History Of Ceramics

History Of Ceramics

What is the difference between clay, ceramic, and terracotta?

Can the words clay, ceramic, and terracotta be used interchangeably when referring to medium? I have a Pre-Columbian art history test tomorrow, and I can't tell the difference between them. Are the terms close enough that my teacher wouldn't count off if I put any of them, or is there a big difference that I'm missing?

Terracotta is a type of Clay, and Clay is a type of Ceramic.

Clay is a naturally occurring material composed primarily of fine-grained minerals, which show plasticity through a variable range of water content, and which can be hardened when dried and/or fired. Clay deposits are mostly composed of clay minerals (phyllosilicate minerals), minerals which impart plasticity and harden when fired and/or dried, and variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure by polar attraction.

A ceramic is an inorganic, non-metallic solid prepared by the action of heat and subsequent cooling.[1] Ceramic materials may have a crystalline or partly crystalline structure, or may be amorphous (e.g., a glass). Because most common ceramics are crystalline, the definition of ceramic is often restricted to inorganic crystalline materials, as opposed to the non-crystalline glasses.

The earliest ceramics were pottery objects made from clay, either by itself or mixed with other materials. Ceramics now includes domestic, industrial and building products and art objects. In the 20th century new ceramic materials were developed for use in advanced ceramic engineering, for example, in semiconductors.

Terracotta, Terra cotta or Terra-cotta (Italian: "baked earth",[1] from the Latin terra cocta) is a clay-based unglazed ceramic.[2] Its uses include vessels, water and waste water pipes and surface embellishment in building construction, along with sculpture such as the Terracotta Army and Greek terracotta figurines. The term is also used to refer to items made out of this material and to its natural, brownish orange color, which varies considerably. In archaeology and art history, "terracotta" is often used of objects not made on a potter's wheel, such as figurines, where objects made on the wheel from the same material, possibly even by the same person, are called pottery; the choice of term depending on the type of object rather than the material. Plain unglazed pottery is often also called terracotta.

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