When the fired colour of the ceramic body is dark and the colour of the glaze is light, or where it is necessary to equalize differences in stress between body and glaze, then an engobe is required as a compensating layer. Engobe is a specially composed ceramic slip made with a mixture of clays, fluxes and fillers which coats the substrate with a permanent opaque layer.

The aim of this research was to formulate a base engobe by adapting a standard recipe to utilize raw materials that are locally available within selected states of Nigeria. The core materials used were kaolin, and ball clay that fires white with minimal iron content.