Matte

20 glazes / Mayco

Twenty matte glazes from Mayco's Stoneware line. Solid shades at one end and glazes that move and break at the other.

This is the shelf to raid when a gloss would fight the form. A matte surface stays quiet and lets a good pot be the thing you notice.

Cone 5/10Bisque to Cone 046 studio favorites

Matte by the numbers

20glazes on our shelves
6at Yellow Level
14at Purple Level
17good on texture
6studio favorites

Every Matte glaze we have in house

Hover any tile to see a pot fired in it, or tap once on a phone.

Jump straight to one

20 to choose from

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Mayco Matte Alabaster glaze test tile, fired at The Clay HoleA pot fired in Mayco Matte Alabaster at The Clay Hole
Alabaster

MaycoMatte

🟨 Yellow Level

Tile #12

A soft off-white matte with warmth in it rather than a cold white. On our tile the raised lettering barely separates from the field, which makes it a quiet background.

Mayco Matte Amber Quartz glaze test tile, fired at The Clay HoleA pot fired in Mayco Matte Amber Quartz at The Clay Hole
Amber Quartz

MaycoMatte

🟨 Yellow Level

Tile #18

Good on texture

A golden tan matte with a sandy, granular look. Breaks lighter and drier over the raised lettering.

Mayco Matte Azurite glaze test tile, fired at The Clay HoleA pot fired in Mayco Matte Azurite at The Clay Hole
Azurite

MaycoMatte

🟪 Purple Level

Tile #14

Good on texture

A deep navy matte, mottled rather than flat, breaking to a lighter blue across the relief.

Mayco Black Matte glaze test tile, fired at The Clay HoleA pot fired in Mayco Black Matte at The Clay Hole
Black Matte

MaycoMatte

🟪 Purple Level

Tile #4

Good on texture

A flat black with a dry surface and very little sheen. Even across the tile with almost no break.

Mayco Matte Black Walnut glaze test tile, fired at The Clay HoleA pot fired in Mayco Matte Black Walnut at The Clay Hole
Black Walnut

MaycoMatte

🟪 Purple Level

Tile #2

A very dark brown matte that breaks warmer and redder on the raised edges. Reads almost black in the field.

Mayco Matte Himalayan Salt glaze test tile, fired at The Clay HoleA pot fired in Mayco Matte Himalayan Salt at The Clay Hole
Himalayan Salt

MaycoMatte

🟪 Purple Level

Tile #9

A pale cream matte with faint pink and gray flecks through it. One of the softest colors in the line.

Mayco Matte Leather glaze test tile, fired at The Clay HoleA pot fired in Mayco Matte Leather at The Clay Hole
Leather

MaycoMatte

🟨 Yellow Level

Tile #6

Good on texture

A dark warm gray-brown matte. On our tile the relief lifts to a lighter taupe, which is where the leather comparison comes from.

Mayco Matte Lemon Meringue glaze test tile, fired at The Clay HoleA pot fired in Mayco Matte Lemon Meringue at The Clay Hole
Lemon Meringue

MaycoMatte

🟪 Purple Level

Tile #10

Good on texture

A soft yellow matte with mottling and white variegation through it. Mayco built three of this line, Weathered Blue, Storm Gray and Lemon Meringue, to change with coat count: one coat shows more color, extra coats increase the mottling and white variegation.

Mayco Lilac Matte glaze test tile, fired at The Clay HoleA pot fired in Mayco Lilac Matte at The Clay Hole
Lilac Matte

MaycoMatte

🟪 Purple Level

Tile #13

Good on texture

A pale lavender matte, opaque and flat, with very little break over the relief.

Mayco Matte Macadamia glaze test tile, fired at The Clay HoleA pot fired in Mayco Matte Macadamia at The Clay Hole
Macadamia

MaycoMatte

🟨 Yellow Level

Tile #5

Good on texture

A pale wheat cream matte, warmer than Alabaster and a shade deeper.

Mayco Pink Matte glaze test tile, fired at The Clay HoleA pot fired in Mayco Pink Matte at The Clay Hole
Pink Matte

MaycoMatte

🟪 Purple Level

Tile #15

Good on texture Studio favorite

A dusty salmon pink matte, opaque and even. Muted rather than sweet.

Mayco Matte Rainforest glaze test tile, fired at The Clay HoleA pot fired in Mayco Matte Rainforest at The Clay Hole
Rainforest

MaycoMatte

🟪 Purple Level

Tile #20

Good on texture

A very dark green matte that breaks to a lighter olive over the raised lettering. Nearly black in the flat field.

Mayco Matte Riptide glaze test tile, fired at The Clay HoleA pot fired in Mayco Matte Riptide at The Clay Hole
Riptide

MaycoMatte

🟪 Purple Level

Tile #17

Good on texture

A teal green matte with heavy mottling and lighter variegation across the surface. Busier than Wintergreen or Satina Patina beside it.

Mayco Matte Rusted Iron glaze test tile, fired at The Clay HoleA pot fired in Mayco Matte Rusted Iron at The Clay Hole
Rusted Iron

MaycoMatte

🟪 Purple Level

Tile #7

Good on texture Studio favorite

A dark red-brown with a metallic cast and a mottled, corroded look. Sits at the glossier end of a matte line.

