Contain: TO HOLD. To compromise; to have it in ME. To measure; to be equal to ME. To take up, occupy. To enclose. To hold together. To keep under control, restrain, restrict, confine,; to retain. To restrain oneself; be continent, keep oneself in chastity. The action or fact of containing; holding; restraint. (Shorter Oxford English Dictionary 3rd Ed. Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1973) Suppose this could be said to apply to all walks of life, not just ceramics.
Bridget Macklin 