Glazed architectural terra-cotta

It was used in the UK, United States, Canada and Australia and is still one of the most common building materials found in U.S. urban environments.

The material, also known in Great Britain as faience and sometimes referred to as "architectural ceramics" in the USA was closely associated with the work of Cass Gilbert, Louis Sullivan, and Daniel H. Burnham, among other architects.

Glazed architectural terra-cotta offered a modular, varied and relatively inexpensive approach to wall and floor construction.

Late 19th-century advertising for the material promoted the durable, impervious and adaptable nature of glazed architectural terra-cotta.

The cost of producing the blocks, when compared to carving stone, was a considerable saving, especially when casts were used in a modular fashion—that is, used repeatedly.

From its founding, in time to rebuild the fire-ravished city of Chicago, until its closing, it was the major producer of architectural glazed terra cotta in North America.

Elmslea Chambers in Goulburn, New South Wales , Australia – built in 1933, it was one of the first buildings in Australia to use coloured polychrome terracotta in its façade which features a fine relief of birds, flowers, leaves and typical Art Deco sunbursts under the windows.
Polychrome glazed capital, circa 1915. Randalls Lost NYC collection
White glazed Sullivanesque, circa 1925. Randalls Lost NYC collection
Gloucester Road station , Piccadilly line , with the sang de boeuf glazed tiles used on many London Underground station buildings.
Burmantofts faience in the Great Hall of the University of Leeds