Sprigging (decorative)

For the method of plant propagation, see Sprigging.
A Wedgwood scent bottle with sprigged mythological scenes. Stoke-on-Trent, late 18th Century, Walters Art Museum.

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, 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.[2] 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

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sprigged ware.
  1. ↑ Fleming, John & Hugh Honour. (1977) The Penguin Dictionary of Decorative Arts. London: Allen Lane, p. 751. ISBN 0713909412
  2. ↑ Sprig Molded Decoration Jefferson Patterson Park & Museum, 30 December 2012. Archived here.