Earthenware
Earthenware is low-fired pottery that has not been fired to vitrification and is thus permeable to water. Many types of pottery have been made from it from the earliest times, and until the 18th century it was the most common type of pottery outside the far East. Stoneware and porcelain are the other most
important types of pottery.
Definition
Earthenware is a type of ceramic that when fired is opaque and non-vitreous, soft and capable of being scratched with a knife. The Combined Nomenclature of the European Communities describes it as being made of selected clays sometimes mixed with feldspars and varying amounts of other minerals and white or light-colored (i.e., slightly greyish, cream or ivory).ASTM International says it is "a glazed or unglazed nonvitreous ceramic whiteware". It is very often glazed and may be painted.
Terracotta is a term used for sculpture and utilitarian objects such as plant pots, tiles, and drainage pipes made of earthenware.
Characteristics
Generally, earthenware bodies exhibit higher plasticity than most whiteware bodies and hence are easier to shape by RAM press, roller-head or potter's wheel than bone china or porcelain.