Terracotta takeover

It’s a shade that’s never gone out of style

What is terracotta?

The word terracotta is a conjoining of two Italian ones, literally translating as ‘ baked earth’. And so it is: a generally unglazed porous ceramic so humdrum and established that it has long since lent its name to the colour it turns after firing. This shade, so familiar from roofs and plant pots, is a beautiful – if roomy – one, encompassing a plethora of tints between pinkish brown, burnt orange and washed-out brick red. The precise shade is determined during firing, when the iron content of the clay reacts with oxygen at high temperatures ( generally between 600 and 1,000 degrees).