by David Packer

Description of the project

This research examined and documented the connections between, and influence of, English slipware in the latter part of the seventeenth century, and early colonial ceramics produced in America during the same period.  Most of the research took place in the New York Public Library, especially the research library.  I also used the resources of Greenwich House Pottery and the Metropolitan Museum, both in New York City, and also visited some museums, especially useful being the Mercer Museum, Doylestown, PA.  In addition to following a line of inquiry, I also collected visual and anecdotal material that could be used in the classroom.

As an artist I have spent many years working with slips, or underglazes as they are now known; specifically, I use the slip while the clay is still wet as a very fluid and direct way of creating images on panels of clay.  This technique is very similar to the way that some English potters worked in the second half of the seventeenth century.  Such slipware was used for both utilitarian ware, some of the more extreme examples being the four handled cups known as 'tygs', and decorative items, a good example being the decorative platters of the Toft family.  I was trying to find out if these pieces were imported to the American colonies, and if they served as models for the clay pieces that were made in America in the early days of European colonization.

            The premise of my grant proposal was the connection between the English production of slipware and the work that was being created in the colonies at the same time.  The work of the Toft family and their contemporaries was an extraordinary moment in ceramic history, work that went far beyond the typical utilitarian ware; their influence in America was slight due to a combination of the following reasons.  Because the roots of English slipware were essentially rural, and because the industrial revolution coincided with the development of America, other ceramic traditions flourished in the New World at the expense of the slipware tradition, specifically work based on industrial techniques.  Also the physical nature of slipware is soft and somewhat brittle; not much of this 'poor man's china' has survived.

II       1)         The purpose of the project was to learn about the impact of English slipware ceramics on colonial America.  Did a technique that flourished in England have any sort of effect on the lives and culture of early American settlers?  I wanted to learn as much about the technique as possible and to see as many examples of the work as I could, as part of this process.

        2)         The opportunity to see numerous examples of English slipware has deepened my awareness of the subject.  It had broadened my vocabulary as an artist.  Also I now feel as if I have a teaching 'specialty', an area about which I am knowledgeable.  I was able to collect many images during the research period that now serves as a aid when I am teaching slipware.  Not only is the technique direct, dynamic and exciting for students, it also has a clear historical setting.  The work and life of the rural American immigrant colonial potter can be see as a microcosm of that whole society and the process of European expansion in the seventeenth century.

       3)         Slipware was a technique that was developed by rural English potters.  It was developed with the simplest of means and its style reflects that; it is down to earth, simple and honest in its appearance.  Please note that the teaching technique is different to the traditional technique; the means are slightly different, due to the use of premixed underglazes, but the actual material application and style are the same.

                        All the 'slips' used are underglazes, available from any ceramic supply house in various sizes.  The specific techniques that we used were as follows: the cups were made by coil building and the plates began as round slabs the lips of which were made from coils.  Once the pieces had been bisque fired, each one was completely covered in an underglaze of a single color; in this way the work was prepared for the slip decoration and the work had a visual unity.  The decorative elements were added in exactly the same way as the original artisans would have done; I had provided small squeeze bottles full of different colors of underglaze so that the students could experiment with slip trailing and marbling and feathering, the traditional techniques.  But brushes were also available so that they could make the pieces as personal as possible.

            4)         In the classroom, I had students make their own cup and bowl, the most basic pieces of functional ware, which would eventually be used in some sort of meal or celebration.  As we all know Thanksgiving is based on a communal celebratory meal from the early colonies.  In terms of relating to the curriculum of colonial America, the students had been making many different things that related to daily life, examples being candle-making, quilting and rag weaving.  The ability to make their own ceramic pieces served as another example of colonial crafts.  Students had already decided that the colonists were unlikely to bring such functional and bulky items with them, but would have made them upon arrival.

            5)         Books:

            Fisher, Leonard Everett, The Potters, F. Watts, 1969. (This is a historical description of the life of early colonial potters; great to read to students while they are working.)

            Leach, Bernard, A Potter's Book, Transatlantic Arts, Inc., 1962.  (The historical precedent)

            Clark, Garth, The Potter's Art,, Phaidon Press, 1995.  ( lavishly illustrated, this book has classic examples of slipware, as well as work from many other periods.)

            Levy, Mike, Decorated Earthenware, London: Batsford, 1992

            Phillips, Anthony, Slips and Slipware, London: Batsford, 1990 (Both these books are eloquent and well illustrated on the subject.)

                        Museums:

            Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, New York.

            Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England.

            British Museum, London, England.

            Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri.

            Burnap Collection, Mercer Museum, Doylestown, Pennsylvania.

            6)         The only items that an art or ceramics teacher might not have would be squeeze bottles with different colors of underglaze in them.  This trailing techniques is very typical of the period and extremely easy to do in the classroom.  In the interests of aesthetics and simplicity, students were limited to the number of colors that they might use.

David Packer has been a professional ceramics educator and artist for fifteen years, working in both schools and colleges. As a artist he specializes in low-fire ceramics and as a teacher he has focused on hand made tiles and decorative English slipware techniques.

click on the miniature for a full-size view