Pottery is a general term for objects made from clay that are shaped and then hardened by firing in a kiln. In its narrower sense it refers to earthenware and stoneware, as distinct from porcelain, which is fired at higher temperatures to produce a white, translucent body.
Earthenware is porous and usually glazed to hold liquids, while stoneware is fired to a dense, vitrified body that is naturally watertight. Britain has a long and distinguished pottery tradition, including medieval jugs, seventeenth-century slipware, tin-glazed delftware, salt-glazed stoneware and the industrial wares of Staffordshire, where firms such as Wedgwood, Spode and Minton transformed production in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The late nineteenth century brought art pottery from makers including Doulton, Martin Brothers, William De Morgan and Moorcroft, and the twentieth century saw the studio pottery movement led by Bernard Leach. When collecting, consider the body, glaze, decoration, marks and condition, checking carefully for cracks, chips, crazing and restoration.
