Clifton College Scientific Society. 29 



metal, accouuts for their using clay but little except for funereal 

 urns. These drinking vessels of horn and glass were the origin 

 of our ' tumblers/ the glasses then made being rounded at the 

 bottom, so that they must be filled while held, and could not be 

 set down until emptied without spilling. 



Of Norman pottery no traces have been found in Stafford- 

 shire, though there is little doubt that at this period Norman 

 potters did work the clays of that district. A discovery of a 

 Norman pot-work has been recently made in Derbyshire. The 

 clays are usually of a coarse kind, and the vessels generally appear 

 to have been made on the wheel. In colour they are sometimes 

 of a reddish brown, at others of a tolerably good red, and at 

 others again nearly black ; and one great peculiarity is, that 

 many of the pitchers or jugs are covered with a green glaze. 

 They are generally devoid of ornament, with the exception of 

 having the ends of the handles rudely foliated by the pressure of 

 the workmen's fingers. On one large vessel which has been 

 exhumed are seen the horse - shoes, the badge of the Ferrars 

 family, laid on in slip, and a kind of herring ornament scratched 

 into the soft clay. 



The medieval vessels made in Staffordshire, like those of other 

 districts, were chiefly confined to jugs and pitchers of much the 

 same form as the Norman pottery. Dr Shaw, in his ' History of 

 the Potteries,' says — ' There exist documents which imply that 

 during many centuries considerable quantities of common culi- 

 nary articles were made from a mixture of different clays found 

 in most parts of the district. In the account of expenses of Sir 

 John Howard in 1466 is the following entry, which shows some- 

 what curiously the cost]of pots in that day : — " Watekin of Stoke 

 delyvered of my money to on of the poteres of Horkesley 

 ivs. vid., to pay himselfe and his felawes for xi dozen of potes, 

 4f per dozen." ' 



The pottery of the Tudor period consisted of costrels and 

 other vessels for ordinary use. They were coarse in material, 

 but generally thickly coated with glaze, and the surfaces well 

 mettled. Ornaments were not often introduced, but occasionally 

 heads grotesquely formed decorated the handles ; and other 

 equally rude devices were laid on in different clays. Excellent 

 examples of this may be seen in various collections, and are 

 well worthy of increased notice. During this period, it must be 

 borne in mind that the greater part of the wares in use were 

 imported. 



It has often been asked why the potters fixed themselves here, 

 or the potteries of Staffordshire continued to flourish more than 

 those of any other part of the kingdom. The answer to this 



