Basic Pottery Techniques, Vocab, & History from "Experiencing Clay" book.

1. Introduction to clay
Chapter 1

2. What is the difference?
What is the difference
between mud and
clay?
Clay is broken
down minerals from
a volcano

3. Clay has the ability to hold together while
being shaped because of its PLASTIC
qualities.
Everything you do with clay interplays with
moisture, plasticity, and heat.

4. Dates back to when
people learned to
control fire during the
stone age.
One theory suggest
that people would
make clay sculptures
to help tell a story or
for religious
ceremonies.
Origins of Ceramics

5. Origins of clay
Sometimes clay was used for practical purposes like
containers to cook in, eat out of, or to store food.
They shaped these containers by pinching, coiling, or
pressing over round stones. They even pressed clay
into woven baskets.
They fired their pottery in cooking fires which left the
clay fragile and porous because of the low temperature
of the fire.

6. Early Techniques
As time marched on and populations grew a need for
larger containers grew for storage.
These early people used symbols to identify and mark
their containers. Scholars believe that this is probably
the beginning of writing.
Early techniques were developed such as drying work,
firing, glazing, purifying clay, ect..

7. Early Techniques
Production:
Over time potters began to
improve each step and
achievement. Sometimes the
improvements were so great
that other countries tried to
copy like the delicate blue
and white glaze from China in
the 14th century.
Some potters failed in their
attempt to copy this glaze but
their attempts lead to new
discoveries.

8. Early Techniques
Preparation
Dug up raw clay from the ground then...
DECANTING: separated impurities by
adding water to the clay and them
pouring the liquid clay (SLIP) from one
container to the other. This process
causes the impurities to settle to the
bottom.
Levigation: The clay is prepared as a
slip and allowed to flow slowly down a
gentle sloping channel. Finer particles
flow over a lip while the courser
impurities stay behind the lip.

9. Early Techniques
Forming clay:
Variety of methods such
as pinching, coiling, slab
building, molding.
Early potters often combined
pinching and coiling to create
vessels.
Jomon- cord like clay (Coil)
used for decoration in early
Japan.
Large objects such as statues
or large containers were built
using slabs of clay.

10. Early Techniques
Clay shrinks as it
dries, if it shrinks too
rapidly, it can
crack.So keep your
work covered!
Too much water
makes your clay
crack! Mist work
lightly.
Different clay shrinks
at different rates so
you can not mix
different clay bodies.

11. Early Techniques
Decorating
Incising- carving or cutting
the surface with a sharp tool.
Impressing- uses objects to
press into the clay like a
stamp.
Combing- marking the clay
surface with uniform lines
Burnishing- rubbing leather
hard clay with a smooth
surface.

12. Early Techniques
Glaze
a thin coat of glass
you give your pot.
four main glaze
types were alkaline,
ash, lead, and salt.

13. Early Techniques
Firing
first kilns were open pits or
cooking hearths
Kiln- and enclosed structure like a
furnace designed to withstand
very high temperatures.
Upward draft
downdraft

14. Important Vocabulary
Stages of Clay:
Leather Hard- Unfired clay that is the consistency of
leather or cheese. The clay is still WORKABLE.
Bone Dry- The clay is dry but unfired and easily
breaks. The clay is NOT workable.
Bisque- Your clay has been fired once but is still
porous. This is when we glaze.
Maturity- The point at which the glaze or ware has
become vitreous.
Greenware- All unfired stages of clay

15. How to attach clay
SLIP AND SCORE!!!!!
Score- to rough up or create
texture on both pieces of clay to be
attached.
Slip- liquid clay, its the glue.