Cistercian Ware

Cistercian ware, lead-glazed English earthenware of the 16th century. Fragments of dark-red, hard earthenware with a black or iron-brown metallic-appearing glaze were designated Cistercian because they were excavated at Yorkshire Cistercian abbeys; the pottery predates the dissolution of the monasteries (1540), but a dated example of 1599 indicates continued production. The pottery forms generally consist of drinking vessels, tall mugs, trumpet-shaped tygs with two, four, and sometimes eight handles, and tankards. The majority of the ware is undecorated, but some examples are distinguished by horizontal ribbing or by white slip (liquid clay) ornamentation consisting of roundels or rosettes. Potteries producing these wares were located at Abergavenny, Monmouthshire; Tickford, Derbyshire; and Wrotham, Kent.