Slip ware – marble ware and mocha ware
Photo Norman Lowe
The borders on slipware sherds found at North Hylton (right and below) have incised patterns that are very distinctive, and which should aid identification. However, items with these borders are rarer than you might imagine and to date I've only found one comparable match (see the mug below, which is a strong contender for being made at North Hylton). If you have something similar, please get in touch.
Mocha ware is used as a blanket term for slip-decorated earthenware. More properly it refers to wares with 'dendritic' patterns, like branches of trees (an effect created by brushing a mix of tobacco, stale urine and turpentine onto wet clay). Dendritic patterns have to date not been recorded on any of the sherds from North Hylton. However, the Jackson Pollock-like drips of different coloured slips are very similar to the marbling and 'earthworm' strips often found on other varieties of so-called mocha ware.
The three examples below, which although not attributable to North Hylton, do, nevertheless, have some strong similarities with the sherds above. The jug is closest to what we know of North Hylton wares, and has a border similar to one of those shown above. The mug combines 'cat's eye' and 'worm' formations of slip, and has a ribbed section similar to the sherd shown above it. The bowl shows a 'worm' formation, again very similar to the sherd shown above it.
Below, a sherd from a bulbous object with the base of a handle. It could be from a squat jug, like the one above it, or perhaps more likely, a mug like the one beside it (below centre and right images).
Three further examples of striped slipware below. The second two images show sherds of the lower sections of relatively large items with ribbed contours.
The sherd below has an almost identical pattern to the jug. Thee jug has a sparrow beak spout similar to another sherd (see second image). The last image shows a handle from a similar mug.
Below, two sherds decorated with blue slip. The other complete items have no connection with North Hylton, but illustrate similar techniques used on 19th century pottery.
This thick sherd, with a combed slipware pattern, bears a strong resemblance to the baking dish which was also made on the north bank of the River Wear at Moore’s Pottery. The dish has an impressed Moore & Co mark.
