Staffordshire slipware trailed and combed dish or plate.

This fragment is a ceramic archaeologists refer to as North Midlands/Staffordshire type slipware. The word “type” is used here to denote the fact that coarse, slip decorated wares were actually produced in several regions of England throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth century. One feature that unites these traditions is the technique of applying slip, or a very liquid clay, to the vessel for decoration. During production vessels would be formed on the wheel or a mold, allowed to dry to a leather hard state, and then dark brown and white slips might be applied in a variety of stylistic elements to the vessel before it was dipped into a clear lead glaze and fired.

The decorative elements often took advantage of the unique properties of slip. For example, simple trailed lines or shapes could be made through careful pouring of the slip onto the vessel surface. More complex decorations required a greater application of slip, or multiple slips to the vessel. For example, the combed decoration on this vessel required the application of a both a base colored slip (brown or yellow) upon which lines of a second color would be trailed. Then before both slips dried, a special combed tool would be pulled perpendicularly through the lines to create a feathered appearance. The rims of these vessels were often further embellished with an impressed or molded “piecrust” or crenellated edge.

This fragment is a dish or plate form. Such vessels likely would have been used for both the preparation and serving of food at the table. Slipware vessels were ubiquitous in eighteenth century homes and shops, and have been found at nearly every eighteenth century site at Mount Vernon.