Fritware

Fritware, also known as stone-paste, is a type of pottery in which ground glass (frit) is added to clay to reduce its fusion temperature.

Fritware was invented to give a strong white body, which, combined with tin-glazing of the surface, allowed it to approximate the result of Chinese porcelain.

Although its production centres may have shifted with time and imperial power, fritware remained in continued use throughout the Islamic world with little significant innovation.

[2][3] Raw materials in one contemporary recipe used in Jaipur are quartz powder, glass power, fuller's earth, borax and tragacanth gum.

[7] Fritware was innovative because the glaze and the body of the ceramic piece were made of nearly the same materials, allowing them to fuse better, be less likely to flake, and could also be fired at a lower temperature.

"[7] Following the fall of the Abbasid Caliphate, the main centres of manufacture moved to Egypt where true fritware was invented between the 10th and the 12th centuries under the Fatimids, but the technique then spread throughout the Middle East.

[11] Abū'l-Qāsim, who came from a family of tilemakers in the city, wrote a treatise in 1301 on precious stones that included a chapter on the manufacture of fritware.

As a porcelain substitute, the fritware technique was used to craft bowls, vases, and pots, not only as symbols of luxury but also to practical ends.

[2] It was similarly used by medieval tilemakers to craft strong tiles with a colourless body that provided a suitable base for underglaze and decoration.

[2] A small manufacturing cluster of fritware exists around Jaipur, Rajasthan in India, where it is known as 'Blue Pottery' due its most popular glaze.