A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



in Alsace,* and to others found in the Rhine valley and used for the 

 manufacture of some sort of ' Samian,' and conjectures that the Castor 

 kilns may have been used for the same object. This however, as we 

 shall see, is unlikely to have been their principal employment, and similar 

 kilns have been found elsewhere associated with other wares. 



We shall judge best of the wares produced in our Castor kilns by 

 the pieces of pottery actually found within or near them by Mr. Artis. 

 These are described by him as exhibiting a great variety. Many shapes 

 occur — bowls, saucers, cups with and more often without handles, in- 

 dented ' thumb vases,' small round-bellied jars, and muUers for grinding 

 {rnortaria or pelves). Style and character differ equally. There is white 

 stoneware, sometimes painted with colour ; there are ' face-urns,' and 

 pieces ornamented with 'engine-turning' (fig. 29), and red imitations of 



Fic. 29. Castor Ware with 

 ' Engine-turning.' 



Fig. 30. Foliation and Fish Ornament 

 ON Castor Ware. 



' Samian,' and dark-coloured ware decorated with devices in relief or in 

 white paint. But despite this apparent variety — which the imperfection 

 of our record may have exaggerated — one ware or set of wares can be 

 distinguished as the commonest and the most characteristic 'Castor ware.' 

 This ware has a white or whitish paste, coloured outwardly a dull slate 

 colour, blue or coppery in tint. The vessels are usually small in size, 

 and are decorated in certain definite methods. Some are marked with 

 indentations such as might be made by the potter's thumb, and with rude 

 ornament on the ribs or ridges between the indents : these are usually 

 known as 'indented' or 'thumb vases' (fig. 30, centre piece). Others have 

 designs in self-colour ' slip,' laid on in relief by the method called ' bar- 

 botine.' These designs are commonly foliation or animals, sometimes fishes 

 (fig. 30), but especially dogs chasing hares or stags. More ambitious but 

 less frequent are designs including human figures — a huntsman spearing 

 a boar, or, rarer still, an incident from classical mythology, such as 

 Hercules rescuing Hesione from a sea monster. Others again have 

 decorations in white paint. Some of these are foliated patterns, more 

 conventional than the usual Castor style, employed to ornament vessels 

 which are larger than the usual Castor sizes. Others, naturally much 



* Not Silesia, as Artis says. Brongniart, Traile des Arts Ceramiques, i. 426. 



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