Clay Introduction

Basic Vocabulary

Clay: Particles of decomposed rock combined with water

to create a plastic malleable body which is then fired in a

kiln to fuse the particles back into a stone-like state.

Mold: A form used for support and shaping clay.

Ceramics: Objects made from earthy materials with the

aid of heat, or the process of making these objects.

Pottery: Originally a term for earthenware, now loosely

used to refer to any type of ceramic ware, as well as to the

workshop where it is made.

Earthenware: Pottery that has been fired at a low

temperature (below cone 2) and is porous and relatively

soft. Usually red or brown in color. Used for domestic

ware, glazed or unglazed.

Stages of Clay

Greenware

Bisque ware

Glaze ware

Greenware

Unfired pottery or sculpture. -Leather hard: the condition of a clay body when much of the

moisture has evaporated and shrinkage has just ended, but the clay is

not totally dry. Carving, burnishing or joining slabs are often done at

this stage

-Bone dry: Clay becomes fragile as moisture completely leaves the

clay body, making it easily breakable. It is ready for the first firing

Bisque ware

Bisque: Unglazed ceramic ware that has been fired at a

low temperature to remove all moisture from the clay body

and to make handling easier during glazing.

Glaze ware

Fired glaze ware -Glaze: Any vitreous coating that has been melted onto a clay surface

by the use of heat. Made of finely ground minerals that, when fired to

a certain temperature, fuse into a glassy coating. Glazes may be matt

or glossing, depending on their components

-Underglaze: A special paint for clay that colors it, but does not

produce a glassy-like surface. Used for detail work.

Foot: The base of a piece of pottery, usually left unglazed

in high-fired ware on which the ware usually rest;

occasionally glazed in low-fire, in which case the ware

must be put on stilts to keep it from sticking to the shelf.

Wedging

Any one of various methods of kneading a mass of clay to

expel the air, get rid of lumps, and prepare a

homogeneous material

Hand-building

Slab: Using thin sheets of clay to build a structure, the

sheets can be either rolled or stretched out.

Coiling: Method of forming pottery or sculpture from rolls

of clay melded together to create the

Pinching: The process of starting with a ball of clay,

inserting your thumb and “pinching”the clay between your

thumb and fingers.

Score and Slip

Slip: A mixture of clay and water often used to join to

pieces of clay together. It can also be used for casting

pottery or sculpture in molds.

Score: To scratch the surface of the clay; aids in joining

two pieces together

Throwing

Forming objects on the potter's wheel using a clay body

with plastic qualities

Bat: A plaster, wood, or plastic disk or square slab on

which a pot is thrown or is placed to dry when removed

from the wheel. Also used when hand building.

Centering: The act of aligning the clay on the potter's

wheel in order to proceed with forming and shaping.

Banding Wheel

A turntable that can be revolved with one hand to turn a

piece of pottery or sculpture while decorating it with the

other hand.

Firing

Heating pottery or sculpture in a kiln or open fire to bring

the clay or glaze to maturity. The temperature needed to

mature a specific clay or glaze varies.

Kiln: A furnace or oven built of heat resistant materials for

firing pottery or sculpture, sometimes referred to as a “Kil”

Cone: A pyrometric cone is a triangular shaped piece of

ceramic materials carefully formulated to melt at a specific

temperature. They are placed in the kiln to monitor and

determine kiln temperature.

Low Fire: The range of firing of clays and glazes in which

the kiln temperature reached is usually in the cone 015 to

cone 1 range.

Bisque Firing: The process of firing ware at a low

temperature, usually from cone 010 to 05, to produce

bisque ware.

Glaze Firing: The firing during which glaze materials melt

and form a vitreous coating on the clay body surface.

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