Tin-glaze.
（Pottery.) An opaque glaze, or enamel, having oxide of tin as a basis, used upon majolica ware and other fine pottery. Tin-glazes are found upon ancient Egyptian and Persian articles. The process appears to have been introduced into Europe by the Saracens; tin-glazed tiles manufactured about 1300 A. D. being found in the Alhambra. They also made very beautiful wares, known as Hispano-Moresque, recognizable by the peculiar metallic luster of their surface. These were imitated by the Italians in the well-known majolica ware. The earlier specimens of this have a lead glaze, and are termed half or “mezza majolica.” Toward the close of the fifteenth century the Italians became possessed of the secret of making tinglazes, and soon surpassed the work of their predecessors the Moors.
