Identifying tin-glazed earthenware

Delftware, maiolica, faience — white opaque glaze painted in blue and more.

Tin-glazed earthenware wears an opaque white glaze (tin oxide in lead glaze) over a soft buff or pinkish body, painted — most often in cobalt blue, sometimes polychrome. The tradition travels under many names: maiolica (Italy, Spain), faience (France), delftware (Netherlands, Britain).

The tell is the break: a soft earthenware body with the white glaze sitting as a distinct skin that chips off in flakes at the edges. Chinese porcelain, which it imitates, is hard, white through the body, and rings glassily. Painting styles and subjects (chinoiserie, biblical scenes, ships) date pieces within the 16th–18th century span.

Note body colour in the break, glaze fit (crazing and flaking are typical), and the painted design. Sherds with flaked glaze look humble but identify well from painting fragments — photograph the decoration before handling wears it further.

From the guide library inside Collectors Catalogues, a free app for cataloguing antiques and finds with honest, museum-grade records.

More on pottery

Identifying pottery and ceramics — Fabric, surface, and how it was formed.

Identifying terracotta figurines — Mould lines and vent holes.

Identifying amphorae and transport pottery — Shape equals cargo.

Identifying tiles and brick — Fabric, stamp, and format.

Identifying Roman samian ware — Glossy red tableware with moulded scenes and potters' stamps.

Identifying Roman coarse wares — The kitchen pottery of the empire — greywares, mortaria, and flagons.

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