Numo Jaeger and Michael Miller on thu 23 apr 98
Hello All,
Does anyone know why the term faience is used to describe French
earthenware covered with a tin glaze and why it is also used to describe
some Egyptian paste pieces?
Numo Jaeger
Studio One Art Center
Oakland CA
ClayTile on fri 24 apr 98
Yes, The term Faience comes from the Faenza region of Italy. Danial Rhoads, in
the glossary of "Clay and glazes for the potter" said that faience has come to
mean glazed earthen ware.
Collier Family on fri 24 apr 98
>
> Does anyone know why the term faience is used to describe French
> earthenware covered with a tin glaze and why it is also used to describe
> some Egyptian paste pieces?
>
> Numo Jaeger
> Studio One Art Center
> Oakland CA
>
Hi all,,
just want to show off with newly acquired knowledge gleaned from Robin
Hopper in 'The Ceramic Spectrum"
Page 22- 23; 'Another misnomer of classification occurs in Egyptian
ceramics, where the early archeologists were from France. One can
imagine them exclaiming with delight, "Mon Dieu, c'est la faience!' to
wares evocative of the tin-glazed earthenwares which they knew back
home. They were, in fact, what we now call Egyptian paste, which was
produced in quite a different way.'
Thanks to Veronica and Graeme Shelford's visit, I am now the proud owner
of Robin's book, and poor Veronica has to look for another one.
BTW, we spent a wonderful day traipsing around the Valley of a Thousand
Hills looking at all sorts of objects and views and smelling all kinds
of smells and eating and drinking all kinds of strange things.
Anyone other takers for my tour guide services?;)
Tracey in Durban
Vince Pitelka on fri 24 apr 98
>Does anyone know why the term faience is used to describe French
>earthenware covered with a tin glaze and why it is also used to describe
>some Egyptian paste pieces?
Numo -
We went around about this on Clayart about three years ago. The term
Faience comes from Faenza, a maiolica production center in northern Italy
during and after the Renaissance. When the technique entered France, it was
referred to as Faience, so, as you correctly imply, the term should only be
used in reference to tin-opacified glazes.
Art historians are a strange bunch. It seems that occasionally, rather than
ask the appropriate authorities for assistance, they extrapolate an
explanation or solution from whatever sketchy information is readily
available. So, somewhere along the line art historians and/or
archaeologists started calling Egyptian alkaline glazed wares and even
Egyptian paste wares faience. Don't try to correct them. It is useless.
Instead, we must just accept this as another bastardization of historic
terminology.
- Vince
Vince Pitelka - vpitelka@DeKalb.net
Home 615/597-5376, work 615/597-6801, fax 615/597-6803
Appalachian Center for Crafts
Tennessee Technological University
1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166
R Harvey on fri 24 apr 98
The early archeologists who excavated the tombs were French. When they came
across the shiny frit bodies they imagined they were similar to faience,
the white glazed earthenware of France so called because of its similarity
to the tin glazed earthenwares of Italy, imported through Faenza.
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