![](https://web.archive.org/web/20160701200822im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6f/Wedgwood_-_Scent_Bottle_with_Mythological_Scenes_-_Walters_481570.jpg/220px-Wedgwood_-_Scent_Bottle_with_Mythological_Scenes_-_Walters_481570.jpg)
Sprigging or sprigged decoration is an embossed decoration on pottery, usually press moulded shapes applied to greenware or bisque. The resulting pottery is termed sprigged ware.[1]
Technique
The clay body for the sprig is pushed into the mould, the back scraped flat, then released on a damp cloth pad. The greenware is wetted lightly with a brush, and the sprig is pressed lightly with another cloth pad to push out water and air.
History
Sprigging as a form of decoration was used as early the fifteenth century on German stoneware,[2] while Stoke-on-Trent Museum's "Key Dates in the English Pottery Industry" dates the first use of sprigging in Britain at 1693-1699 by the Elers brothers.[3] The process was used extensively in the Staffordshire potteries on a variety of wares and reached a height with Josiah Wedgwood's replica of the Portland Vase in 1790.
References
- ^ Fleming, John; Honour, Hugh (1977). The Penguin Dictionary of Decorative Arts. London: Allen Lane. p. 751. ISBN 0713909412.
- ^ Gaimster, David (1997). German stoneware 1200-1900: Archaeology and Cultural History. London: British Museum Press. p. 37. ISBN 9780714105710.
- ^ "Sprig Molded Decoration". Diagnostic Artifacts in Maryland. Maryland Archaeological Conservation Lab. 26 October 2015.