a. and sb. [ad. L. figulīnus, f. figulus potter.]
A. adj. a. Such as is produced by the potter; made of earthenware. b. Of earth: Suitable for the potter, fictile.
1657. Tomlinson, Renou’s Disp., 146. Turpentine may not onely be well reserved in an iron or glass Vessel, but in a figuline also.
1686. Plot, Staffordsh., 124. The Smectic and figuline Earths.
1697. Evelyn, Numismata, viii. 280. Improving Paper and Figuline Ware by Palissy’s White Glaze.
1790. Pennant, London (1813), 171. Mr. Wedgewood vindicates the propriety, by making it the repository of his figuline ware.
B. sb.
1. An earthen vessel; in pl. pottery.
1878. Longf., Keramos, 102.
| Who is it in the suburbs here, | |
| This Potter, working with such cheer, | |
| In this mean house, this mean attire, | |
| His manly features bronzed with fire, | |
| Whose figulines and rustic wares | |
| Scarce find him bread from day to day? |
2. Potter’s clay.
1859. R. F. Burton, Centr. Afr., in Jrnl. Geog. Soc., XXIX. 383. The figuline, a greyish-brown clay, is procured from river-beds.
