English Sgraffito-ware (a slipware).--This colorful pottery, beautifully decorated with incised designs, is an English earthenware of red or buff clay on which a slip was applied. Before firing, a decoration was scratched, stippled, or cut through the slip, exposing the darker color of the body. The entire piece then received a transparent lead glaze, either clear or covered with an oxide. The English sgraffito-ware found at Jamestown was made near Barnstaple, in North Devonshire, probably after 1640. The reddish-brown floral and geometric designs which decorate the vessels are unusually attractive against colorful yellow backgrounds. Sgraffito is an Italian word meaning scratched. English Slip-decorated-ware.--This colorful English pottery, which was made for everyday use, is a lead-glazed earthenware decorated with a liquid clay or slip. The design was usually dropped or trailed upon the ware from the spout (or quill) of a slip cup, somewhat in the manner a baker decorates a cake with icing; or it may have been painted over a large area or placed on in molded pads. Although most of the slip-decorated-ware found at Jamestown was made in England, there is some evidence that a few vessels may have been manufactured in America during the late 17th century. English Redware with Marbled Slip Decoration.--On this type English earthenware, which usually has a red body, the liquid slip was marbled or combed over the surface of the vessel with a toothed instrument of wire or leather to produce the effect of paper-marbling. Some in the Jamestown collection appear to have been made as early as 1625. Italian Maiolica.--Maiolica is a word derived from a type of pottery made on the Spanish island of Mallorca. The 17th-century Italian maiolica-ware found at Jamestown is a red-body earthenware with scratched or incised designs--a true sgraffito-ware. Somewhat similar in appearance to the English sgraffito-ware, the desired design was scratched through the cream-colored slip, revealing the reddish-brown body beneath. On many examples, colorful lines were hand painted over or near the incised designs, usually in reds, yellows, and greens, and were covered with a transparent lead glaze. [Illustration: ENGLISH REDWARE WITH MARBLED SLIP DECORATION, 1625-50 PERIOD OR EARLIER, UNEARTHED AT JAMESTOWN.] [Illustration: LATE 17TH-CENTURY ITALIAN MAIOLICA BOWLS EXCAVATED AT JAMESTOWN.] [Illustration: A FEW EXAMPLES OF ENGLISH DELFTWARE IN THE JAMESTOWN COLLECTION.] [Illustration] Delftware.--This is a soft pottery covered with an opaque white tin glaze, and decorated with hand-painted designs, usually in blues and purples. A few specimens excavated are embellished with pleasing patterns in polychrome colors. Most of the delftware unearthed at Jamestown was made in England (Lambeth, Southwark, and Bristol), although a few examples were imported from Holland.