What is Faience?
[[Image:Faience Plate Traditional.jpg|thumb|right|Modern bowl in a traditional pattern, made in [[Faenza]], Italy, which gave its name to the type.]] '''Faience''' [[pottery]] is [[tin]]-glazed pottery. It is the use of a white pottery [[glaze]] suitable for painted decoration. This is got by adding an [[tin oxide|oxide of tin]] to a [[lead]] [[glaze]]. It was a major advance in the history of pottery, made about 500 years ago. The technique was brought to [[Al-Andalus]] in [[Spain]] from [[Moor]]ish potteries in the eastern [[Mediterranean]]. In Italy locally produced tin-glazed [[earthenware]]s was called ''maiolica''. It reached a peak in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries.<ref>Alan Caiger-Smith 1973. ''Tin-glazed pottery''. London: Faber and Faber.</ref> It was made in several countries. English creamware was developed in [[Staffordshire]] in the 18th century. Instead of ''faience'' they were called ''delftware''. == References == {{reflist}} [[Category:Pottery]]