Faience
DEFINITION
From the French name for the Italian town of Faenza, a famous pottery town from the 16th century. Faience is fine tin-glazed pottery on a delicate pale buff earthenware body. The word is sometimes mistakenly applied generally to pottery and porcelain. It is sometimes used to refer to a paste which produces a glaze-like surface when fired. Also, glazed earthenware used for architectural purposes. Although the term is sometimes used to mean pottery of all kinds, this breadth of meaning is widely considered incorrect.<br>