Faience

The term "faience" has been extended to include finely glazed ceramic beads found in Egypt as early as 4000 BC and in the Indus Valley Civilization.Unlike stone or shell that are found naturally,faience is a material that is artificially produced.A gum was used to shape sand or powdered quartz into an object.The objects were then glazed resulting in a shiny glassy surface.The colours of the glaze were usually blue or sea green. Faience was used to make beads,bangles,earrings and tiny vessels.Faience or faïence is the conventional name in English for fine tin-glazed pottery on a delicate pale buff body, associated with Faenza in northern Italy.The invention of a white pottery glaze suitable for painted decoration, by the addition of an oxide of tin to the slip of a lead glaze, was a major advance in the history of pottery.