Glaze type · Surfaces & effects
Matte
Across 342 published recipes: mostly cone 6 and cone 10, fired in oxidation and reduction; Matte, opaque.
Cones
Atmosphere
oxidation 68% · reduction 29% · neutral 2% · salt & soda 1%
Surface
Matte 59% · Satin matte 24% · Semi-matte 8% · Smooth matte 5% · Satin 4%
Transparency
opaque 63% · semi-opaque 20% · translucent 13% · transparent 5%
Materials that define it
Share of recipes containing each material, and the typical amount when present. Materials link to their reference pages.
| Material | In recipes | Typical | Half of recipes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Silica | 68% | 11% | 7.07–20% |
| Whiting | 54% | 12.76% | 7–17.2% |
| EPK | 46% | 14% | 9.62–23% |
| Nepheline syenite | 40% | 37% | 20.37–56.8% |
| Lithium carbonate | 26% | 5% | 2.7–8.9% |
| Kaolin | 25% | 16% | 10.81–24.5% |
| Dolomite | 25% | 19% | 12.05–22% |
| Zinc oxide | 24% | 9% | 5–12.5% |
| Bentonite | 21% | 2% | 2–2.31% |
| Barium carbonate | 18% | 19.15% | 10.43–34.36% |
| Custer feldspar | 17% | 41.7% | 28.44–47.62% |
| Gerstley borate | 17% | 10% | 6.63–21.85% |
| Ball clay | 15% | 10.25% | 7.5–21.32% |
| Strontium carbonate | 13% | 19.9% | 14.42–21.63% |
Typical fired chemistry
Median oxide analysis (weight %) across the recipes that report one, with the interquartile range. Silica and alumina set the melt; the fluxes and colorants make the family.
| Oxide | Median | Half of recipes |
|---|---|---|
| SiO2 | 46.91% | 42.49–51.29% |
| Al2O3 | 13.96% | 9.9–16.48% |
| B2O3 | 3.17% | 2.28–5.5% |
| Na2O | 2.92% | 1.53–4.53% |
| K2O | 2.2% | 1.17–3.67% |
| Li2O | 2.04% | 1.08–3.26% |
| CaO | 8.04% | 4.88–11.3% |
Related types
Questions
- What is a Matte glaze?
- In 342 published recipes, Matte glazes are mostly fired to cone 6 and cone 10 in oxidation and reduction, with a Matte, opaque result. The defining materials are Silica, Whiting, EPK, Nepheline syenite, Lithium carbonate.
- What cone is Matte fired to?
- The most common cones in published recipes are cone 6 and cone 10; the full distribution is on this page. Atmosphere matters as much as cone for this family: oxidation and reduction.
- What is the typical chemistry of a Matte glaze?
- Median fired analysis: SiO2 46.91%, Al2O3 13.96%, B2O3 3.17%, Na2O 2.92%, K2O 2.2%, Li2O 2.04%. Treat these as the centre of a range, not a target — the same family spans different fluxes and cones.
Sources. Every figure is a statistic computed by Claybench over 10,859 glaze recipes compiled from publicly shared community recipe collections (snapshot 2026-02-27); no recipe is reproduced. Colour-chemistry notes are paraphrased from Linda Arbuckle's Ceramic Materials handout.
Colorant and flux notes touch on materials with handling hazards (barium, cobalt, chrome, manganese, lead in historic recipes). Read each material's page and its supplier SDS before mixing; test any food surface.
Claybench checks a glaze against your clay body and cone before it lands on a plan
Recipes, materials, hazards and cone fit — the same reference behind this page, inside the studio planner.