Rhenish

Defining Attributes

A salt-glazed stoneware that comes in two major varieties: Rhenish brown, a buff to dark gray bodied ware coated with a speckled brownish slip, and Rhenish blue and gray, a light gray bodied ceramic often colored with cobalt blue or manganese purple pigments. Both varieties can be decorated with incised or applied molded relief decorations.

Chronology

True stoneware was developed in Germany at the end of the 13^th century, and was exported to England in the 14^th century. This trade with England peaked in the 17^th century (Gaimster 1997:35, 79, 82). The towns of Cologne and Raeren were leading stoneware production centers in the first half of the 16^th century, and the term "Cologne ware" was popularly applied to all mottled brown stonewares. By the mid-16^th century, the nearby town of Frechen had replaced Cologne as a pottery center, and supplanted Raeren as the leading exporter of brown stoneware to England (Gaimster 1997:193, 209, 225). This trade began to decline in the mid-17^th century, and the development of English brown stoneware in the late 17^th century greatly diminished the demand for Rhenish brown stoneware. However, it was still be imported in limited numbers into the 1770s, and production of brown stoneware continued in Frechen until the mid-19^th century (Gaimster 1997:210-211; Noël Hume 2001:127). Blue and gray stoneware developed in Raeren in the mid-16^th century, but primary production had shifted to the Westerwald region by the end of the 16th century. However, blue and gray stoneware continued to be made in Raeren, and the 17^th and 18^th century products of the Westerwald and Raeren are often hard to distinguish. Although Westerwald products were rarer than the Frechen-type brown stonewares in England before ca. 1650, by the latter 17^th century, and throughout much of the 18^th century, blue and gray stonewares dominated the English import market (Gaimster 1997:94, 226, 252). In the Chesapeake region, Rhenish brown and blue and gray stonewares were in use from the earliest days of colonial settlement. Although Rhenish brown use declined in the late 17^th century, the blue and gray wares continued to be imported in large numbers until the 1770s (Gaimster 1997:253; Noël Hume 2001:107). Around 1860, there was a revival of the Rhenish stoneware tradition, in which the vessels that had been produced centuries earlier were often imitated. This movement lasted into the 20^th century, and in fact stoneware is still being made in the Westerwald region today (Gaimster 1997:251, 325; Noël Hume 2001:110).

Description

Fabric
Rhenish stoneware has a hard, impermeable body with low porosity. It can be partly vitrified, particularly on the blue and gray wares. The paste of the brown wares is generally coarser than that of the blue and gray, and can have occasional inclusions. However, it is not as grainy as typical English Fulham-type brown stoneware. The colors of Rhenish stonewares range from off-white to various shades of brown and gray. The interior surface is often a different color than the exterior or the main body. A dark gray body is common on Frechen vessels (as it was on Cologne products), but these pieces can range from light gray to buff to reddish brown. Westerwald-type wares are most often a light gray, but they can also have a buff color. Rhenish vessels were primarily wheel thrown. The templates used to shape 18^th century Westerwald vessels often left shallow chatter marks visible in undecorated areas near handles (Gaimster 1997:34-35, 208, 216, 220, 256; Noël Hume 2001:106).

Glaze
Rhenish stoneware was salt-glazed. This technique was gradually introduced in the 15^th and 16^th centuries. On Rhenish brown stoneware, a brown engobe or a thinner wash was added to the surface before firing. On the finished vessels, this slip appeared in various shades of brown, and was mottled to differing degrees. This mottling led to the popular name of "tiger ware." On blue and gray wares, no slip was added (Gaimster 1997:40, 47).

