The microstructures and chemical compositions of a small group of glazed steatite objects from Egypt spanning the period from the fourth to the first millennium BC have been investigated in a scanning electron microscope with attached X-ray spectrometer. Two primary methods of glazing have been identified. The first was characterised by high copper and magnesium oxide concentrations and a high density of recrystallised forsterite. The second was characterised by lower copper and magnesium oxide concentrations and only a scatter of recrystallised forsterite towards the glaze-body interface. Laboratory replication has confirmed that the first type of glaze was produced by the cementation method in which the steatite body was fired whilst buried in a glazing mixture and the second type by the direct application of a fritted glaze mixture to the surface of the steatite body prior to firing.