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Cut-Spongeware
Many of today’s most ardently sought primitive collectibles had very unassuming beginnings, and cut-spongeware is one of the most humble to have made this remarkable Main Street-to-Park Avenue journey.
Cut-sponge, also known as design spatterware, is a type of soft paste ware fired at low temperatures to produce low-cost crockery. Having started out as pottery for the common man, it is prized today for its naivete and charm: decorative borders or designs formed by repeated stampings of small sponges cut with abstract, geometric, or floral motifs. The decoration is usually in one color—purple, yellow, blue, brown, green, pink, and others—but examples are found with up to three colors. The technique is also called stick-sponge or stick-spatter, because it is believed that the sponge might have been affixed to the end of a short stick to facilitate quick, repeated stampings. Many dealers now believe that the decorative stamps sometimes were cut from potatoes, instead of sponge, but that has yet to be proved.
Cut-sponge is a subcategory of spongeware that originated in the Staffordshire district of England in the last quarter of the 18th century. By the 1830s it had spread throughout the European countries, and was often exported to their respective colonies. It was also made in the United States and Canada, and remained in widespread production until the 1930s. Because it got a lot of use, at least half of the cut-spongeware you’ll find is chipped, cracked, or discolored.
Today, cut-spongeware costs less than spatterware, but prices are rising. Pieces decorated in yellow or signed by the manufacturer, both unusual factors, will carry a premium. At this point, cut-spongeware is not being reproduced.
We want to hear where you've found unique spongeware. Let us know!
Cut-sponge, also known as design spatterware, is a type of soft paste ware fired at low temperatures to produce low-cost crockery. Having started out as pottery for the common man, it is prized today for its naivete and charm: decorative borders or designs formed by repeated stampings of small sponges cut with abstract, geometric, or floral motifs. The decoration is usually in one color—purple, yellow, blue, brown, green, pink, and others—but examples are found with up to three colors. The technique is also called stick-sponge or stick-spatter, because it is believed that the sponge might have been affixed to the end of a short stick to facilitate quick, repeated stampings. Many dealers now believe that the decorative stamps sometimes were cut from potatoes, instead of sponge, but that has yet to be proved.
Cut-sponge is a subcategory of spongeware that originated in the Staffordshire district of England in the last quarter of the 18th century. By the 1830s it had spread throughout the European countries, and was often exported to their respective colonies. It was also made in the United States and Canada, and remained in widespread production until the 1930s. Because it got a lot of use, at least half of the cut-spongeware you’ll find is chipped, cracked, or discolored.
Today, cut-spongeware costs less than spatterware, but prices are rising. Pieces decorated in yellow or signed by the manufacturer, both unusual factors, will carry a premium. At this point, cut-spongeware is not being reproduced.
We want to hear where you've found unique spongeware. Let us know!
Latest page update: made by kjacobso
, May 24 2007, 2:36 PM EDT
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About This Update
Edited by kjacobso
12 words added
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Edited by kjacobso
12 words added
view changes
- complete history)
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