faïence

A form of faience — A type of tin-glazed earthenware ceramic, used domestically for tableware and in architecture as a decorative material.

Meanings

nounfaïence (countable and uncountable, plural faïences)

plural faïences

  1. alternativecountableuncountableAlternative spelling of faience.

    At a height of two hundred and twenty-five feet from the ground it is crowned by a cone-shaped spire, in whose side are many rows of ornamental niches in which are hung pieces of faïence.

    [1910], The Wonders of the World: A Popular and Authentic Account of the Marvels of Nature and of Man as They Exist To-day, volume I, London: Hutchinson & Co., […], page 91
    2 more examples

    It may well be admitted that this love for faïence was only the setting of the drama, and that the hobby for collecting carried to such a degree of enthusiasm deserves to be studied almost as much as the passion for women and gambling, ambition or avarice.

    1895, Champfleury [pen name; Jules François Felix Fleury-Husson], translated by Helen B. Dole, The Faïence Violin, New York, N.Y.; Boston, Mass.: […] Thomas Y[oung] Crowell & Company […], page vii

    However, analysis has shown that the composition of the vessel fragments found at Kerma, typical of faïences found in Middle Kingdom Egypt, with particularly close parallels to those found at Lisht by the Metropolitan Museum Expedition, differs on the whole from the large glazed tiles and larger vessels found at the site that do appear to be of Nubian manufacture (Lacovara 1998: 48).

    2021, Elena D’Itria, “Understanding the Kerma Amulets: the Ladder and Baboon Amulet-Beads”, in Rennan Lemos, Samantha Tipper, editors, Current Perspectives in Sudanese and Nubian Archaeology: A Collection of Papers Presented at the 2018 Sudan Studies Research Conference, Cambridge, Archaeopress, →ISBN, pages 36–37
Cite this entry
APA

faïence. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fa%C3%AFence

MLA

“faïence.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fa%C3%AFence. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “faïence,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fa%C3%AFence.

Source: faïence on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.