Mocha ware is a type of slip-decorated earthenware distinguished by delicate branching, tree-like or fern-like patterns that spread across a coloured band of slip. The decoration is created by dropping an acidic colourant onto wet alkaline slip, causing it to spread instantly into feathery dendritic forms, and the name derives from mocha stone, a type of moss agate with similar markings.
Mocha ware was produced in Staffordshire and other English pottery centres from the late eighteenth century through to the early twentieth century, and it was also made in Scotland, Wales and North America. It was an inexpensive, utilitarian product, used mainly for mugs, jugs, bowls, chamber pots and measures for public houses, many bearing excise or capacity marks. Decoration often combines the mocha patterns with turned bands, cat's-eye dots, marbled slip and engine-turned borders in shades of brown, blue, ochre, green and black. Because it was rarely marked and heavily used, surviving pieces in good condition with strong, well-defined mocha decoration are especially desirable. Collectors note chips, hairline cracks and staining. Mocha ware has a devoted following and suits dressers, country kitchens and the bright, practical interiors associated with farmhouse style.
