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Redware or Terra Cotta is a type of Earthenware
By admin | February 13, 2009
Redware, also known as Terra Cotta, has a distinctly red body, hence its name. The clay or paste is rendered out of surface clays. The Redware body is softest of all the Earthenwares and fractures easily.
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.
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