Pretty Folk Mudlarked Sherd Pendant

Historical Information

Find: Hand-painted folk pottery sherd
Fabric / Body: Coarse buff earthenware with creamy glaze
Technique: Freehand painted, applied beneath/within a glaze
Date: c. 1780-1850
Likely Origin: England (country pottery)
Pattern / Style: Simple dotted floral / sprig motif
Find Location: Mersea Island, Essex Coast, England
Extra Information:
This small fragment comes from a piece of vernacular,
handmade country pottery, the everyday ceramics used in
rural cottages, inns, and working-class homes before the rise
of industrial Staffordshire wares. The creamy glaze, coarse clay
body, and freely painted blue-and-red strokes identify it as a
form of late Georgian to early Victorian folk decoration, created
quickly and cheaply by small regional potteries. These potteries
used locally dug clays fired at relatively low temperatures,
producing the characteristic rough, sandy body seen on the
back. Decoration was typically applied in seconds with a small
brush, forming cheerful sprigs, petals, and dots meant to
brighten functional household vessels. Such wares were used
constantly and broke easily, leading to large numbers being
discarded with domestic refuse. Although stylistically
influenced by Dutch and French peasant pottery, this sherd is
most consistent with English rural production.