Assiette : Creil-Monterau 2è moitié du 19è siècle

Pipe ground

Pipe clay is the ancient name of a plastic clay or kaolin. It is one of the possible materials for the manufacture of ceramics. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, pipe earth is used for the manufacture of statuettes. Classified as marl, this land was used to make dishes and plates and religious statuettes. It was once transported in Dutch wicker baskets called mandes. It is a soft earth, binding and light, soft to the touch. It is easily worked on the lathe: it whitens with fire. There are different colors: the gray one is used to make beautiful earthenware; the whitish one is used to make pipes. This earth is clayey, and sometimes contains, but accidentally, a little chalk: if it is subjected to a degree of violent and continuous fire, it then takes on its surface a coating which is a kind of vitreous varnish.

© Dorothée Guilleme-Brulon et Claire-Dauguet