Cosmetic soil. Common word in England, Germany, and France.
In Germany, it is also called Überzug. The term “Engobe” refers to the process of applying makeup. In the production of ceramics, sometimes a clay that does not turn white after firing is used, in which case a thin layer of white clay is applied to the surface to make it appear white. In such cases, a thin layer of white clay is applied to the surface to make it appear whiter. After the clay is applied, the vessel is glazed and fired. The use of white clay for glazing was not necessarily limited to white clay; the Romans used Terra Sigillata, for example, which was glazed with a red clay after firing. If the surface of a vessel is rough and not smooth, it may also be glazed to smooth the surface. If the clay layer is too thin, it is not suitable for the intended purpose, and if it is too thick, it may cause glaze cracks. In Japan, a white refractory clay with little plasticity, commonly called “white clay,” is used. The technique of glazing has been around since ancient times. It is thought that the Egyptians may have learned to apply glaze at the same time they learned about glazing. If this is the case, the Egyptian glazed vessels are said to date back several thousand years B.C., so the origins of this practice are very distant. One theory says that the Egyptian people learned to apply make-up after the Romans invaded, but this is not necessarily true. The earliest Egyptian ware is said to be glazed quartzite, which also seems to have been glazed after the surface had been coated. The earliest decorative coating on Egyptian ceramics is said to have been made of quartzite powder. Lead-glazed colored bricks from the Babylonian reign of Nebuchadnezzar in the 600s B.C. are also glazed. In Chinese ceramics, the use of powder overglaze is found on greenish porcelain, commonly called Han ware, Tang Sansai ware, and northern Chinese ceramics such as Ding ware and porcelain from the Ding kiln and the Zizhou kiln. Few of the so-called southern kilns in China use overglaze enamels. The Joseon brush marks are a kind of pattern caused by incomplete overglaze decoration. In both Japanese and Chinese ceramics, there are many examples in which patterns are added by applying the overglaze layer. For more information on prehistoric earthenware engobes, see “Earthenware Adjustment Methods. (Manzo Nakao)
