Ancient Egyptian Faience

[dracodraconis]

Ancient Egyptian Faience

A ceramic-like material made of finely-ground quartz crystals, mixed with things like copper oxide, powdered limestone, and alkali salts, pressed into a mold and allowed to dry. This allows some of the chemicals to move to the surface (self-glaze) which then turn blue-green (like turquoise) when fired. You can see examples of this at the Egyptian exhibit, now currently at the Museum of Civilization in Gatineau.

Comments

[siderea]

OoOOOOOooooo!

[dracodraconis.livejournal.com]

Many of the pieces came from the museum in Boston so you should be able to go have a look at them yourself. Whatever pieces are missing will be back by some time in the spring. They used it to make everything from jewelry to bowls.