Crystalline glaze

Description

A ceramic glaze that is cooled very slowly allowing crystals to form in the otherwise amorphous glass film. Under the right conditions, zinc silicate and calcium silicate form large crystals in the glaze surface. First developed at Sevrès in France in about 1850, the technique for producing crystalline glazes is complex and difficult to produce. These glazes are different than aventurine or devitrified glazes, which may also appear to contain crystals.

Synonyms and Related Terms

glaçure cristallisée (Fr.); vidrado cristalino (Port.)

Authority

• Ralph Mayer, A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques, Harper and Row Publishers, New York, 1969 (also 1945 printing)

• Henry Hodges, Artifacts: An Introduction to Early Materials and Technology, Ronald P. Frye, Kingston, Canada, 1988

• Art and Architecture Thesaurus Online, http://www.getty.edu/research/tools/vocabulary/aat/, J. Paul Getty Trust, Los Angeles, 2000

• Website address 1 Comment: M.F. Eggleston, 'Crystalline glazes' at http://www.wirth-milyuns.com/mfe/crystal_1.html

• Website address 2 Comment: Jon Price, 'Crystalline Glazes' at http://www.jonpriceceramics.com/TheGlaze/the_glaze.htm