Melado ware differs from similarly-colored lead glazed wares in its majolica-like paste, and its thick, opaque glaze. On the earliest Spanish sites in the Caribbean, Melado occurs is a wider variety of paste types, glaze colors and vessel forms than it does after ca. 1520. These varieties are detailed in Deagan and Cruxent 2002b:160-166. Decoration is rare in later examples.

This description of Melado comes from the Historic Archaeology Digital Ceramic Type Collection maintained by the Florida Museum of Natural History.

Cream-colored, soft chalky (majolica-like) earthenware paste on tableware forms; buff to reddish lightly sand tempered paste on large utilitarian forms. Surface is covered with a thick, tin-opacified lead glaze, with color ranging most frequently from honey to amber to mustard brown. The surface is most commonly matte or low-gloss. Designs consisting of simple broad lines are occasionally painted in manganese brown.