Pearlware Remembered:
A Charming Cereamic Choice

By Robert Reed

As seen in The Antique Shoppe Newspaper, January 2010          

In many ways one of the most charming ceramic choices for the fashionable household in the late 18th century was pearlware.

      Potters in England  such as Josiah Wedgwood were simply and steadily trying to improve the quality of their standard  off-white cream ware in the 1770s. One of the most innovative discoveries in the field was  that by the simple addition of a small quantity of cobalt to the basic glaze it became strikingly whiter.

      The improvement worked in much the same ways as washing powder was later similarly improved by added a "blue whitener" notes Rachael Feild author of the McDonald Guide to Buying Antique Pottery and Porcelain.

      Potters at the time tended to use the term under-glaze blue rather the blue whitener. Certainly it marked the start of significant changes to the production of earthenware where the composition the glaze could be changed radically.

      What was once simply basic white earthenware now had a blue-tinted glaze which produced a porcelain like effect on the surface.

      "It had a pearly sheen in imitation of soapstone," says Feild, "but no transparency."

      Accounts vary as to what exactly the 'new' ware was called. It often seemed that the bluish-white product was named whatever came to mind in its early days.

      Records show Wedgwood used the term "Peal  White"  as late as 1799 to describe the end result of his bluing additive incorporated into the earthenware. Just one year later New York merchant Frederick Rhinelander ordered nine crates of "blue painted Ware... to be fine white (and not Cream Colored) painted we believe it is called pearl blue."

      Pearl white, pearl blue, or pearlware was only available in the American Colonies after it had first been marketed in England. A power-blue pearlware bowl was eventually unearthed at the site of the Fort Watson garrison in South Carolina. Reportedly the bowl bore a black inlaid checkered rim very similar to those produced by Wedgwood. The British military post was briefly active early in the1780s.

      By the 1790s pearlware edged in various colors including blue, green, wine red, and even brown was found in American households. Nina Little, author of Country Arts in Early American, wrote that even gravy and soup ladles appeared in Colonial homes bearing the familiar rich and deep blue edge of Wedgwood.

      Pearlware was said to be particularly resistant to boiling water and therefore just as functional as it was attractive for food preparation and the dining table. Moreover the remarkable glaze was especially suitable for transfer-printing which simply multiplied its eye-catching possibilities.

      The idea of transfer-printing on pearlware became a major operation in England for a time in the 1800s. Among the factories producing significant quantities was the Sunderland site which was known for its combining of dazzling pink luster with pearlware. Sunderland's pearlware jugs often included transfer prints of early 1800 birthdays of children with an appropriate verse.

      Typical of Sunderland's pearlware style was a jug with red, green, and yellow enamels. Its transfer message, "May Peace and Plenty On Our Nation Smile and Trade and Commerce Bless the British Isle."

      It is known that pearlware was included in the dinnerware purchased by the administration of  President James Madison. While it was more or less purchased directly from merchants in the Washington, D.C. area, they in turn were buying pearlware directly from England.

      "Enormous quantities of  printed earthenware were coming into this country from England," around 1811 according to Margaret Klapthor author of Official White House China, 2nd edition. It was near that time that the White House obtained a set of "edge plates" believed to be pearlware.

      Klapthor noted that the largest dinnerware purchases at the White House in those days tended to coincide with preparations for major receptions on the President's social calendar. Christmas, New Year's, and the celebration of Washington's birthday in February were directly connected to the dinners given by President for members of Congress.

      The status of  pearlware underwent a dramatic change during the War of 1812 when an embargo of  British imports forced enterprising American potters to produce their own. Such American production may have seemed like a sound idea at the time with domestic use of foreign pearlware already high, but the idea was relatively short-lived. By the 1820s the market was again flooded with British imports.

      Pearlware in the hands of  British potters remained impressive. Mugs, jugs, punch bowls, mustard pots, pepper pots, and sometimes even chamber pots were given leaf like layers or similar plant-related ornamentation for terminals. Startling colors of green, orange, pale yellow ochre, and even cobalt blue were infused into the finished product. Designs ranged from vertical diamonds to simple circles and on to reeded bands.

      Back in the United States there were some efforts at transfer-printed pearlware at the Indiana Pottery Company. The firm was established in the late 1830s near the Ohio River in Troy, Indiana. Results of their blue transfer-printed products were reportedly mixed and little was produced by the 1840s. It was also known that the United States Pottery Company made some efforts at pearlware plates at the middle of the 19th century. The firm was located in Bennington, Vermont.

      At about the same time England's Wedgwood began marking some pearlware dining pottery which was actually marked Pearl. By the late 1860s Wedgwood had dropped the full name and used only the letter P.

      English pearlware continued to be prolific. Black transfers printed on pink luster decoration continued to depict scenes and offer up encouraging slogans. Ware emblazoned with "God Save the King" was popular in the British market. For other markets there were other inscriptions including paying tribute to Frederick VII King of Denmark which was produced in England but marketed specifically in Denmark.

      For all their color and enduring appeal, collectors need to understand that pearlware was made for regular domestic use and was most always used, at least for a time, in the way it was intended.

      Writing for a leading auction house's sale of such 18th and early 19th century pottery, Jonathan Richard noted:

      "Inasmuch as these pots were made to be used, it's rare to find examples that are perfect. Sometimes those that appear perfect have been restored. If condition is an overriding factor in your purchasing, examine the pots carefully."

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