KENO EYE: Sponged and Spattered Ceramics

How to tell the difference between sponge and spatter?

Leigh notes that spongeware is the younger, slightly heavier, and more pedestrian cousin to older and more delicate spatterware, which was first created in Staffordshire, England, around 1810. “Spatterware has densely textured sponging, sometimes with hand-painted ornament as well,” adds Winterthur curator Leslie Grigsby. “American spongeware has overall sponging, usually in a single color—blue was the most popular—and a more open field with no hand-painted ornament.” But in England, “both types of wares are referred to as spongeware,” says the curator.