{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} thumb|400px|Humber ware urinal. Note the characteristic red colour and olive-green glaze. '''Humber ware''' is a type of Medieval ceramic produced in North Yorkshire, England in the late 13th to early 16th Centuries AD.<ref name="YorkMuseum">Jennings, S. 1992. ''Medieval Pottery in the Yorkshire Museum'', York, 27-29.</ref>
==Production zone== Two of the best known production sites are at West Cowick<ref name="MedPotBrit">McCarthy, M.R. and Brooks, C.M. 1988. ''Medieval pottery in Britain AD 900-1600'', Leicester, 242.</ref> and Holme-on-Spalding-Moor, with some additional evidence for one in or near York<ref name="YorkMuseum" /> as well as a kiln at Kelk.<ref name="SelectedPottery">Holdsworth, J. 1978. ''Selected Pottery Groups AD 650–1780'' (Archaeology of York 16/1), York, 14.</ref>
==Fabric== Humber wares are hard-fired, iron-rich usually red-bodied wares, although often with reduced cores.<ref name="MedPotYork">Mainman, A. and Jenner, A. 2013. ''Medieval Pottery from York'' (Archaeology of York 16/9), York, 1276-1278.</ref> They are sparsely tempered with a fine sand, although there are examples of more gritty types.<ref name="MedPotYork" />
==Form and decoration== Forms include jugs of various sizes, cooking pots and (in the later phases of the industry) urinals and bung-hole cisterns.<ref name="Brooks">Brooks, C.M. ''Medieval and Later Pottery from Aldwark and Other Sites'' (Archaeology of York 16/3), York, 158-159.</ref> Several Humber ware sherds have a white encrusted deposit on the interior surface, which has been found to derive from urine.<ref name="Brooks" /> The glaze is usually olive or brownish green, sometimes forming a brown margin at the edges of the glaze.<ref name="SelectedPottery" /> Decoration is usually limited to bands of horizontal grooving on the shoulders or neck, with occasional patterns of wavy combing, rouletting, or stamping.<ref name ="MedPotBrit" /> One of the best known products of the Humber kilns are the small drinking jugs, which replaces wooden bowls used in earlier times.<ref name="YorkMuseum" /> [[File:Small Humber ware jar YORYM 1992 49.jpg|thumb|250px|Humber ware jug in the Yorkshire Museum]]
==Industry== The Humber ware tradition lasted for a long time, from the late 13th to the early 16th Century AD, with a peak of production at some point in the 15th Century AD.<ref name="MedPotYork" /><ref name="Brooks" /> Its gradual emergence is paralleled by a fall in popularity of the Brandsby-type ware industry.<ref name="MedPotYork" /> The dating of the end of the industry is not certain; different pottery types such as purple glazed ware and post-medieval red coarse ware seem to develop out of the Humber ware tradition.<ref name="Brooks" /> At the end of the 15th Century AD, the decline in coarse wares for items like cooking vessels may reflect the increased use of metal wares and may be the reason why metal forms were imitated by the potters.<ref>Dean, G. 2008. ''Medieval York''. Stroud: History Press, 129.</ref>
==See also== *History of Yorkshire * Medieval York *Surrey whiteware *Border ware *List of English medieval pottery
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Humber ware}} Category:Ceramics of medieval England Category:England in the High Middle Ages Category:13th century in England Category:14th century in England Category:15th century in England