or calligraphy were created as part-dried slip was cut away to reveal a lower layer of slip or the main clay body in a contrasting colour. The latter of these is called the "cut-glaze" technique.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a>
</p><p>Slipware may be carved or burnished to change the surface appearance of the ware.  Specialized slip recipes may be applied to <a href="/facts/Bisque_(pottery)/z7eYkPh2">biscuit ware</a> and then refired.
</p>
<h2 id="examples">Examples</h2>
<p>An example of slipware artifact is the <a href="/facts/Harvest_jug/4YJJojJW">Harvest jug</a>.
</p>
<h2 id="gallery">Gallery</h2>

<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Werra_and_Weser_Slipware/rs7LpLpU">Werra and Weser Slipware</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Pottery/XLcUT1mX">Pottery</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Ceramics/9JKudpqX">Ceramics</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Ceramic_glazes/eWJqJTYk">Ceramic glazes</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Glossary_of_pottery_terms/PRYVx1Vg">Glossary of pottery terms</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Porcelain/deuLm3sb">Porcelain</a></li></ul>
<h2 id="notes">Notes</h2>

<ul><li>Eden, Victoria and Michael. (1999) <i>Slipware, Contemporary Approaches.</i> A & C Black, University of Pennsylvania Press, G & B Arts International. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 90-5703-212-0</li>
<li>Hamer, Frank and Janet. (1991) <i>The Potter's Dictionary of Materials and Techniques.</i> A & C Black, 3rd ed. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 0-8122-3112-0.</li>
<li>Osborne, Harold (ed), <i>The Oxford Companion to the Decorative Arts</i>, 1975, OUP, <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 0198661134</li>
<li>Vainker, S.J., <i>Chinese Pottery and Porcelain</i>, 1991, British Museum Press, 9780714114705</li>
<li>Wondrausch, Mary. (2001) [1986] <i>Mary Wondrausch on Slipware.</i> A&C Black, 2nd ed. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 0-7136-2813-8</li></ul>
<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>
<p> Media related to Slipware at Wikimedia Commons
</p>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>Osborne, 746-747 <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:2"><p>Osborne, 746-747 <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:3"><p>Vainker, 17, 22-23 <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:4"><p>Osborne, 746-747 <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:5"><p>Osborne, 747 <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:6"><p>Osborne, 746-747 <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:7"><p>Vainker, 116-117 <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
</ol>

Slipware open-in-new

Slipware