Earthenware, Stoneware and Porcelain Are Not the Same
Pottery is objects made from fired clay. The three main types differ by the temperature they are fired at and how much water they absorb.
Pottery is fired clay, and the craft of making it. The three main families are separated by firing temperature: earthenware is fired lowest and stays porous, stoneware is fired hotter and becomes waterproof, and porcelain is fired hottest of all and turns translucent. That is why an unglazed flowerpot leaks and a porcelain cup does not.
- Objects made of fired clay. *Medieval pottery.*
- The craft. *She teaches pottery.*
- A place where it is made. *The village pottery.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | pottery | Painted pottery. |
| Plural | potteries | The Staffordshire potteries. |
| Person | potter | A studio potter. |
| Verb | throw | Throw a pot. |
| Related | ceramics | A ceramics course. |
How it is used in a sentence
- Fragments of pottery date the site.Archaeology relies on it heavily.
- He throws pots on a kick wheel.Throw is the technical verb.
- The glaze crazed in the second firing.Fine cracks in the surface.
Pottery vocabulary
- Earthenware — porous, fired around 1000 to 1150°C
- Stoneware — vitrified and waterproof, around 1200 to 1300°C
- Porcelain — white and translucent, fired highest
- Bisque — the first firing, before glazing
- Kiln — the oven that does the work
From *potter*, from *pot*, a word of uncertain origin found across Germanic and Romance languages. Pottery is among the oldest human crafts, older than agriculture in some regions.
Pottery or ceramics?
Ceramics is the wider term and includes technical materials. Pottery usually means vessels and objects made from clay.
Why is porcelain translucent?
Because the high firing temperature turns much of the body into glass, which lets light through.