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Theory Of Decoration

Paste: Paste is the term denoting the body of the pottery or porcelain. Soft paste was usually obtained by the use of a large proportion of bone ash in the composition, hard paste denoting the porcelain body consisting chiefly of feldspar and kaolin.

Slip: The semi-fluid material of clay and water applied in making pottery, sometimes in decoration.

Slip-Decoration: A form of decoration produced by running slip in pattern over the pottery before firing. Slip decoration is usually effected by using different colored slips producing color effects without painting.

Transfer Printing: Transfer printing from designs engraved on copper plates, transferred on tissues, is a method of ornamenting pottery frequently resorted to. The transfers on paper, after being applied to the surface of the ware, are fixed by heat.

Under-Glaze: This term is used in reference to the form of decoration or painting applied on the biscuit before glazing or firing. It is a process of transferring the print, from the tissue to the biscuit, which is afterwards glazed and fired. The process was used at Caughley about 1780, and soon afterwards adopted at Worcester, the Staffordshire Potteries, and elsewhere.

Examination Questions

1. What influence did the Chinese have on the development of European ceramics?
2. Describe the following terms: Biscuit, paste, kaolin, glaze.
3. Name several outstanding Staffordshire potters and for what they were particularly famous?
4. Who was Josiah Wedgwood and what inspiration influenced the design of his Jasper ware?
5. What is the difference between pottery and porcelain?
6. Who was Bernard Palissy and what is the character of his work?
7. Which three countries in Europe produced well-known porcelains that rivalled each other in beauty, design and color?
8. What influence did Madame de Pompadour have on the development of Sevres porcelain?
9. Name the chief characteristics of Lowestoft, Worcester and Derby ware.
10. How did Hispano-Mauresque pottery differ in design from majolica ware?