Faience is a type of pottery that is extremely ancient in origin, but reached its zenith of popularity in the 18th and 19th centuries. Many European countries had their own take on faience over the years, but the one distinguishing characteristic is the pottery's appearance.
Faience is made from clay earthenware like many other styles of pottery, but the difference is in the glazing. A white pottery glaze creates a distinctive off-white surface and becomes the "canvas" for intricately-painted colored designs. A crude type of faience beads dating from ancient Egyptian times prove that the basic technique has been around for a long time, but the Middle Eastern introduction of the use of tin in the glazing process allowed faience to become an art of its own.
The Italians loved to paint their faience with shades of black, green, orange and blue and gravitated toward traditional Mediterranean patterns in their designs. The French often painted sprays of flowers, country scenes, and other delights depending on the geographical traditions of the artist. The English enjoyed a burst of popularity with faience in the late 19th century thanks to high end manufacturers like Royal Doulton. Many of these English pieces are still popular with collectors today.
Serving platters and dish sets created for Eastern European nobility in the 18th century are extremely intricate in their designs. They do not resemble the more simplistic flair favored by their western counterparts.
Those who want to collect antique faience pieces have a wide range of styles to select from. Collectors should pay a lot of attention to the styles that really speak to them: whether the preference lies with Italian, French, English, or Polish designs, they are all beautiful in their own unique ways.
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