LEAD GLAZE

UNGLAZED

• thick glaze (usually white) “floats” on surface of sherd
  
  
• glaze often absent in places or easily flaked from ceramic body
  
  
• generally used on ceramics with low-fired paste that sticks very readily to tongue
  
  
• paste generally buff/pale yellow, but also pink and red

• shiny, often transparent

• can be on interior and/or exterior of vessel

• generally colorless on refined earthenware, but can have metallic oxides added to create colored glazes, most generally on coarse earthenware

• interior and exterior surfaces of vessel, as well as broken edges, are porous and stick to tongue

• dimpled “orange peel” surface on interior and/or exterior
  
  
• decorations can include painting, incising, sprig molding, engine turning

• fine grained and non-porous; vessel surface often dull or flat in tone
  
  
• decorations can include sprig molding, engine turning,
  enamel painting
  
  

ENGLISH DRY BODIED STONEWARE

• very thin layer of shiny, smooth glaze; thinness of glaze accentuates molded decorative details 
  
  
• decorations can include overall molding, sometimes in deep relief, and sprig molding

RELIEF MOLDED STONEWARE

WHITE FELSPATHIC STONEWARE

• smooth, white opaque glaze
  
  
• often seen on buff bodied stoneware; often used in conjunction with Albany-type slip
  
  
• sometimes used in conjunction with sponged or stamped decoration in blue or other colors

• thick, runny, lustrous, transparent glassy glaze
  
  
• wide variations in color (olive, black, brown, green, yellowish)
  
  
• runs and streaks typical; often include bits of sand or rock
  

• shiny brown (most often chocolate colored) layer over stoneware body; smooth, untextured and opaque (Greer 1981:200)
  
  
• sometimes used on interior of a vessel whose exterior is salt glazed

HARD PASTE

SOFT PASTE

BONE CHINA

•  highly vitrified white to off-white paste

• paste impervious to staining

• under short and mid-range ultraviolet light, the glazed surface of hard paste porcelain appears magenta or dark purple

• dense and ‘chalky’ paste slightly more porous and softer than hard paste; paste often has a greyish hue, sometimes with surface black specks

• can become discolored or stained
  
  
• paste scratches easily with a steel file

• glazed surface fluoresces a dull pink to grayish purple under shortwave and mid-range ultraviolet light

• paste may appear dense and finely-grained

• sherd surfaces and cracks more likely than hard paste to exhibit brown staining  

• early pieces, may have small black flecks in the paste    

• under short and mid-range ultraviolet light, glazed surface appears blueish white