A rare Caughley eye bath painted in underglaze blue with Locre Sprigs, circa 1785-93, with a deep oval bowl and baluster stem moulded in relief with scrollwork, supported by a reeded almost circular foot, 5.3cm high (hairline and filled chip) Provenance: Wright Collection no. 207, purchased in 1980 from Vera Dunk/Pagoda. Another eyebath of this shape is illustrated alongside two matching wasters from the factory site by Geoffrey Godden, Caughley and Worcester Porcelains. The Locre Sprigs pattern also occurs on butter boats, e.g collection no.426, but is still an uncommon pattern. These eye baths were used to wash out people's eyes when they became infected. Initially, in the 16th century people who were wealthy had eye baths made of silver and it was not until the 18th century that they were made of earthenware or porcelain and came into general use. The bath was filled with a boric acid to wash out the eye and alleviate conjunctivitis.