Decoration
Rhenish stonewares are notable for their often elaborate decorations, with applied molded relief ornaments (sprig molds) being perhaps the most characteristic element. Other common decorative techniques included incising, stamping, and rouletting, as well as cordoning around rims, necks, and bases. Diaper carving and piercing (on double-walled vessels) also occurred. Applied ornaments came in a wide variety of motifs. On brown stoneware, one of the most typical was the "Bartmann" face mask, also known as "Bellarmine" or "graybeard." Bartmann bottles, which were made from the early 16^th century through the mid-18^th century, are quite common on 17^th century Chesapeake sites. As a general rule, the face mask tended to become more "debased," or grotesque or cartoonish in appearance, over the course of the 17^th century. However, high quality and poor quality masks can be found on contemporary vessels, so this is not a reliable dating marker. Another common applied ornament motif on Rhenish stoneware was the armorial or heraldic medallion. These were sometimes dated, but that is not a totally reliable temporal indicator, as molds could remain in use for a number of years. On vessels intended for export to England or its colonies in the late 17^th and 18^th centuries, the royal initials "WR," "AR," and "GR" were often added. Common stamped designs included hearts, circles, triangles, and floral motifs. On early blue and gray vessels, formal portraits and full human figures were common, but were disappearing by the second quarter of the 17^th century. In the 18^th century, capacity numbers ranging from 1 to 10 were sometimes stamped on jugs and drinking vessels. By the second quarter of the 18^th century, the decorations on Westerwald-type pieces were becoming more schematic, relying on incised foliage, scrolls, and animals, with the outlines filled with blue pigment. To determine when specific decorative elements were introduced and later declined, consult the more detailed references listed below (Reineking-von Bock 1971; Gaimster 1997:37, 40, 106, 210, 252; Noël Hume 1970:282; 2001:118, 126).

Cobalt underglaze paint was typically added to Rhenish blue and gray stoneware, and occasionally appears on Rhenish brown. Manganese purple was also used. Cobalt blue coloring was introduced in the second half of the 16^th century. Manganese purple appears as early as the 1630s, but did not become common until the second half of the 17^th century. Around 1675, a gray stoneware with no paint was introduced, and remained in production through the first half of the 18^th century. This is sometimes known as "Höhr ware," after a village in the Westerwald (Gaimster 1997:225, 252; Noël Hume 2001:94).

On some Rhenish vessels, pewter or silver lids and ornaments were attached. Ghost images of these mounts, as well as the lug holes where they were attached, are sometimes visible on handle sherds (Gaimster 1997:108; Noël Hume 2001:109).

Form
Rhenish stoneware was used primarily for storage, service and consumption, and sanitary purposes. Among the Frechen-type brown stonewares, globular bottles and jugs in various sizes are the most common forms found in the Chesapeake region. Drinking vessels were also imported, as were simple lozenge-shaped mineral water bottles in the 18^th and 19^th centuries. A variety of Rhenish blue and gray stoneware vessel forms are found on American archaeological sites. Elaborate panel bottles occur on some of the earliest sites. Tankards and mugs were introduced after ca. 1650. Chamber pots became popular at the beginning of the 18^th century, and along with mugs, tankards, pitchers, and jugs are the most common form on Chesapeake sites. By the mid-18^th century, the rise of English refined earthenware and molded white salt-glazed stoneware led to a decline in the popularity of Westerwald-type tablewares among wealthy Chesapeake households, but storage and sanitary vessels were still used. Other blue and gray stoneware forms include porringers, teapots and tea bowls, salts, terrines, plates, storage jars, jardinieres, and figurines (Gaimster 1997:34, 103-104, 252-253: Noël Hume 2001:125)

Notes

Rhenish stoneware was produced in the Rhine River valley of Germany and the Low Countries. Similar stoneware was also made in other parts of Germany and Central Europe, but few of these ceramics appear in North America.

Frechen and the Westerwald were the most common sources of Rhenish stoneware found in the Chesapeake. Their products have been found on 16^th and 17^th century Native American sites. Rhenish vessels such as Frechen-type Bartmann bottles and Westerwald jugs have been found in early colonial contexts at sites like Jamestown and Martin’s Hundred. On most 17^th century Chesapeake archaeological sites, Frechen-type stoneware constitutes a majority of the Rhenish recovered, at times making up to 80% of the stoneware assemblage. However, Westerwald-type vessels such as jugs, tankards, and pitchers are also found in significant numbers (Gaimster 1997:98-103).

References

Gaimster 1997; Gusset 1980; Noël Hume 1970, 2001; Reineking-von Bock 1971