Some history of Yellowware:
Yellowware came to America from England early in the 19th century. Americans readily made room for yellowware in their households. Yellowware was much more durable than redware, and lighter and easier to handle then stoneware. From the 1830s until the 1940s, yellowware was found in most American kitchens. Yellowware is a ceramic fired from the fine yellow clay that lines riverbanks from New York to Ohio. Its color ranges from butter yellow to deep mustard, and it was popular due to its low cost and durability — it could even withstand the heat of a woodstove.

The first type of yellowware was plain yelloware, made with the clear lead glazes was created in a variety of kitchen and table utensils including bowls, plates, jugs and bottles.

Second was the Rockingham or Bennigton yellowware and typically made with a thick brown, mottled glaze and molded body. Rockingham was first produced for the American market by English potters from the Swinton District after 1788. Teapots were the primary items made, and the teapot body was molded of soft yellow paste.

American potters from Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, and particularly from the pottery center at Bennington, Vermont were producing large quantities of Yellowware by 1830. The body color can vary from cream to bright yellow. The rich color involved the mixture of manganese and sometimes umber to the glaze. Each factory had its own particular formula. The glaze was variously applied by dipping, brushing, sponging, or with a stick. Most pieces show a mottling effect. The most common technique for applying the glaze from 1847 through 1865 was by spattering or splashing it on with a paddle. The particular worker who was responsible for applying the glaze produced a unique effect satisfying his/her own aesthetic interests. The consequence is that while there may be patterns to the glaze at the level of the artisan, the factory, or perhaps the region, no two pieces of Rockingham or Bennington are exactly alike. This form was most popular from 1840 to 1900.

The last form of yellowware is often referred to as annular ware. It has a glazed surface decorated with bands or rings of white, blue, black, or brown. Occasionally, impressed patterns circle the vessel. Sometimes also, within wide, colored bands, there are vine-like patterns circling the exterior of the vessel. This distinctive treatment is called mocha. The colors of the band can be pink, blue, or green, but brown and black are most common. Annular decoration was produced by American potters from 1840 to 1900.

The traditional Yellowware’s glaze contains lead, so avoid using cracked pieces for food preparation. Even dishes in top condition should not be used for storing food in the refrigerator, or for preparing acidic foods, or for baking, because this may cause the lead to leach out of the glaze.

In the traditional manner of producing ceramic items, a clay vessel would first be fired to create the fired product – an unglazed fired product can be called biscuit or bisque. For Faience earthenware, the undecorated biscuit was then painted or dipped in the tin-enamel glazing mixture, dried, decorated with hand painted metallic oxides, and fired a second time.

Common design colors were blue, yellow, orange, and green. The fabric of faience is soft and typically pale yellow to salmon in color.

Tin-enameled glaze wares are known by different names generally depending on their country of origin. Material produced in France and Italy is known as faience, material from Spain is labeled majolica, and objects from England and Holland are referred to as delft.

First introduced in the sixteenth century, faience had become uncommon by the end of the eighteenth century. Popularity of Faience earthenware resurged in the 1850’s and continued through the turn of the twentieth century for what is called Victorian majolica. Limited production of faience, majolica, and delft continues through the present.

Redware is a variety of earthenware whose body of soft porous clay turns red, orange, or brown when fired due to its high iron content.

Most redware iscovered with a glaze, either clear or colored. Particular glazes were sometimes associated with particular wares, such as the distinctive blackish-blue glaze used on English “Cistercian” ware. Further decoration might be added through a variety of means including painting, sgrafitto / scraffitti (in which lines are scratched in the body of the piece) and slip trailing (in which designs are “drawn” with a liquid clay mixture of a different color). The widely-traded 17th century German redware called Werra-ware combined all these techniques to great effect.

History or Redware:
Pieces of European redware were among the household goods of the earliest English settlers, and redware was imported commercially throughout the colonial period. Domestic production in America started as early as 1625 and continues through the present. The first redware produced in the Northeast followed English models, though a Germanic tradition appeared at an early date as well. One important manufacturer was located in Galena, Illinois. Referred to as Galenaware, it was produced from the 1840’s through 1900. The glaze for this product was composed of lead sulfide, alumina, and silica generating colors of orange, yellow, green (1, 2), and brown. Common surface treatments by other producers included: undecorated, plain; clear lead glaze; lead with manganese glaze (brown or black color) (1, 2); and a white or yellow slip under a clear lead glaze. Ramsay (1939:128-138) recognizes 38 types of redware and a wide variety of object forms.

Use and care of your Redware:

Hand-wash your redware and allow it to dry thoroughly. A paste made from baking soda rubbed gently on the affected area should remove any staining, such as that from coffee. Because redware remains slightly porous, pieces which are to hold liquids for any length of time should sit on a trivet or saucer.

There are 2 basic definitions, depending on whom you go to for the information.

The history of ceramics would say:
Earthenware is a relatively soft, porous body that would not contain liquids without a glaze.

The ceramic and dinnerware industry would say:
Earthenware is any pottery body which, when fired, has a porosity of more than five percent. In other words, the body consists of more than 5% water.

Historically, Earthenware was fired at a relatively low temperatures, in the range of 1,000 to 1,200 degrees C, or usually the ware was fired below 2,012 Fahrenheit.

The common procedure for identifying earthenwares is by touching the tongue to the paste or an unglazed portion of the earthenware body. If the surface feels sticky, then it is earthenware.

Pros and cons, strengths and weaknesses of Earthware

Cons and weaknesses
Due to the lower firing temperature, earthenware bodies are:

• not as dense as a high-fired ceramic
• have higher porosity and absorb water more easily than other ceramics
  • Due to its higher porosity, earthenware must be glazed in order to be water-resistant.
• not as durable as a high-fired body
• not as resistant to chipping and breaking as a high-fired body

Pros and strengths
Compared to other ceramics, Earthenware:

• is lighter in weight due to less density
• can be decorated with brighter-colored glazes, due to the lower firing temperatures.
• can be less costly (this is also dependent upon the amount and type of decoration on the earthenware and the whiteness of the earthenware body)

Earthenware is most frequently made in the form of containers, dinnerware, and table service items.

There are seven basic variations in the earthenware body recognized by most historians and the ceramic industry: