Mocha and Related Dipped Wares, 1770-1939

Until now, mocha ware, with its mysterious origins and variable nomenclature, has not been widely studied or chronicled. Jonathan Rickard, with more than thirty years' experience as a collector, scholar, and enthusiast of mocha and dipped wares, has written the definitive book on this once widely produced pottery. Long considered a uniquely Victorian product, mocha ware was actually developed as early as the late eighteenth century. It was likely named after the Yemeni port city of al Mukha, famed for its trade in a moss agate, known as"mocha stone," which resembled the beautiful and delicate treelike striations (the products of chemical reactions) for which mocha ware is best known. Rickard outlines the development of new types of slip decoration and the tools that made them possible. Because mocha ware was made with relatively soft clay and designed mainly for everyday use, surviving specimens are rare and thus highly prized by collectors today. By his strict definition of mocha ware, Rickard makes an argument in favor of period terminology in describing other types of lathe-turned slipwares. He offers a detailed analysis of production techniques and decorative typologies, as well as a broad-ranging history of the wares from their development in eighteenth-century England to their widespread popularity in the American market well into the twentieth century. This definitive volume also contains a discussion of mocha's principal manufacturers, a detailed glossary, and a bibliography. Lavishly illustrated with color and black-and-white photographs, this book is an absolute necessity for casual and experienced collectors, museum curators, and scholars of British and American material culture.