To recreate the silver luster jugs that were found archaeologically in Virginia, Thorley turned back to time-honored methods. He used a wax resist technique to draw pictures of birds and flowers onto vessels and silhouette them using metal oxides that turned shiny when fired. Employing the recipes he remembered from England, Thorley used silver and copper on different colored clay bodies. He used gold to make pink luster. Even after he stopped working for the Craft House, Thorley continued to invent new historically-based patterns in lusterware.
