“Once vessels found only in pubs and taverns, mochaware ceramics have risen through the ranks to become a lively and lucrative collecting field. Hailing from Stoke-on-Trent, but created all over Britain, here’s why these unsung heroes of the ceramics world are still popular with modern-day buyers. From mottled, watercolour designs reminiscent of seaweed or trees, to concentric rings of abstract shapes, mochaware pieces are happily both collectable and affordable. ‘Each and every piece of mochaware is handmade and unique,’ muses antiques dealer Sam White of Cunningham White’s in Totnes, who has a penchant for all things mocha. ‘It is evocative of ancient country taverns with aged settles, cricket tables and old gents smoking long pipes.’ (Sophie Hannan, Homes & Antiques, October 5, 2022)
 
This antique Victorian marbled mochaware creamer is in excellent condition, is 12cm high/7cm diameter and would make a delightful gift for a mochaware collector.
 
Archaeological excavations of the wreck of HMS Nymphe in Road Town Harbor in the British Virgin Islands (where we use to live) found two earthenware vessels with dendritic markings on slip marbled surfaces. The sloop was accidentally burned and sunk in 1783 confirming the wide-spread distribution of mocha ware already by the 1780’s. Each unique pattern is created by touching or dripping an acidic ‘tea’ solution onto the wet slip of a mug, tankard or other vessel. This ‘tea’ is a complicated concoction of tobacco juice, stale urine, turpentine and sometimes vinegar, it causes a reaction with the alkaline slip, which creates the unusual tree-like patterns.
 
The designs are called mochaware because they resemble the patterns found in moss agate, a semi-precious gemstone formed from silicon dioxide, which was exported in large numbers from the port city of Mocha in Yemen. A port better known for its export of coffee!
Manufactured by potteries throughout Great Britain, France, and North America, mocha was the cheapest decorated ware available. Most British production went to export whereas France and North America manufactured for the home markets. Archaeological finds throughout the eastern United States suggest that mocha was used in taverns and homes, from lowly slave quarters to Thomas Jefferson's Monticello and Poplar Forest. After the mid 19th century, British imports waned, with those potteries still making mocha concentrating on government-stamped capacity-verified measures (jugs and mugs) for use in pubs and markets. 
 
 
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