faience

/fuy ahns", fay-/; Fr. /fann yahonns"/, n.

glazed earthenware or pottery, esp. a fine variety with highly colored designs.

Also, faïence.

[1705-15; < F, orig. pottery of Faenza, city in northern Italy]

* * *

Tin-glazed earthenware made in France, Germany, Spain, and Scandinavia, similar to Faenza majolica, for which it was named.

The term is also applied to glazed earthenware made in ancient Egypt, where it was used for beads, amulets, jewelry, and small animal and human figures, most notably the blue-glazed hippopotamus figures of the Middle Kingdom (с 2000–с 1670 BC). Faience tiles, first made in the early dynasties, were used to decorate the walls of the subterranean chambers of the pyramids. In the New Kingdom (с 1550–с 1070 BC), polychrome tiles with floral designs were used in houses and palaces.

German faience lobed dish painted with chinoiserie in blue and manganese, Frankfurt am Main, ...

Courtesy of the Victorial and Albert Museum, London

* * *

▪ pottery

also spelled  Faïence, or Fayence,  

      tin-glazed earthenware made in France, Germany, Spain, and Scandinavia. It is distinguished from tin-glzed earthenware made in Italy, which is called majolica (or maiolica), and that made in The Netherlands and England, which is called delft.

      The tin glaze used in faience is actually a lead glaze that has been rendered white and opaque by the addition of tin oxide. In the production process, an unglazed article is fired in a kiln and is then dipped in the tin glaze, which is allowed to dry. Designs are then painted on the glaze, which sets them off and preserves them during a second firing at high temperature. The colours used to paint designs were limited to the few that could tolerate high heat until the 18th century, when a low-fire overglaze enamel was used.

      The tin-glazed ware produced in Moorish Spain from the 12th to the 16th centuries is known as Hispano-Moresque ware (q.v.) and inspired the production of majolica in Italy beginning in the 15th century. The name faience is probably derived from the French rendering of Faenza, a city that was an outstanding Italian centre of majolica production during the Renaissance. Italian majolica inspired the production of similar wares in France and then in Germany during the 17th and 18th centuries. France in particular produced great quantities of superior faience tableware. Among the best-known French varieties are Marseille faience, Moustiers faience, Nevers faience, Rouen ware, and Strasbourg ware (qq.v.). In Germany, faience was made at such centres as Nürnberg, Hanau, Frankfurt, Hamburg, and Stockelsdorf. German wares in the 18th century tended to be influenced by the Rococo-decorated wares of France.

      Little faience for domestic use was manufactured after the early 19th century because of the popularity of creamware (white English lead-glazed earthenware) and porcelain, both of which were more durable.

* * *