earthenware

Earthenware is a compound of 'earthen' (made of earth) and 'ware' (goods). The word appeared in English in the 1600s, but the technology it names is the oldest manufacturing process known. The oldest known fired clay objects — the Venus of Dolní Věstonice and related figurines from Moravia — date to roughly 29,000 BCE. The oldest known earthenware pots, from Xianrendong Cave in China, date to approximately 18,000 BCE. Humans made pottery before they planted crops.

Earthenware is fired at low temperatures — between 900 and 1,100 degrees Celsius. At these temperatures, the clay hardens but does not vitrify. The result is porous: water slowly seeps through unglazed earthenware. This porosity was not always a flaw. In hot climates, unglazed earthenware water jugs cool their contents through evaporation. The matka in India, the botijo in Spain, and the zeer pot in North Africa all exploit this property. The 'defect' of earthenware is a feature.

Glazing solved the porosity problem. By applying a glass-forming coating before firing, potters could make earthenware waterproof while keeping the low firing temperature. Tin-glazed earthenware — maiolica in Italy, faience in France, Delftware in the Netherlands — became some of the most prized ceramics in European history. The blue-and-white Delft tiles that decorated Dutch houses in the 1600s were earthenware, not porcelain. The material was humble. The art was not.

Modern mass-market earthenware is the cheapest ceramic category. Flower pots, roof tiles, and inexpensive tableware are typically earthenware. The material has been pushed to the bottom of the ceramic hierarchy by stoneware and porcelain, which are harder, denser, and more durable. But earthenware was first. Every subsequent ceramic technology improved on what earthenware started. The word 'earthen' says everything: made of earth. The simplest name for the simplest made thing.