Mayco Matte Satina Patina glaze test tile, fired at The Clay HoleA pot fired in Mayco Matte Satina Patina at The Clay Hole
Satina Patina

MaycoMatte

🟪 Purple Level

Tile #16

Good on texture Studio favorite

A soft blue-green matte with a patina-like mottle through it. Mayco calls it Satin Patina.

Mayco Matte Storm Gray glaze test tile, fired at The Clay HoleA pot fired in Mayco Matte Storm Gray at The Clay Hole
Storm Gray

MaycoMatte

🟪 Purple Level

Tile #11

Good on texture Studio favorite

A light gray matte with cloudy mottling and white variegation. Mayco built three of this line, Weathered Blue, Storm Gray and Lemon Meringue, to change with coat count: one coat shows more color, extra coats increase the mottling and white variegation.

Mayco Matte Weathered Blue glaze test tile, fired at The Clay HoleA pot fired in Mayco Matte Weathered Blue at The Clay Hole
Weathered Blue

MaycoMatte

🟨 Yellow Level

Tile #8

Good on texture Studio favorite

A soft dusty blue matte with mottling and white variegation across it. Mayco built three of this line, Weathered Blue, Storm Gray and Lemon Meringue, to change with coat count: one coat shows more color, extra coats increase the mottling and white variegation.

Mayco White Matte glaze test tile, fired at The Clay HoleA pot fired in Mayco White Matte at The Clay Hole
White Matte

MaycoMatte

🟪 Purple Level

Tile #3

Good on texture

A clean flat white matte. Opaque and even, and a quieter background than Alabaster or Macadamia, which both carry warmth.

Mayco Matte Wintergreen glaze test tile, fired at The Clay HoleA pot fired in Mayco Matte Wintergreen at The Clay Hole
Wintergreen

MaycoMatte

🟨 Yellow Level

Tile #19

Good on texture

A pale sage green matte, quiet and even, with only a slight break over the relief.

Mayco Matte Wrought Iron glaze test tile, fired at The Clay HoleA pot fired in Mayco Matte Wrought Iron at The Clay Hole
Wrought Iron

MaycoMatte

🟪 Purple Level

Tile #1

Good on texture Studio favorite

A near-black brown matte that breaks to a warm brown on the raised edges. Darker than Black Walnut, and the closest this line gets to black without being Black Matte.

Pots decorated with Mayco Matte glazes at The Clay Hole pottery studio

How the Matte line works

Application thickness is the key to making mattes work. Mayco says so and our tiles agree: a thin coat on a matte reads as a mistake, where a thin coat on a reactive gloss reads as variation.

Many of these break over texture and rims, revealing a second color underneath. That is why a carved pot in Rainforest or Wrought Iron looks like more work than it was.

Coats

Two to three even coats on cone 04 bisque. Even is the word that matters. Mayco intends these for cone 5 to 6 and says they stay stable at cone 10.

Layering

Built to layer with the rest of the Mayco Stoneware line. Many break over texture and reveal a secondary color, so a carved or stamped surface gets more out of these than a smooth one.

Food and safety

Mayco lists its Stoneware glazes as dinnerware safe when used as directed, except where it marks otherwise. Anyone selling functional ware should test their own finished work.

Clays that suit Matte

Clay body changes the result more than people expect on this line. A darker body pulls the light mattes down, and a speckled body reads through the paler colors.

Common questions about Matte

How many coats?

Two to three, and even matters more here than on a gloss.

Why do some of these change with more coats?

Weathered Blue, Storm Gray and Lemon Meringue are built that way. One coat shows more color, more coats increase the mottling and white variegation.

Which ones work best on carved work?

The breaking colors. Rainforest, Wrought Iron, Black Walnut and Leather all lift lighter on a raised edge.

What cone do you fire these to?

Our glaze kilns run cone 5½, inside Mayco's intended cone 5 to 6 range.

Is there a test tile pot?

Yes. This family has its own numbered pot on the shelf, and every tile number here matches it.

Test tile pots lined up on the glaze shelves at The Clay Hole

The Matte test tile pot

Every glaze family on our shelves has its own test tile pot, and it is the fastest way to decide what to put on a piece. It is a fired pot wearing the whole family, one numbered tile per glaze, on a surface built to show you what that glaze actually does rather than just what color it is.

Look for Mayco Matte written on the rim. Each glaze on this page carries its tile number, and the numbers run around the pot.

One trick worth knowing

Some glazes tell you loudly that they run. Others hide it. Look at how the brushed lines fired: crisp edges mean a stable glaze, and edges that went soft and fluid mean it moved, and it will move on your pot too.

About these images and what your pot will actually look like

We have done our best to represent every glaze here accurately, and you should still expect your pot to look different from what is on this screen.

Our glaze tile images are digitally created. They are built to show the character of a glaze, not to be a color match.

A screen is not a printout, a printout is not a test tile, and a test tile is not a finished pot. Each step in that chain shifts what a glaze looks like, sometimes a lot.

On top of that, the pottery itself changes the result: the clay body, how thick the glaze went on, whether it was brushed, dipped or sprayed, what was layered under or over it, where the piece sat in the kiln, how hot that spot ran, how fast it cooled, what was fired next to it, and how much texture the surface had. Two pots glazed from the same jar on the same day can come out different.

Treat every image here as a starting point, and treat a test tile fired on your own clay as the real answer.

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