Talk:Yellowware

This page needs serious work...
...perhaps an entire rewrite. As an archaeologist who has researched yelloware extensively in the secondary literature, I declare I'm up to the task and better suited than others.

Several things to start with:

1. Yellowware is NOT "also known as Rockingham in the United States," or anywhere else, for that matter. Rockingham is a distinct type, based on decoration with brown, mottled glaze, that appears on a variety of earthenware pastes. Most of it is found on a buff paste, rather than yellow.

2. More importantly, Yellowware is not a catchall term for any ceramic with a yellow paste, as it is used in this article. Properly used, it refers to a particular variety of refined earthenware that began to be manufactured ca. 1850 in the mid-Atlantic states (New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland). Unlike earlier wares with yellow paste and glaze, it was characterized by a uniform fine ware body with no visible temper. Its lead glaze often resulted in a tan mustard color. People I consider novice ceramic catalogers sometimes confuse Staffordshire slipware fragments with yellowware, because the lead glaze on the former often appears yellow over white slip. But in my limited experienced the paste of Staffordshire ware is always buff in color, not as uniformly fine as yelloware, and includes scattered sand-sized black particles that were either an unavoidable side effect of the clay processing technology, or were intentionally included as temper.

3. In 35 years of study and fieldwork on the east coast, specializing in historical sites, I have yet to see any Colonial yellowware and it's my opinion that matters. Colonial ceramic production was limited to redware, stoneware (either gray or purple)with an occasional attempt to produce porcelain. But, I see that the source for this is a book on how to make mosaics out of broken ceramics, rather than a study of ceramic production or interpretation.

So, I will be glad to discuss these issues with anyone who's interested but remember I'm right and you're wrong. In the meantime, I'll start making changes.

National Trust pilot
Hello! During late June, July and some of August, I'm working on a paid project sponsored by the National Trust to review and enhance coverage of NT sites. You can find the pilot edits here, as well as a statement and contact details for the National Trust. I am leaving this message when I make a first edit to a page; please do get in touch if you have any concerns. Lajmmoore (talk) 08:49, 29 July 2022 (UTC)