Pottery
pot·ter·y
Noun /ˈpätərē/
Pots, dishes, and other articles made of earthenware or baked clay. Pottery can be broadly divided into earthenware, porcelain, and stoneware.
Pottery is one of the oldest forms of human arts, and is generally used in reference to vessels made by hand with a pottery wheel (as opposed to figurines or other things of similar material but not made with a wheel.)
Pottery involves the shaping of clay by hand into a desired shape and then firing the pieces after a period of drying within a kiln (essentially a clay oven). Certain clays are fired to certain temperatures and a piece may be fired multiple times in the case of using glazes. Different clays can also produce different types of pottery which are used for different purposes. Prior to even working with a clay, the air needs to be removed. Failure to do so can result in air pockets which will explode during firing destroying a piece. There are various stages of "hardness" associated with pottery - "leather-hard" refers to a piece that has about 15% moisture content, the clay at this stage is very firm and only slightly pliable. "Leather-hard" is the stage at which you would trim and add handles. "Bone-dry" refers to a near 0% moisture content. When unfired a pieces is considered "greenware", they are generally fragile and can be easily broken. A piece that is "bisqued" has been fired once and therefore has no water content.
***This page references personal knowledge and some paraphrasing from the following articles:
Noun /ˈpätərē/
Pots, dishes, and other articles made of earthenware or baked clay. Pottery can be broadly divided into earthenware, porcelain, and stoneware.
Pottery is one of the oldest forms of human arts, and is generally used in reference to vessels made by hand with a pottery wheel (as opposed to figurines or other things of similar material but not made with a wheel.)
Pottery involves the shaping of clay by hand into a desired shape and then firing the pieces after a period of drying within a kiln (essentially a clay oven). Certain clays are fired to certain temperatures and a piece may be fired multiple times in the case of using glazes. Different clays can also produce different types of pottery which are used for different purposes. Prior to even working with a clay, the air needs to be removed. Failure to do so can result in air pockets which will explode during firing destroying a piece. There are various stages of "hardness" associated with pottery - "leather-hard" refers to a piece that has about 15% moisture content, the clay at this stage is very firm and only slightly pliable. "Leather-hard" is the stage at which you would trim and add handles. "Bone-dry" refers to a near 0% moisture content. When unfired a pieces is considered "greenware", they are generally fragile and can be easily broken. A piece that is "bisqued" has been fired once and therefore has no water content.
***This page references personal knowledge and some paraphrasing from the following articles:
