Agateware Cup & Saucer

Agateware, developed in 18th-century England at potteries like those of Josiah Wedgwood, is a ceramic technique in which differently colored clays are marbled together to imitate the natural patterns of agate stone. Made by blending differently colored clays together, the combined clays are then sliced, twisted, or thrown, so the colors marble through the body before the piece is shaped and fired. In this way, the pattern runs through the material itself, rather than sitting on the surface like a decorative glaze. This diminutive tea cup and matching saucer – originating in France from the 1930s – are both handsomely mixed with clays of greens, yellows, oranges, blacks, and browns. The tea cup handle is adorned with tiny and sweet floral motifs covered in a baby blue glaze.

Year: c 1830

Material: Clay

Dimensions: Cup Ø 3 x H 3 in, Saucer Ø 5 ½ in