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Message:: [QUOTE="Taupou, post: 926149, member: 45"]As pointed out already, ceramics is the very broad category, which when talking about collectibles and antiques, is generally defined as consisting of an inorganic, non-metallic material (clay, for example) which is permanently transformed into a solid by the application of heat. Ceramics, as used here, includes earthenware, stoneware, and porcelain, which are defined and determined by the temperature at which they have to be fired to in order to be permanently changed from clay to a solid state.  Clay varies widely, and each clay (and glaze, if that applies) has a certain temperature it needs to reach that point.  Earthenware generally fires from 1745℉ (950℃) to 2012℉ (1100℃).  Stoneware can range between 2124℉ and 2350 °F (1162-1288℃).  And porcelain usually fires between 2381℉ and 2455℉ (1305℃ and 1346℃).  But to complicate matters more, ceramics also include bricks, glass, and numerous non-clay advanced ceramics used in aerospace, medicine, and virtually every modern technology. Plus Native American potters in the Southwest refer to their traditionally-made pots as "pottery," and those items made from greenware molds, as being "ceramic."  So definitions can vary somewhat, depending who's doing the defining.[/QUOTE]