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Agate Ware

The many different clays which abound in Staffordshire no doubt first suggested a kind of combing and marbling, and led to the making of agate ware. I n order to attain this effect layers of clay in various colors were laid one upon another, and “from this alternating strata thin slices were cut transversely by means of a wire. The slices were then pressed into moulds, and the irregular blending of the various clays produced a wavy pattern like marble. Sometimes the effect was improved by the use of a bluish glaze.”