Types of Clay

The range of ceramics is extraordinary, especially when you add in the different ways in which they can be shaped and decorated. What you see in this section was made between 3000 years ago and 300 years ago. 

Pottery has been used to create objects for use in the home, such as the Chinese Li, Compton Verney platter and the basil pot. Special pieces like the Sèvres ice-cream cooler were bought and used by kings and queens. Pottery has also been used to make works of art that were displayed, like the Pietà, the Statue of Descartes and the Palissy dish.

 

 

The Sèvres ice-cream cooler is made from porcelain. Porcelain was invented by the Chinese. They created a new white material which could take every colour of the rainbow instead of the limited 'earthy' range of clay colours used previously. People in Europe loved porcelain but they could not make it themselves. European potters did not learn how to make porcelain until 300 years ago. The ice cream cooler shows how French potters eventually succeeded in making porcelain of the highest quality and decorated in the latest fashionable taste.