London Post-Medieval Redware

Four mended earthenware vessels
London post-medieval redware vessels
  • Material – Earthenware
  • Place of Origin – England
  • Date – 16th-17th century
  • Location – Collections

London post-medieval redware (LPMR) is a ceramic type that incorporates wheel-thrown coarse earthenware objects made in and around London for a variety of utilitarian purposes. Areas of production included Woolwich, Deptford, Lambeth, and Moorfields. Potters in Woolwich produced redware vessels that are slip-coated on the interior bases and lower walls, a ceramic type known as London post-medieval slipware.

Attributes

Fabric: The fabric is generally extremely rough and sandy with numerous naturally occurring inclusions, especially quartz sand and red and black ferrous inclusions of various sizes and colors.  Most LPMR fabrics are brick-like, reddish-orange in color, and have a gray core.  Not unusual are large chunks of white calcined quartz that push through the interior and/or exterior of the vessels. Colorless lead glazes, often quite spotty in areas, usually are found on the interior of LPMR vessels, but only drips and spots of glaze occasionally appear on their exteriors and/or bases. 

Glaze and Decoration: The colorless lead glazes appear olive-green, to brown, to reddish-brown in color. Upon close examination, the glazes are quite speckled with white and black dots from the inclusions in the clay. Well-glazed areas often display scratched lines from heavy use, and these scratches appear yellow. Variants of London post-medieval redware include vessels covered with a white slip on their interior bases and lower walls, which appear amber under a colorless lead glaze (LPMSRY), or a bright yellow-green under a glaze containing copper oxides (LPMRSG).  Another variant of LPMR includes shallow, unglazed dishes that were intended for industrial use in assaying metals or distilling liquids.

Form: Household forms at James Fort include: tripod pipkins; flat base pipkins; plain storage jars; a storage jar with thumb-impressed bands around the neck; jugs; and a chafing dish. Industrial forms include a dipper, distilling flask, distilling dish, and distilling jar. 

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