Stoneware

Distinctive pottery that has been fired at a high temperature (about 1,200 C / 2,200 F) until glasslike and impervious to liquid). Usually opaque, but mainly because it is nonporous, it does not require a glaze. When a glaze is used, it is decorative only. Stoneware originated in China as early as 1400 BC (Shang dynasty). The technique made possible the production of durable tablewares.

Distinctively hard-fired vessels which were first made at Siegburg near Cologne as early as about 1200 ad. Stoneware involved the firing of pots in excess of 1100°C, at which point the molecules fuse to form a new stronger structure. Stonewares required particular clays, but the technique made possible the production of durable tablewares.