Agateware Sugar Bowl

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 sugar bowl, made around 1840 in the United States, has unique scalloped shell handles that were pressed onto the bowl prior to firing in the kiln.

Year: c 1840

Material: Clay

Dimensions: Ø 5 x 3 ½ in