Sponge Decoration Mudlarked Drop Earrings

Historical Information

Object: Sponge-decorated / slip-decorated earthenware sherds
Fabric / Body: Buff earthenware with thick clear glaze
Technique: Pink/Red slip band applied around the rim
Black slip dabbed/sponged to create soft-edged geometric shapes.
Date: c. 1830-1880
Likely Origin: Staffordshire, Yorkshire, Rural potteries
Pattern / Style: Early Victorian spongeware with slip-banded rim
Find Location: Essex Coast, England

Extra Information:
These fragments come from a piece of Victorian spongeware, a
hand-decorated folk pottery style widely produced for everyday
domestic use. Unlike transferware, spongeware was decorated by
hand, using natural sea sponges, cloth-wrapped sticks, or
improvised stamps dipped into coloured slips. The soft, irregular
shapes and uneven colour on these sherds are diagnostic of this
technique. Spongeware was the pottery of cottage kitchens,
farmhouses, inns, and workmen's tables - inexpensive,
cheerful, and robust. The combination of a coloured banded rim
with sponged motifs is a known mid-19th century style, closely
related to the mocha ware tradition of slip decoration. Because
these wares were affordable and heavily used, they were
frequently broken and discarded, which is why fragments
commonly appear on river and coastal foreshore sites.