It's a question that has plagued the ceramic community for centuries: why isn't teracotta the brown, earthy color we've come to expect from this humble yet majestic material?
Some argue it's due to the fact that teracotta is often fired in kilns at temperatures that don't allow for the proper oxidation process, resulting in a greyish hue.
Others claim it's because the name 'teracotta' is actually a mistranslation from the ancient Greek, where 'terra' meant 'red earth' but 'cotta' meant 'ugly grey stuff we found in the ground.'