{"id":35,"date":"2013-09-30T22:14:17","date_gmt":"2013-10-01T05:14:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forestmetrics.net\/?p=35"},"modified":"2016-12-12T01:41:09","modified_gmt":"2016-12-12T09:41:09","slug":"article-about-mochaware","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forestmetrics.net\/?p=35","title":{"rendered":"Antique American Mochaware Pottery: Looks Can Be Deceiving"},"content":{"rendered":"

Any newcomer to mochaware would be forgiven for thinking that the decorated pottery was the latest from some hip, new gallery. In truth, mochaware or (mocha ware) is some of the most varied and fascinating decorative pottery of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. However, its vivid colors, modern splotches, striking patterns and wild, free-flowing designs absolutely evoke today’s contemporary art pottery.<\/p>\n

The thing is, mochaware was never intended as art. It was first made in England in the late 1700s as utilitarian pottery, used primarily in taverns and modest homes. By the early 19th century, it was imported into America and later produced here. No one potter seems to be credited with introducing mochaware; it was made by numerous manufacturers from the late 18th century well into the 20th century.<\/p>\n

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The telltale sign of mochware is its \u201cwet-surface\u201d look decorated with crawling worms (‘earthworm’), swirling cats\u2019 eyes, sea life (‘seaweed’), rolling waves, alternating bands of color, trees and cross-hatches, and purely random squiggles.<\/p>\n

Many people assume that mochaware is named for the palette of colors it uses: browns, creams, grays, blacks, and muted tones of blue, green, pumpkin, and yellow. It refers instead to the Red Sea port of Mocha (now in modern day Yemen), a city associated in England with the export of dendritic, or moss agates (Mocha stone). The stone features natural striations similar to the wares’ seaweed and tree-like decorations.<\/p>\n