Hello and welcome to this week’s edition of The Bell!
While I’ve always loved pretty dishes, setting the table, and presenting food beautifully, I’ve never known what exactly those dishes are made of, or how they’re produced.
As a result, I tend to use all the different terms for pottery pretty interchangeably: porcelain, china, ceramics, earthenware, stoneware. Turns out these terms do not mean the same thing and knowing the difference is both useful and empowering! This week, I decided it was high time to educate myself and share my findings with you.
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Pottery has been around for a very, very, very long time in human civilizations. The earliest pottery pieces were clay pots and figurines, hardened in fire. Later, people started adding ceramic glazes for decoration and watertightness.
The earliest known pottery objects are the Gravettian figurines that date to 29,000–25,000 BC!!!! Like, literal hunter-gatherers were making useful and beautiful stuff with clay.
Porcelain, a pretty advanced kind of pottery that’s totally watertight and extremely durable, was developed in China around 1,200 to 2,000 years ago. So cool.
Okay, let’s dive into the different types of pottery and some examples and uses.
Ceramic
Ceramic is technically an umbrella term referring to any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant, and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature… according to Wikipedia!
Earthenware, stoneware, porcelain, brick, and other pottery are included in the ceramic family. Ceramics are cool because they last forever—ceramics dug up on archeological sites have taught us a lot about how ancient human civilizations lived.
But… in practical use, I find “ceramic” a confusing term because it gets held up in contrast to porcelain, when technically porcelain is a kind of ceramic (if I understand this right). Typically, when people refer to ceramics, they mean the more-porous, lower-heat, glazed clay products… it sounds like “ceramic” could be used interchangeably with “earthenware” or “stoneware” below. In that case, the contrast with porcelain makes sense.
Apparently, even glazed ceramic tiles absorb some water (versus porcelain tiles that absorb none), so they’re a better choice for flooring an entryway, for example, than tiling humid areas such as a bathroom.
Earthenware
Earthenware matures (“maturity” = the point the clay turns hard) at a lower temperature (a casual 1100°C). The finished product has the highest porosity of the following pottery types, meaning it’s not microwave or dishwasher safe, or watertight. It must be glazed to be watertight, and it’s usually the most fragile type of pottery. After glazing, you need to fire the piece for a second time, at a slightly lower temperature. It is opaque after firing.
At our French house, there’s a pitcher I really like to use as a flower vase that’s glazed on the side but not on the bottom. It struck me today that it must be earthenware, because after sitting full of water for a bit, the bottom becomes damp. It doesn’t drip or leak, the bottom is just very humid and I can’t set it on wood or other surfaces that shouldn’t get wet. I don’t know when this pitcher dates from, but by the looks of it it’s very old. Maybe it wasn’t meant to hold water when it was produced?
Terracotta is a famous type of earthenware, popular for planters and also cookware in some cultures. It’s good for plants because its porousness allows for the exchange of oxygen through the pot, and the pot absorbs some of the excess moisture after watering—preventing roots from staying in soggy soil. Terracotta cookware allows moisture to circulate throughout the food as it’s cooked over low heat, creating an aromatic dish. They’re also non-toxic and inexpensive.
Stoneware
Stoneware matures at a higher temperature than earthenware, 1140 to 1280°C. The clay and the glaze mature at the same time, forming an integral clay-glaze layer. The resulting pottery is harder and more durable than earthenware. But mature stoneware is non-porous, so it doesn’t require a glaze to be watertight. It is also opaque after firing.
As Le Creuset branched out beyond enameled cast iron, they started making glazed stoneware dishes. Obviously, a cast iron mug is impractical no matter how good the heat retention, lol. The products are pretty thick for sturdiness, since stoneware is not as hard and strong as porcelain (see below). And at least from this brand, the resulting pieces are microwave, oven, and dishwasher safe.
Enamel
Enamel is made by fusing powdered glass to a surface like metal, clay, or stone by firing it in a very hot oven. As the powdered glass heats up and melts, it binds to the metal/clay/stone surface to create a smooth, non-porous, and non-stick coating. In the instances when enamel coats metal, it’s actually not pottery at all, but I mention it because enamel-coated clay is a thing, if somewhat rare.
Le Creuset and Staub cookware are enamel-coated cast iron. It’s a popular choice because it provides great heat retention and a nonstick, rust-proof surface—and famously lasts forever.
(Short aside to say Le Creuset now comes in the above color, my favorite shade of blue—they’re calling it chambray. If I were building my batterie de cuisine today, I would outfit myself with every shape and size in this color! Chef’s kiss!)
Porcelain or “fine china”
Now, on to the queen of pottery—in my opinion. Porcelain matures at a very high temperature, around 1220 to 1400°C. When glazed and fired, it becomes bright white and semi-translucent. Porcelain is often called “fine china” because it was first produced and became popular in China.
There are several types of porcelain, but your toilet and your fanciest teacup are essentially made from the same material and process. Porcelain is used in an incredibly diverse range of products.
Porcelain is extremely hard, stain-resistant, corrosion-resistant, heat-resistant, scratch-resistant, waterproof, and easy to clean, among other benefits.
It’s more expensive than stoneware or earthenware because it’s more difficult to make. But it’s also more durable, so your investment can last forever and be handed down through the generations.
While porcelain is manufactured all over the world, sometimes the term “Limoges” is even used interchangeably with “porcelain,” which speaks to how influential porcelain production in the town of Limoges, France has become.
Limoges became the porcelain center of France in the 1800s (taking over from Paris) mainly because of a geographical feature: the specific type of clay for making hard-paste porcelain is found in the ground in and around Limoges.
Today, the town maintains its position as the premier manufacturing city of porcelain in France, boasting such producers as Bernadaud, Haviland & Co, and Royal Limoges. The porcelain coming out of Limoges typically leans toward highly decorative luxury tableware and home decor objets d’art. You’re probably not going to find any toilets coming from there!
Bone china
Bone china is a type of more translucent, creamy white porcelain, containing a minimum of 30% of phosphate derived from animal bone—called “bone ash”—typically from a cow. The production of bone china and porcelain is essentially the same, except for the addition of bone ash. Bone ash makes tableware stronger, less brittle, and less likely to break than regular porcelain, so it can be thinner than typical porcelain products, lending a lightweight feel and elegant aesthetic.
Wedgwood is a well-known and beloved British manufacturer of bone china, and their designs range from the simple and white to the elaborately decorated and gilded. The ‘Nantucket basket’ pattern is my everyday china and I adore it. I’ve also always loved ‘Wild Strawberry’—how cute for a cottage-style home.
There are many more niche types of pottery that I haven’t covered today, distinguished by their decoration and technique. To name a few:
Cauliflower pottery - a personal favorite
Delft pottery - a personal favorite
Jasperware - a personal favorite
Redware - a personal favorite
Spatterware - a personal favorite; Spatterware also refers to metal dishware decorated with a spatter pattern.
Transferware - a personal favorite
Hopefully today’s newsletter wasn’t too dry, pun intended. I really enjoy researching things and found this rabbit hole super fun to go down. And now I have a renewed appreciation for my tableware, especially the porcelain. Who knew it was such an extraordinary material? Stay tuned for next week. ;)
I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did—let me know in the comments what your favorite kind of pottery is! And if you’ve ever made any of them yourself!
xx Jane
Sources: [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]
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