Barbotine Ware

Barbotine ware, pottery decorated with a clay slip applied by means of a technique first employed on Rhenish pottery prior to the 3rd century ad. The slip was applied by piping, in the same way icing is applied to cakes. It was used to adorn the edges of flat dishes with such designs as small flowers. By the 3rd century it started to oust molded ornamentation. Ernest Chaplet began to experiment with this technique in the 1870s but had to abandon it because of firing difficulties that caused the slip to flake off.