Hi all,
checking the English word “slip” in [url]http://dict.leo.org/ende?lp=ende&p=thMX..&search=slip[/url] I found the word “Engobe” on the right side in the list of German meanings. Despite I always thought I knew my mother tongue quite well I never came across this word.
Anyone any clue what “Engobe” -having a female pronoun- is?
Thanks in advance
Michael
Hello Michael,
It’s a coating of pipe-clay, on pottery, apparently; it looks like an appropriation from the French word (perhaps via the English appropriation).
Best wishes,
MrP
Mi Michael,
This is what old mother Google has to say about that:
ingentaconnect.com/content/k … 1/00000015
I bet you feel a whole lot better now!
Alan
Hi MrP, Hi Alan,
thank you for your immediate response and explanation.
I promise: nothing can concuss me for the rest of today!! 
All the best
Michael
Hi Michael,
Engobe is a loan word in German, from English, via French. The terms ‘slip’ and ‘engobe’ are often mistakenly used interchangeably in pottery, but there is a significant difference. Having mixed many a batch of both, I’m all too familiar with the differences.
Generally, a slip is just a mixture of clay and water, thinned to a consistency of thick cream. It may or may not have oxides added to it for colorants. It can be used for joining pieces of leather hard clay together, or for a wide variety of decorative techniques.
Since it has a high percentage of clay (slip is just the same clay body used in making the pot, blended with a lot of water), it can only be applied to a pot when it’s relatively wet, in the soft leather hard stage. (Brits will call this cheese hard). Due to the shrinkage caused by the high percentage of clay, if applied when the pot is too dried, it will just shiver or peel off when dried, and possibly crack the pot.
An engobe plays a similar role, i.e. a brushable mixture of cream-like consistency, but is used only for decorative purposes. It is formulated using much less clay, and substituting instead higher percentages of silicas and fluxes, which results in a far lower shrinkage rate. Thus, it does not have to be applied at the leather hard stage, and can be applied at any of the stages: leatherhard, bone dry, or even after the pot has been bisqued. Since it shrinks at a different rate, it cannot be used for joining pieces of clay.
An engobe is somewhere between a slip and a glaze. With the higher amount of flux, the bonding to the pot is actually a result of the silicas (lowered by the fluxes) fusing to the body, whereas slip bonds are simply formed by the interlocking clay platelets.
Most of the commercially prepared underglazes used should be considered engobes since they’re applied at any of the stages.
Hope that helps.
Hi Skrej,
thank you for that precise explanation. As I understand it now an “engobe” is similar to a “primer”, isn´t it?
Sorry for the late response, I´ve been out the last days.
Hi Michael,
No, I don’t think that’s a completely accurate comparison to make. A primer is a coat of paint you put on underneath the top coat, to seal the porous material, and to use less of the more expensive colored finish coat.
An engobe can be used under a glaze, yes, but it’s not hidden or covered by the glaze. It does seal the pot somewhat, as due to fluxes present it does vitrify somewhat. The whole point of using an engobe is for additional decorative purposes that will be visible through the glaze. Additionally, you don’t always have to use a glaze over the engobe. The engobe itself may serve as the final finishing layer on a pot.
In painting terms, I think it would be more akin to rendering your base painting, and then glazing or applying a wash over the main painting. Even those are poor analogies, though.
Seconded.
MrP
English language is full of riddles, at least for non natives, isn´t it? I mean, I asked a question/for an explanation and immediately there appears another one.
Does “seconded” mean you requested Skrej to give a precise answer since you knew Skrej is familar with coating procedure, whereat you answered instantly?
Please enlighten me
Michael
Hi Michael
MrP was basically saying “I agree with you, Michael”.
Look here at the definition of “to second”:
dictionary.cambridge.org/define. … &dict=CALD
.
en·gobe [én gb]
noun
Liquid clay: liquid clay used to decorate a ceramic piece before it has been fired and usually applied before the piece has dried.
seconded …i.e. supporting ones opinion, as I get it now. Thank you Amy.
MrP