Definition: Earthenware

earth·en·ware (ûr“th…n-wâr”, -th…n-) n. Pottery made from a porous clay that is fired at relatively low temperatures. Faience, delft, and majolica are examples of earthenware.

Earthenware is a form of pottery fired at relatively low temperatures, so that the clay does not vitrify (become glassy), as do stoneware and porcelain clays. As early as Roman times stoves made of clay, tile, or earthenware were in use in central and N Europe. Faience describes any of several kinds of pottery, especially earthenware made of coarse clay and covered with an opaque tin-oxide glaze. The term is particularly applied to the ceramic ornaments and figurines of the ancient Egyptians. The process of making majolica consists of first firing a piece of earthenware, then applying a tin enamel that upon drying forms a white opaque porous surface. The earliest delftware was a faience, a heavy, brown earthenware with opaque white glaze and polychrome decoration, made in the late 16th cent. Some of the earliest imitations of Chinese and Japanese porcelain were made at Delft in the 17th cent.