Using a slip-cup (a cow horn) to add red slip trailing to a vessel, Horezu, Romania, 2006.

By contrast to Swiss pottery research, the English-language literature does not make a terminological difference between slip that is used to coat the entire vessel (“Grundengobe, engobe de fond”) and slip that is used to create a pattern, e.g. in slip-trailing (“Malengobe, engobe à peindre”). The English text presented here is a – perhaps somewhat clumsy – attempt at making a clear distinction between the two even in the absence of specific technical terms.

Slip for slip-trailing or painting is a thin suspension of clay that fires white or red or that has been stained with metal oxides (black, yellow, blue, green). It is used to decorate earthenware using a brush or a slip-cup.

Slip-trailing can be added on leather-hard clay or on a coat of white or coloured slip, which is then covered with a colourless or monochrome glaze (yellow, green).

Translation Sandy Haemmerle

German: Malengobe

French: Engobe à peindre