Scratch Blue Stoneware

"Scratch blue" is a term applied to a decorative technique used on English salt-glazed fine stoneware during the period circa 1745 to 1775. Before firing, decorative motifs were incised into the clay and filled with cobalt blue paint. The excess paint was wiped away leaving only the blue filled lines. Thirty-eight fragments of scratch blue are present in the Central Trust collection, most of which are from tea bowls or tea cups.

Forty-one sherds of a similar ware, known as "debased scratch blue", were also found. On these wares, the cobalt paint was not wiped away from the incised lines thus leaving a messy or debased appearance. This ware was produced by English potters to compete with the Rhenish blue and gray stoneware market. Debased scratch blue was popular during the period circa 1765 to 1775. Central Trust examples comprise chamber pots and mugs.

• Left - Scratch Blue
  
• Right - Debased Scratch Blue