Could you tell me how faience was made?
Faience is a man-made mixture of "ground quartz or quartz-sand held together by and alkaline binder. The bright and shiny surface
seen on this figurine is a result of glazing. The glaze was made of a form of powdered glass mixed with a liquid and applied either with a brush or by dipping the entire figurine.
It gets it's blue color from copper that is mixed into or applied to the surface of the quartz body before firing.
What are these made from?
Those are made from faience. Faience is a material that is formed from a quartz based paste, that can be molded or shaped in a number of ways and then fired.
You'll see a lot of faience in ancient Egyptian artwork. The shiny, usually blue or green surface is a glaze made of powdered glass and mineral pigments mixed with liquid and applied to the surface, or else is made by mixing mineral pigment into the faience paste itself. This blue color is created with copper oxide.
Almost like clay?
The material is fired like clay, yes, though it is formed differently. It is a human made mixture of ground quartz and an alkaline binder, and occasionally lime.