A Note on White Salt Glaze Stoneware

(www.jefpat.org)

Last October I posted about the White Salt Glaze Stoneware that was coming from the STP's in Port Tobacco. This summer during the ASM Field Session we started to unearth a different kind of White Salt Glaze Stoneware. This type didn't have the same "orange peel" effect that the earlier excavated wares did, and these new finds had a brown slip around the rim.

So, what's the difference and when did this occur?

By the mid 1720s, these types of "whitewares" were coming into Colonial America from England. They were an early attempt at creating a new style to compete with delftwares. They were coated with a white salt-glazed slip. During the firing process, the slip had a tendency to fall off the extremities (rims, spouts, tops of handles). To counteract this, these extremities were coated with a band of brown iron-oxide slip which we see on the shards we have excavated.

The introduction of block molds to create the basket and barley patterns that we have seen didn't come into production until the late 1730s and were manufactured well into the late 18th century. From about 1740 through the end of the 18th century both types were being made although the earlier form not as widely seen.

- Peter