The article examines Brazilian refined earthenwares known as faiança fina (fine faience) and relates ideas about its production to the contextual backdrop of hygienist discourses in the city of São Paulo in the early twentieth century. Based on an analysis of glaze components, moisture expansion processes, and technological aspects of the production of earthenware recovered from the Petybon archeological site, it is suggested that the establishment of factories and the production and consumption of white ceramics in the city of São Paulo were partially a consequence of the vigorous hygienization policies and modernity projects then advocated by São Paulo's elites.
historical archeology; faiança fina; Brazilian refined earthenware; hygienist discourse