Slip-decorated earthenware dish with sgraffito design of bird and worm, made at Brookhill Pottery, Buckley, c.1640-1670

Description

This dish was excavated at Brookhill Pottery, Buckley, where it was made c. 1640-1670.

The sgraffito technique is produced by applying a slip coat of liquid clay over the whole of the body of the pot. When it is leather hard a design is scratched through the slip to reveal the contrasting body of the pot beneath.

The design on this piece probably comes from the medieval bestiary texts and illustrations which had a renewed interest in the 16th and 17th centuries. They were a collection of morality tales of animals, plants, birds and fishes to convey an understanding of the scriptures. Good and evil were embodied in nature and divided into those that had good and those that had bad properties.

The area around Buckley has been associated with the production of pottery since the 13th or 14th centuries. Nineteen different pottery sites have been identified producing a wide range of ceramic wares in the six hundred year period up to the mid 20th century. In the 17th and 18th centuries, many of the wares produced were of high quality on a par with Staffordshire wares of the same date.