A South Somerset slipware bowl

Towards the end of Elizabeth’s reign the potteries of South Somerset, such as Donyatt, began producing true slipware. Their local clays made red earthenware which usually gave a brown, green or reddish glaze. By introducing white slip they could produce pots with an eye-catching yellow glaze, and this soon became popular.

This bowl is among the very earliest known examples of such yellow-glazed slipwares. It was found in Queen Street and dates to c.1600.

Acknowledgments: RAM Museum