Cistercian ware

Cistercian ware was a high-quality glazed pottery widely used in the 1400s and 1500s. Its name comes from its origins as pottery manufactured, used and sold by the large Cistercian monasteries which dominated the landscape and industry in medieval Yorkshire. The purple/black colour comes from metal oxides in the glaze. The Cistercians were central to the development of several industrial processes in the Middle Ages, particularly metal smelting and ore extraction.