Stoneware ceramics were developed in Europe around 1400 in the Lower Rhine area. In cities/villages around Raeren, Cologne and Höhr-Grenzhausen all the ingredients were available. Suitable clay in the ground, wood for fuel and enough technical knowledge to fire the clay at an increasingly higher temperatures.

So in today’s Germany, they have more than 600 years of experience with stoneware. We can therefore take the folk wisdom of this type of ceramics seriously:

“Steingut ist Zeug, Steinzeug ist Gut”

In translation: “Stein” = Stone, “Gut”=Good and “Zeug” = Bad. In short, this German saying teaches us that: “Stone-Good” is Bad and “Stone-Bad” is Good? … Uh, how about that?

What is stoneware ceramics?

Stoneware is clay that has been fired so high that it is completely vitrified. It’s also stronger: as hard as stone to be exact 🙂

Well, at least stronger than earthenware. And the sound is different. Earthenware sounds “dull” when you tap it, while stoneware “pings” more like glass.

Stoneware is fired above 1200 ^oC (2200 ^oF) , usually around 1280 ^oC (2340 ^oF). Earthenware is fired at a lower temperature, usually around 1080 ^oC (1980 ^oF), but sometimes up to 1180 ^oC (2160 ^oF). It fires usually red, like flower pots. But you also have earthenware from white to black firing. In short, there are many variations in both color and firing temperature.

The difference between earthenware and stoneware is mainly in the water absorption. Stoneware has a water absorption of 0.5 to 1%. This means that a maximum of one percent of water is sucked up in weight into the fired clay body. With earthenware, the absorption is much higher, up to 10-15%.

In practice, this means that stoneware is completely waterproof. Even without the work (on the inside) being glazed. With earthenware, the water slowly seeps through the pot, especially if it is not finished with a glaze.

Stoneware clay does not always become stoneware ceramics

Not all clay bodies can be fired at 1280 ^oC (2340 ^oF). Earthenware clay would lose its shape at that temperature. It can even melt into a kind of glaze. This is because the clay contains a lot of fluxes (often iron, which makes this clay fired red). So you can’t make stoneware ceramics, by firing random clay higher.

So what you need is stoneware clay: clay that can be fired to that high temperature. But that does not mean that stoneware clay is always used to make stoneware ceramics.

If you do not fire the stoneware clay to the temperature at which the clay vitrifies, then it does not become “stoneware ceramics”. After all, it would then have a water absorption of more than one percent.

So what is “Steingut”?

You probably already understood: the German word “Steingut” does not mean “Stoneware”, but rather ceramics that are fired lower and therefore not vitrified.

I don’t know a Dutch word for “Steingut”, but it’s a certain type of white earthenware. In English, this is called “Creamware”.

“Creamware” was developed by the English ceramics industry in the 18th century (Staffordshire ca. 1720). It was much cheaper to produce than porcelain, but it did have some similarity.

It is best known for Wedgwood, who further developed the recipe. He also traded it under the name “Queens-ware”, after Queen Charlotte ordered a “creamware dinner set”.

This was a great success: a feat of18th century marketing. But despite the royal name, this kind of ceramic is less strong than stoneware and (certainly without glaze) not completely waterproof.

Steinzeug is not stone-bad but rather stone-good

So it may be clear: “Steinzeug” is stoneware in English. And stoneware is as the German folk wisdom says…. indeed stone good.. uh I mean stoneware…

That is also the reason that I fire my stoneware ceramics at 1280 ^oC (1980 ^oF): the clay body is therefore completely vitrified. This means that the work is robust, strong and completely waterproof. Good for ornamental ceramics outside in the garden, but also for pottery for everyday use.

Incidentally, stoneware was developed much earlier in China. But there it is seen more as the preliminary stage of porcelain (proto-porcelain). In addition, they have an earthenware tradition that they hold in high esteem.

Maybe I shouldn’t overlook the eastern folk wisdom about earthenware pottery…

About Post Author

Daniel Bende

Designs and creates under the trade name DFB-ceramics hand-thrown stoneware figurative ceramics.

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