The all new CeramicsGuides.com is here to provide the best possible guide to everything ceramic.

All our articles will continue to be offered on a free basis to all our readers.

We will try to be as comprehensive as possible and we will be happy to add any

contributions. If you feel we have missed something, please contact us our

email address is: info @ceramicsguides.com.

The making of ceramic ware, is one of the most ancient occupations of mankind, and has involved the use of clay from the earliest times. The shaping and firing of clay into useful and durable utensils is one of the primary skills learned by man and it marked a significant step forward in the history of civilisation.

Today's ceramic industry sprang from these traditional roots but has made giant strides in sophistication. Modern technology has increased the range of products so that the ceramic spectrum now covers:

Construction ceramics: abrasives, heavy clayware (such as bricks and sewer pipes), and tiles(both ceramic and porcelain).

Whitewares: sanitaryware, tableware (bone china, earthenware, porcelain and stoneware)

Refractories: (products resisting high temperatures, such as kiln furniture, crucibles and furnace linings), glass (including glass fibre and glazes).

Additionally, specific technical and advanced ceramics such as substrates for electronics, medical prostheses are included in the definition together with oxides, non oxides and composites

Within each of these broad categories lies a whole range of products of varying complexity and design, from common building bricks to rocket nose-cones, from window glass to gas-fire radiants and from strictly utilitarian sanitaryware to exquisite bone china tableware.