This decoration was more commonly used by the old potters than slip decorating, which consisted in mixing white clay and water until the consistency of cream.

The liquid clay was then allowed to run slowly through a quill attached to a small cup, over the earthenware (before burning it in a kiln) to produce different designs.

The process is similar to that used when icing a cake, when you allow the icing to run slowly from a pastry tube to form fanciful designs.

I have watched the old potters at their work many a time when a child.

The process employed in the manufacture of earthenware is almost the same today as it was a century ago, but the appliances of the present day workmen are not so primitive as were those of the old German potters.