This ware is similar to the "scratch blue" white salt-glazed stoneware.
The excess cobalt pigment was left within the general area of the incised design rather than wiped off as in scratch blue. Other decoration included sprig-moulded medallions with the cypher of George III and sometimes a profile of the monarch.
The most common vessel forms were chamber pots, mugs and pitchers.
Debased scratch blue was most common during the period 1765-1775.
See Noel Hume 1976: 117-118, and South 1977: 210
Photo: Debased "scratch blue" mug
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