How to tell Porcelain from Pottery

Earthenware is…

• usually thicker
• made in a variety of colours; may be multicoloured
• not translucent
• usually non resonant (lacking a ring)
• porous or requiring a glaze or impervious coating if intended to hold liquid

Stoneware, a type of pottery between earthenware and porcelain, is... …

• again, usually heavily potted
• made in a variety of colours and may be multicoloured
• often utilitarian and well suited as kitchen and tableware
• sometimes fairly translucent
• sometimes resonant
• not porous

Porcelain is…

• hard and glossy especially if it’s hard-paste porcelain
• not porous
• white in colour
• generally translucent in transmitted light
• resonant, especially in bowl form