Pottery and Pottery-Making

Is it difficult to make pottery or ceramics? What is the process of pottery making? How did the civilizations of years ago make pottery, and is the process still the same today? These and many other questions will be answered here.

Pottery making is the art and science of creating stone-like dishes and other objects out of clay. This raw material, which is plastic when blended with water, becomes a totally different substance, pottery, when slowly fired up to higher than 1000 degrees F. and then slowly cooled. So inert to the destructive forces of water, frost, and soil is pottery that pieces of it made by men and women thousands of years ago are still found in perfect condition today in archaeological digs. Pottery making seems to have evolved independently wherever tribes settled down in the vicinity of clay deposits.

The four stages in making pottery are molding the damp clay, decorating the damp object, firing the clay into biscuit are, and glazing the porous finished product.

In working with clay the pottery maker can have the thrill of reproducing some of the experiences of mankind from the ages before the down of recorded history. The six basic methods of pottery shaping are: building up by means of the soft, coiled rope of clay; using a basket as a frame, on which the clay is daubed; scooping out a lump of clay while fashioning the outside with the fingers; pressing the clay around a soft mold and letting it dry; and casting heavy liquid as slip in a mold.

After the clay object has been shaped and dried to the consistency of heavy leather, decoration is generally applied. Many large objects, such as jars or casks, are built up in sections and then cemented together with slip at this stage.

Firing pottery, first brought to perfection by the Chinese in their manufacture of porcelain, requires much in the way of experiment, skill, and observation. Each clay has its own fusion point, ranging from 752 degrees F. to about 2500 degrees F.

If too low a temperature is used, the clay reverts to its porous, fragile condition. If the temperature is too high, the clay object melts down into a lump. Temperatures in pottery making are measured not in degrees but by ceramic cones of various resistances to heat, which soften and bend as the heat rises.

Glaze is the decorative and protective glassy covering melted onto pottery in the second firing. Unfired glaze is a very fine powdered type of special glass, frequently beautifully colored, mixed in water to a thick, creamy consistency. This material is painted onto porous biscuit ware and is melted to a smooth, impervious surface. This is especially true in the most common form of pottery making known as ceramics.

With an electric kiln, or firing pit, the amateur potter can strive to match the skill of the Chinese masters of the Ming Dynasty or the equally beautiful creations of the Incas. In other words, it is not necessary to spend thousands of dollars on expensive equipment or specialized tools.

sources:

pottery.about.com/od/meetingpotters/tp/pots101.htm
www.howtomakepottery.com
42explore.com/pottery.htm
www.masterlinemolds.com/how%20to%20make%20ceramic%20products.htm